Lime green

I went out to the driveway looking for tiny things and found this bit of lichen, completely loose, in the gravel. I think it originally was on a branch so I think it’s poplar sunburst lichen, but I’m not sure. It’s exceptionally green. Maybe due to an algae bloom. Lichen is a symbiotic organism consisting of algae and fungi so this is a possibility. It’s been pretty rainy of late so … who knows? IRL this little bit is 3/8" x 1/4"

Specific Feedback Requested

Which do you prefer? One is DMap and the other PMax. Neither needed retouching since the bg is a flat rock and has limited depth. I’ll put the 2nd image in a reply so they both can be enlarged fully.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Leica 45mm f/2.8
f/5 | 1/8 sec | ISO 200
Tripod - Polarizer

Lr for tonal balance, a bit of clarity & texture. Zerene for 18-shot stack. Lr for square crop & sharpening. Also used a radial filter around the lichen and darkened down the rock.

@the.wire.smith
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and #2

Cool! Is the second one just a bit bright?

It is a little brighter. Just a result of the stacking process.

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Kris, this is a neat bit of wet fungus with a very interesting shape. It stands out well on the driveway. To compare two views, it works best to include both in the original post. Then a viewer can arrow back and forth between the two (or more). I’m going to guess based on the names that Dmap uses a depth determining algorithm to find sharp areas while Pmax uses a pyramid method. (I don’t know the details of the actual algorithms.) In Helicon, the pyramid method is best when there are lots of small edges and overlapping bits while the depth method is best for relatively smooth subjects. In Helicon, I’d use the depth method for this subject.

I thought about doing that, but changed my mind since I can’t seem to get the images to enlarge fully when there are two in one post. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.

I think your explanation of the two stacking methods is correct. DMap is a depth map image from Zerene. I have the app do both and then I choose the one I want to use for retouching. Mostly it’s DMap, but occasionally there’s too much ‘goop’ and I go with the other despite its tendency to produce more halos.