Merceded SLS AMG and More

Last night I had some time to kill.  So i went to Rite Aid and I picked up a 1:18 Mercedes SLS AMG model car for the purpose of photographing it. Only this time I decided to learn some new things. I didn't get enough time or patience last night to get to experiment with both. But I will share with folks both for the purpose of learning.

1. Focus Stacking / Light Stalking 
2. Shooting Tethered 

Focus Stacking / Light Stalking 
Pretty much, self explanatory. You take multiple photos with the exact same settings on the camera (Manual Mode , Shutter Priority or Aperture Priority) either one works, the only difference between these photos is the Focus Point. In post processing you can use either photoshop or other software to merge these photos into one.

This comes in handy when you want crisp Macro photos. In my case it would have been very helpful.
for example if you look below at the photo of the Mercedes SLS even though it was shot at f16, the depth of field is still very shallow.  If i would have used the focus staking technique the entire car would have been in focus. However that is not the effect i was going for.  Click here for a great tutorial on focus stacking.

Light Stacking is the same concept. The difference in this case is the light. For example, I would have lit the hood/bonnet first then the side then the roof and combine all of these into one well lit photo.
This exact effect can be obtained with light painting

Shooting Tethered 
This is a slow process. But it can be very helpful and time saving. It will save you time because you will know if you got the shot your were looking fairly quick. It's not an instant process. But here is a video on how to set it up on a OSX and with Canon cameras.

MERCEDES SLS AMG

Light Painting

Here is an example of my car done with light painting.
I set the camera on my Tripod Manfrotto 294
I set the camera on Bulb with Manual Focus on Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR Di LD
I used a Canon RC-1 Remote to trigger the camera, this thing is pretty awesome.

Now for the light painting part i used a NEEWER 24x24 inch softbox with a 100w light bulb inside.
I would open the shutter walk around the car with the light and then close the shutter.
Here is the final result.