Lighting Bugs, With Layers of Genius
NOTE: If the video is not coming up in your RSS reader, click thru to the main site. Even then, you may have to refresh a few times. It's a little bit ... buggy.
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Issaquah, Washington-based photomicrographer Charles Krebs is getting some much-deserved attention, thanks to his amazing techniques for photographing bugs. The above video is from KING 5 TV in Seattle, and I am so glad they got techie enough to show how he solved his formidable depth-of-field problems.
As for lighting, he uses classic old flashes -- in one case diffused with a Christmas ornament. Check out more incredible photos (and generously detailed technical explanations) on his website. And if the video completely fails to load on you, you should be able to see it on the King 5 site.
Thanks to Strobist reader Eric Krebs for the tip on the video. And yes, that's his dad!
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Issaquah, Washington-based photomicrographer Charles Krebs is getting some much-deserved attention, thanks to his amazing techniques for photographing bugs. The above video is from KING 5 TV in Seattle, and I am so glad they got techie enough to show how he solved his formidable depth-of-field problems.
As for lighting, he uses classic old flashes -- in one case diffused with a Christmas ornament. Check out more incredible photos (and generously detailed technical explanations) on his website. And if the video completely fails to load on you, you should be able to see it on the King 5 site.
Thanks to Strobist reader Eric Krebs for the tip on the video. And yes, that's his dad!
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Posted at 11:12 PM.
41 Comments:
Awesome!
This is the type of photo that always impressed me! Its like a brand new world!
Kudos!
awesome, he does have a "keen" eye
Does anyone know what software he was using that combined all of the different images? It looked like it was doing it automatically...
If you can't get the vid to load (I couldn't no matter how many times I refreshed) here's a direct link.
http://media.king5.com/designvideo/bimVidPlayer.swf?i=90892584
That should be "Issaquah", even if the 'h' is silent. :)
Scott-
Indeed. Thank you! (Fixed.)
@ Marc
See wikipedia article on Focus Stacking for a list software:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_stacking
Phenomenal!!
@ Marc - I think this is the software he is using to get the Extended Depth of Field (EDF) http://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconfocus.html
You are correct Eddie, that is it. My father has some pretty amazing work he is putting into the Nikon Small World competition this year. Keep an eye out for it soon www.nikonsmallworld.com
Simply Amazing. Thanks David.
Funny. I know his other son, Hans.
Pretty awesome work.
You can do Focus stacking in PS CS4, I think it's part of Auto Blend Layers
His name is Krebs and he photographs bugs? This is great! Krebs is German for crayfish (and in fact cancer).
Human creativity never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for the post.
Just so everyone is clear, the method he uses to increase his depth of field is simple stacking in microscopy - I work in a lab that utilises this method all the time to image cells from organs of the body - and we string them together to make movies, not only still frames.
His work is beautiful though!
One person who has been shooting some great macro shots is Mark Plonsky. http://www.mplonsky.com/photo/
I focus stack my detail shots or rings etc in my wedding work.
In CS4 use the following steps:
1) File>>scripts>>Load files into stack, making sure you check "attempt to align layers" box
2)Once loaded, select all the layers, Edit>> auto blend layers
At least he doesn't have to worry about his subjects getting tired of the shoot and going home!
beautiful images and big big props to the station for putting together a really nice package. I hope that they shoot for a local Emmy on this.
I have been looking for something on lighting bugs for a while. There is so much detail hidden in our friends. Thanks a ton for the link!
he won the nikon small world using a canon?
I slowed the video down to see what brand of lights he's using. Are those Lumedynes or Normans? And, is he using any fiber optic to bring the light down from the heads? It also appears there are lights on the microscope on a flex system. I don't think those are strobe related.
Woot to the local guy! Killer shots.
Kinda makes you want to go out and get a microscope, doesn't it?
Myself, I'd like to try using it to shoot jewelry and gemstones so you can actually see the occlusions and imperfections that are only visible through a loupe.
With that in mind, I checked out the Helicon software and the Stackshot rail setup. One thing puzzled me - by moving the camera isn't the image getting bigger by the end? Or are you moving such small distances that this doesn't matter? I thought you'd need some 'focus bracketing' which doesn't exist yet, that I know of.
Fabulous post! Another variant on the HDR idea.
I might be missing something, but with the focus stacking techniques on bugs, how does he do it so that the bug doesn't move. Are these alive? :P
Wow! Holy mosquito, Batman!
The combination of focus stacking and his lighting has produced some truly memorable images. Beautiful work!
Hope he got model releases ;-)
@Kristopher B: actually, that's not exactly the same thing. What you do in the lab is probably a max stack projection from confocal images. His images are not confocal, so the technique is quite different
Be sure to look at the cross-eyed, 3D, photos on his web site. Amazing.
@ handrail: Good catch. It's clearly shown as a Canon Rebel XT. Too funny. I wonder if Nikon will strip him of the title, or leave it since the microscope is Nikon.
I looked it up and the strobes appear to be Lumedynes, but it's not clear to me if he is or is not using a fiber optic technique.
One of the beautiful facets of Charlie's work is his willingness to share his knowledge of both subject and technique.
If you are interested in this area of photography then head on over to http://www.photomacrography.net and you will find a community of dedicated individuals.
Currently the best software for macro and micro extended depth-of-field is Zerene Stacker http://zerenesystems.com/stacker/
Now I'll get back to the task of turning a ping pong ball into a diffuser.....
Fantastic
Great stuff, no doubt!
This video is from several years ago. If you're interested in where things have gone since then with focus stacking, drop in at www.photomacrography.net, where Mr. Krebs hangs out quite a bit. Lots of discussion there about technology and techniques, along with gobs of images.
@johnathan: No the bugs are definitely dead specimens. No way to get even a single shot off with that razor thin focus on a live critter.
It's amazing when someone takes commonly available tools and applies them in a new way and then takes the process to the n-th degree to create such beautiful images. How inspiring -- just go out and invent your own way.
Mr Krebs is an auteur!
Here's the link to his setup.
http://www.krebsmicro.com/microsetup2/index.html
Cailing wrote, "One thing puzzled me - by moving the camera isn't the image getting bigger by the end? Or are you moving such small distances that this doesn't matter?"
No. When you move the camera (or in his case, the microscope stage), magnification does not change. Z- stacking (what us microscopy nerds call it) in essence ignores the out of focus information and stacks the in-focus information, which all has the same magnification. This technique is common in good industrial microscopy labs or biology labs which make extensive use of the microscope.
So cool! This is the stuff I do at school! I'll be honest, it's hard, meticulous work, but I love every minute of it!
I stumbled on to mister Krebs site a few years ago. He also has a very detailed page on modifying the Vivitar 283 with an external box to take it from full power to -8 stops in 1/2 stop increments. While some people might not like the long wire and box, I think this is the perfect way to have the control easily accessible if the flash is used in a softbox. You can adjust the power easily with out having to open or move anything.
@Daf While photoshop is an amazing program, focus stacking is much easier, and works better with some of the programs mentioned. A few of them can control the camera while shooting tethered, and take multiple photos while automatically changing the focus slightly between shots. You can't do that with photoshop.
Along with http://www.photomacrography.net/ (as already mentioned) check out MacroWorld at FredMiranda too: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/45
There's a heap of technical discussion (lot's on custom diffusers) and, of course, amazing images.
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