focus stacking and why its very handy to use.

This shot of marriot falls tasmania was a mixture of 10 images.

Each of the 10 images were specifically focused in 10 different areas through out the image.  I used this technique as i knew there was a very good chance it would be purchased in a large print and wanted the best result possible for the buyer.

using a tripod is essential

Once you have taken the 10 focused shots, import them all  into photoshop.

you will then need to do -  ( no editing on any photos at this point )

1.  from image 10,select all of the photo and go to edit menu and press  copy , then paste onto photo number 1 ( do this with remaining 8 images )

2 . once all images are copied onto the 1 photo, you will notice the image has 9 layers opened. You will then need to hold shift and press each layer until they are all highlighted blue.

3 . go to your edit menu and select " auto align layers "  it will bring up a box of options.  i usually leave it on auto.

4 - it will have picked the sharpest parts of all images and blended them together. you may need to do some very slight cropping.

This is a great tool to get great depth of field and clarity in an image.

 

i hope this proves helpfull.

 

Josh Vince

     

 

Views: 244

Comment by Antonio Ranieri on May 21, 2012 at 20:17

Yes Vince I focus stack a lot of my images when I use the Hasselblad H4D50 but don't use it as much with 200mp.  I agree great tool to have

Comment by Dylan Toh on May 23, 2012 at 12:01

Nice work on the end result Josh!

Comment by Robert Norman on May 25, 2012 at 11:52

Have you ever used Helicon focus stacking software? I downloaded a copy intending to have a play, but haven't got around to it.

Apparently you can take a mosaic of images of a scene and it will merge them into one using the sharpest sections of overlapping images - a trick CS5 can't do (at least I don't think it can).

Helicon was apparently developed for scientific applications, but I know at least 1 professional photographer who swears by it.

The developers site is http://www.heliconsoft.com/heliconfocus.html

Comment by josh vince on May 26, 2012 at 16:21

cheers dylan ;)

hey robert.. im pretty new to programs.. and havent explored anything outside of photoshop..

sounds really good mate

 

cheers

Comment by Anthony Davey on June 6, 2012 at 18:58

Hey Josh, way cool technique, I was not aware of this one, cool idea though

Comment by Antonio Ranieri on June 6, 2012 at 19:04

I tried this technique in PS & I wasn't happy with the results.  Hence I use Helicon focus & Xyrene stacker which blows Helicon focus away!!

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