Auto align aligns to moving objects(clouds) in stack

[dpiximaj]

I use the auto align function in AP all the time in my real estate photography. 98% of the time it's great, but occasionally it aligns to the movement of clouds in the sky. This shows the software is very capable of aligning but it's highly undesirable for the house to be out of alignment in the stack and it's more or less a lock down shot(tripod). The scale is somewhat better than perspective in this case but the "solid" houses are still slightly out of alignment. I use this for bracketing routinely but this one case scenario pops and no real solution? Suggestions?

Thanks, Dan

[Old Bruce]

If you are using a tripod then just stack the photos with align off. The house should be in the exact same location in each frame so auto align is unnecessary in this case.

With the Auto align on the software is trying to find subjects that are out of alignment and is choosing the brightest (largest) objects. Perhaps it thinks that the clouds are the most important item in the images.

[dpiximaj]

Even on lockdown my head moves sometimes(adjusting exposure dial, etc) and I use a 2-5 second timer... some shots are minutely off.  In fact I do manually stack the images and nudge away as a last resort but it would be nice to define(choose, prioritize) a stable object instead of the software trying to align moving objects(clouds in my case).  I bet waves could cause the same issue...

 

[NotMyFault]

5 hours ago, dpiximaj said:

I use the auto align function in AP all the time in my real estate photography. 98% of the time it's great, but occasionally it aligns to the movement of clouds in the sky. This shows the software is very capable of aligning but it's highly undesirable for the house to be out of alignment in the stack and it's more or less a lock down shot(tripod). The scale is somewhat better than perspective in this case but the "solid" houses are still slightly out of alignment. I use this for bracketing routinely but this one case scenario pops and no real solution? Suggestions?

Thanks, Dan

Just a hint: if you use a DSLR on tripod and a body or lens with motion reduction / vibration control / etc, shut it off while on tripod.

Otherwise it will create increased movement, as the algorithms assume handheld, and the induced vibrations from wind or passing cars create severe irregular movement artifacts. Some new Cameras (after about 2018) may auto detect tripods.

[NotMyFault]

Then, if you use stacking, what type of bracketing are you using? I recommend fully manual mode, and only exposure time should change. You should fix aperture, as otherwise focus or image size could shift.

This assumes you stack for HDR. If not, why are you using stacking? Ghost removal, noise removal, …?