Increase depth of field effect by Stacking images
Increase depth of field effect by Stacking images | ||
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The concept of combining several portions of images together to make one is not new, and has been used since the earliest days of photography when several negatives were printed onto the same sheet of paper. Similar techniques can be used with good effect in close-up and macro photography. The most basic version of the technique is to shoot two or more images at slightly different focus points, and combine the sharpest sections of each using copying, pasting, and layering techniques in Adobe Photoshop. For example, two shots can be taken in quick succession of a damselfly, one focusing on the main body of the insect, the other refocusing on the plane of the wing. The camera was well supported on a tripod, and the insect, unusually, did not move between exposures. In Adobe Photoshop CS4, you use the Lasso tool to draw around the sharp wing area, including some of the background . A 5-pixel-radius feather is used to soften the edge of the selection. The selection was copied and then pasted into the first image with the sharp body. This automatically creates a layer that can be nudged into place using the Move tool. Usually you can reduce the opacity of the top layer to about 50 percent so that you can see the underlying image through it. Having aligned it perfectly, then return the layer to 100 percent opacity to see the final result. The technique has obvious limitations for moving subjects. | ||