Focus merge and HDR merge at the same time

[MRphotography]

Hi 

I am new in photography and using Affinity as well. I experiment with my camera and multiple focus points and multiple exposure . 

I am wandering using Affinity, what is the best way to create a very clear landscape photo with great DoF and to be HDR.

The steps I have in my minds is:

5 different exposures 

for each exposure 9 different focal points 

then on Affinity 

I am thinking to merge the focal points first (grouped by exposure) , so I will get five new photos where each one now includes all focal points but has different exposure 

then I will do the HDR merge 

 

is this a right approach ?

and how I control/decide the correct DoF (lets say is a landscape or night skyscrapers wig water in front or stars)

 

many thanks 

[John Rostron]

I was going to say HDR first, Focus Merge second. However I think that it will really depend on your subject matter.

I would suggest that you try it both ways and report back here. I'm sure that many members would be interested to see your results.

John

[John Rostron]

5 minutes ago, MRphotography said:

how I control/decide the correct DoF (lets say is a landscape or night skyscrapers wig water in front or stars)

I suggest you get a depth of field calculator. These are several apps available that will do this for you.

John

[firstdefence]

There is a very good App for smart phones called PhotoPills, what it doesn't do isn't worth knowing about. It has a DoF calc and a DoF table.

   

[IanSG]

9 different focal points sounds too many.  I'd start by finding how small an aperture you can use without seeing diffraction effects and then do some hyperfocal distance calculations to see how many exposures you need.  My guess would be only 2 or 3.  

 

[MRphotography]

Thanks All, 

 

i found also this link, which is more or less the approach you suggested 

https://photographersbreakthrough.com/get-mad-skills/hdr-and-focus-stacking

 

I have also PhotoPills but didn't use it yet! 

I visit this point below very often so I will try to do more using the same point. This phot below is just my first try, 10 shots , same exposure but 10 different focus points without focal point calculation (just put f8) with 37mm APS-C.

colour effect is using Nik on affinity ( i really love it) and focus merge on affinity is soooo simple