Hi Keith,

I think there's a lot to like in your photo. Most of the "leaves" seem sharp to me, only the ones at the back and pointing forwards seem to be less sharp.

The background is good, I love the gentle fading to complete blur behind the plant. I like your white vignette, too.

The pot legs are quite blurred, and the closest one is almost touching the bottom edge. These are quite off-putting to me. I suspect that you needed a wider step in your bracket, as at this magnification and aperture, each frame should have a fair old depth of field of its own. But if the frames overlap too much, the combined depth of field is still small.   Posted: 07/08/2024 09:14:40

The pot the plant is in is blurry and distracting since it takes up much of the photo. Also one can see the cloth pattern under the pot, also distracting. I think if you cropped it to show only a little of the pot it would be a much stronger photo and most if the aloe is sharp. See if that works?   Posted: 07/08/2024 11:18:49

Keith, kudos to you for continuing to perfect your focus-stacking. Your leaves look sharp, but other areas (especially the pot) feel out-of-focus. I am wondering if the issue is where you are placing your first image. I have struggled with that--sometimes it has to be one-third of the way in, while other times it has to be focused on the very front edge of the subject. I have one other suggestion. In the January, 2020 PSA Journal (access it online at PSA-Photo.org), Bas Montgomery and Harold Ross did an incredible article on Still Life Photography. There was also a free online, interactive class offered through PSA at one time on Still Life. It is all in the lighting....almost like light-painting. The beautiful lighting that wraps around the subject makes the image. Although I like your background, I think you might want to explore Still Life through that article and the course? It is fun and you can spend hours on the set-up and capture, but it is so well worth it!   Posted: 07/09/2024 15:52:33

Hi Carol, I was trying to set the initial focus point closer to the lowest of the view screen, but limited by the camera. I ended up putting the first focus point at the front edge of the flower pot.. It proves to be not so ideal.. as it's about the centre of the image.
I really appreciate your suggested PSA Journal article on Still Life photography.. I definitely will look it up and study.. love playing with lighting (and light painting is something I like to tryout as well). Thanks again.   Posted: 07/09/2024 18:47:08

I seems like there was too much for the stacking to handle this time. I would have suggested to leave out the pot from the photo. the leaves are interesting but somehow the pot does not appeal to me nor the box paper. aloe with yellow background would be enough. leaves in all different directions look like they would have been enough of a stacking experiment in itself. but you got us a reference article! I like seeing your experiments Keith, we are kind of at similar points with this. can you tell me where the commands for the HDR are in photoshop. not sure I am using the same thing. I am with the align/blend. I also thought you said your camera did the stacking????   Posted: 07/15/2024 05:57:07

Hi Keith, the set up is very interesting and also the color combinations. I agree with others that the blurred pot and the texture of the flooring are distracting. I also think that maybe the focus should be on the plant itself and getting that sharp all around, maybe eliminating the pot from the composition.   Posted: 07/23/2024 19:52:00