Greater depth of field. It’s a quest for many shooters, to be able to achieve critical focus for a subject. One technique to achieve this is focus stacking, which allows you to take a series of photos captured with different focal depths and merge them together.
When shooting, try this approach:
- If possible, secure the camera on a tripod or a stable surface. The software can correct minor variations caused by handheld shooting.
- Manually set the focus point for the image. This can often be done with d-pad controls.
- Move the focus point to a different point in the image.
- Repeat a few times as needed to fully cover the subject. While none of the photos will have tack sharp focus in all areas, it’s possible to combine them.
- Load the images onto your computer.
- Launch Adobe Photoshop.
Here’s how to achieve Focus Stacking with Adobe Photoshop.The process is very automated.
[vimeo http://vimeo.com/69634545 w=640&h=360]
The video can also be viewed here.
Disclaimer: This is just one way to stack shots together for an extended focal range. We hope you find these tips helpful for making better photos.
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