

The actual processing of the images is a sequence of steps, and I would be happy to go through my approach for you at another time. Find your own subject, then follow along with this method for producing your focus stacking images. This soon becomes quite easy, and you may find that it is actually a lot of fun. If you like the idea of producing something like this, with sharp focus through the whole frame, it needs a little attention to start. With various adjustments, the five photographs shown in color above were combined to produce the image below (and a lot more like it!). To achieve the best results with focus stacking, you need to produce the photographs which are technically the most suitable for the focus stacking process.Ī while back, I decided that I wanted to make some images that would look good in a home or workplace, which would reflect the Filipino environment. If you input rubbish, the output will be rubbish. The recommendation made in this article is an application of the old computer acronym of GIGO. This computational process is called focus stacking.
#Photo focus stacking software
That means using software to blend together a number of photographs which have been taken with different points of focus. The only way to conquer this issue in order to get a greater depth of acceptable sharpness in a final photograph is with computational photography. Reduce the distance to subject to only 25cm (less than 5 inches) and the depth of field reduces to only 0.36 cm (1/6th of an inch). For example, if you are using a 100mm lens, at a distance of 50cm (nearly 10 inches from your subject) with an aperture as small as f/16, the area which is acceptably sharp is just 1.9 cm (about 3/4 of an inch). When your camera is really close to the subject, depth of field will be very shallow. What is focus stacking and why is it needed? There are a few details along the way, but the bonus is that there are also other photographic situations where you will be able to apply the same technique. This is the best and the easiest way to achieve the results you want.

The process of focus stacking may seem a bit tedious, but with practice it can actually be incredibly fast and painless.This tutorial will help make it much easier for you to take the photographs needed for focus stacking. While it may not be a technique you use for every photo, focus stacking will make you a more versatile photographer. This should result in a focus stacked photograph which will appear as a layer mask.įocus stacking is an incredibly useful tool that can open the door to capturing truly unique photos. Make sure you select “Stack Images” in the dialog before clicking OK. Then click the following sequence: Choose Edit > Auto-Blend Layers. Blend the layersįinally, you’ll want to blend the layers to create a single, focus-stacked image. Photoshop will then alight the photo layers. Click “Auto selected” before finally clicking OK. Then click the following sequence: Choose Edit > Auto-Align Layers. To alight the photo layers in photoshop, make sure you have all photos selected. This will open Photoshop with your selected photos as layers in the project. To open these images in photoshop click the following sequence: Choose Photo > Edit in > Open as Layers in Photoshop. This will show you all the edits you have made that you want to apply to all the photos.
#Photo focus stacking manual
Shoot in manual mode so that you can have full control over the entire exposure triangle. Consistency in exposure from shot to shot is important to focus stacking one cohesive image. Adjust your settingsNext, properly expose your shot.

Once you’ve decided on your composition, set your tripod and lock it down. So shoot just a bit wider than normal so you won’t have to crop out any important details. If your composition changes you will need to start the entire process over.Īlso keep in mind that photo stacking may require you to slightly crop when merging the photos. It is important to be sure about your composition since focus stacking involves merging multiple images. Start by framing the shot you want and composing the different elements within the frame. Compose your shotĪ crucial step to taking any photo is composing your shot. You will also need to set your camera to manual mode so that you will be able to vary your focal point for different shots. Since focus stacking involves merging multiple photos together, all the photos must have the same exact composition. When focus stacking, using a tripod or some sort of fixed stabilizer for your camera is crucial.
