@jgpittenger Jane, thanks so much for your offer of help. I played this morning and the above is 7 shots stacked together. I was extremely careful in focussing and thought it would make the stacking much easier if the areas were more clearly defined. The lens I'm using is a Micro Nikkor 55mm 1:35 and I'm attempting to stack these using Photoshop Elements 11 Panorama mode so the erasing in layer masks is down to me. I guess the majority of the problem lies in the fact I don't have a detailed stacking programme. Any advice would be gratefully received! Many thanks, Felicity
Try Combine ZP it's free. Or go to DPReview & asking for stacking advice in the search box. Or do what I did & cheat, buy a camera that does it for you! My Oly TG5 does a decent job as you know from pics I sent you. I'm not brave enough to do it the hard way but if you succeed, you will be thrilled.
jxx
PS tripod & focus rail.
xx
@jesika2 Thanks Jesika, I downloaded Picolay earlier (not much success with that either) and now have CombineZP too but I can't go through the instructions right now as my head will hurt and the girls haven't been out ... first time for ages I'm looking forward to a dog walk to leave the computer at home! I believe the no. of cameras currently in the cupboard (working and non-working) is nearly in double figures so I cannot justify another one:) xx
I am enjoying your experiments with stacking. The learning of better ways to do techniques is a special benefit of being part of the great community of photographers.
It may not be the result you want but the outcome still is a neat photo. Good luck. We have a guy in the photo club who uses photo stacking all the time. He uses so many photos too. I'd be waiting on my computer all day if I did that.
jxx
PS tripod & focus rail.
xx