Macro Photos in PS

Hi everyone,

I just wonder the processing of the photos in PS, especially macro. I have tried to process however, everytime I failed How can I do it? I mean, I see a lot of pics which are one shot. I know that F is about 11 or 16. Or FS pics are seen. How can they be so sharp? I asked it to Thomas Shahan and he said that they are almost same as the originals.Just adjusting curves etc. But what curves?

Anyone to help me?


I hope you can understand me and return

Maybe you can post a link to a photo you wonder about.

Macro shooting is more about the capture than it is about the post-processing with one exception. The exception is the process of focus stacking, in which the photog takes several shots by manually shifting the focus from one part of the subject to another and using software to blend the photos together to produce an even amount of sharpness on the subject.

Otherwise, it is just the skill and technique of the photographer that will determine how sharp the focus on the subject is, together with the fact that shooting at macro distances means that the area of acceptable sharpness will be quite narrow at any rate, so often the use of a tripod along with very narrow apertures can come in handy.

If you want to get an idea of how the depth of field can vary, and how even with a tripod you are dealing with a very small range, check out this little test setup I did:

http://www.pbase.com …g/feb_26_09_gui​tar_macros

Click on each photo and below the open photo you can see the exif with the aperture I used.

Thanks for reply

I'm talking about this kind of photos:

http://farm2.static.fl​ickr.com …08328833_90711d​1e51_z.jpg

And he has taken this photos while carrying the camera on his hands. How can it be so sharp? When I was tried to take photo with my 100mm USM macro lens and some extension tube it is so for from the sharpness

These are my examples ( too bad)

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First, a heads up: it is against forum rules to post a shot that is not yours -- as I said above, post a link to the first photo -- posting your own photos is, of course, good!

I can't get any shooting info/exif from either his shot or yours, so it's hard to compare. What apertures were you using? And, especially with extension tubes, shooting handheld will be challenging!

A lot of macro shooters use a flash to assist when shooting hand-held. It looks like he did. The flash helps to "freeze" motion in both the subject and any camera movement.

I am sorry for the rule and edited.

He and I use extensions tube so that there is no lens attached to the body directly. Thus, exif is gone.Both of us use flash and I have taken these with 2 flashes fired at the same time and the body was on the tripod. Nevertheless, the IQ is obviously too bad. He is shooting handheld and fired just one flash. What is wrong? My stuff is better (Mark II +100mm USM Macro+ Ext. Tube + YN560 Flash with diff.)

Generally, F11 was used. I am sure that he is using the same or around F11. But there is a point I always miss and never catch! I have to learn!

I'm not sure what tubes you are using but my shots with tubes do have the exif, just not the tubes factored into the focal length.

Here's an example of shooting with stacked tubes:

Exif info is there, just not "complete"...

Anyway, back to your question, I really can't tell you exactly how to get the most sharpness except to keep at it. A lot of the shots you see are done by photogs who have put in a whole lot of practice, as in years, to hone their skills.

Now, sure, a bit of post-processing is done with all digital photos -- if you are shooting Raw, you want to apply some sharpening in your Raw software, if you are shooting jpeg, try upping the sharpness setting in your camera Picture Style and see if that helps. Have you tried either of these approaches?

I can emphasize -- I enjoy macro shooting but don't do enough of it to get those great results either. Macro shooters are a dedicated bunch!

I am shooting RAW, always tried the sharpness through both ways. no way

Now, I understand that the only way is prtactice!

Thanks a lot!

evirgen2008 wrote in post #12298581


I am shooting RAW, always tried the sharpness through both ways. no way

Now, I understand that the only way is prtactice!

Thanks a lot!

Heh! Yeah, I'd say so! That and continue to ask the folks that get the great results for tips!

A lot of macro shots are stacked. This is 5 images stacked in photoshop.

chrisa wrote in post #12299282
A lot of macro shots are stacked. This is 5 images stacked in photoshop.

Would be interesting to see one of the SOOC shots for comparison

Different image but same method.

Good Shoots!