Let’s break down the image capture process. Again, this technique mirrors the previous chapter, except for the addition of the strobe and ND filter in our process.

  1. Set exposure to desired effect/manual mode (use histogram and highlight alert to gauge which parts of your images are over or under exposed)
  2. ND filter or HSS
  3. Dial in flash power for ambient to flash balance
  4. Pose couple and tell them to hold very still
  5. Camera on tripod
  6. Lock focus using either your customized buttons or manual focus
  7. Decide on the look/effect
    a. 3-5 frames with wider crop: strong DOF, simple stitch
    b. 5-9 frames with medium crop: stronger DOF, intermediate stitch
    c. 9-15+ frames with tight crop: strongest DOF, difficult stitch
  8. Shoot, remove flash, capture plate image
  9. Pan, shoot, pan (1/3 image overlap)