If everything turned out sharp, then you’re good to go – but if parts of the shot are blurry, then you’ll need to proceed with the focus stacking technique. Zoom in and check both the foreground and background. Not sure whether focus stacking is necessary? Take a test shot with your lens focused about one-third of the way into the scene, then review it on your camera LCD. It’s only when you add in close foreground objects – thus increasing scene depth – that focus stacking becomes essential. If you’re using a wide-angle lens, you can probably shoot most landscape scenes at f/16 or so and get an image that’s sharp throughout. It doesn’t need to be perfect – you can always make changes in post-processing – but if you can keep the white balance consistent, it’ll make your job much easier down the line.)Īnd by the way: Before you proceed with the rest of the focus-stacking steps, make sure that your scene actually requires focus stacking.
(For the same reason, I’d also recommend you select a white balance preset and dial it in. Once you’ve set your exposure, you should not change it, or else you’ll need to do extra work standardizing the exposures when blending your shots later. You should use the camera’s exposure meter and histogram to guide you, and note that the exposure will remain fixed across all focus-stacked shots.
#Photostack free manual
Next, set your camera to Manual mode, then dial in an exposure. Pick a scene that will remain steady for the few minutes it takes to set up your shot.) (Quick aside: You’ll struggle to focus stack scenes that feature moving subjects, which is part of the reason why portrait photographers, wildlife photographers, and street photographers rarely use this technique. If you don’t have a tripod, you can do handheld focus stacking, but you’ll need to maintain the composition as carefully as possible. Mount your camera on a tripod and carefully compose your photo. Let’s take a look at how the stacking process works, from shooting in the field to blending the images on the computer: Step 1: Pick your subject, choose a composition, and set your exposureįocus stacking starts by locking down a subject and a composition. Photoshop (or another form of focus-stacking software).An interchangeable-lens camera and a lens capable of focusing manually.
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A tripod, which will keep your composition consistent as you capture a series of images.That said, I do recommend you invest in a few basic items: ( Shallow depth of field shots can look beautiful when done carefully!)Īs I’ve explained above, focus stacking is pretty easy to do, and you can focus stack with a smartphone camera and nothing else. You can take a single shot with a shallower depth of field and try to make the effect work. And you can narrow your aperture, but at a certain point, you’ll start to run into optical problems caused by diffraction. Of course, you can always try to back up or use a wider lens, but that isn’t always feasible (especially if you’ve already chosen your composition). Your depth of field just won’t be deep enough, and only parts of the shot will turn out sharp (while other parts will turn blurry). Specifically, you’ll run into depth of field problems when working with: And if you’re faced by a standard close-up subject such as a flower, you can back up slightly from your subject and narrow your aperture to get your desirable depth of field.īut in a few situations, you won’t be able to achieve a deep enough depth of field to keep the entire shot sharp (from the nearest foreground element to the most distant background element). If you’re faced by a sweeping landscape, you can choose a wide-angle lens and you can narrow your aperture that way, you can capture the entire scene in focus using a deep depth of field.
In most situations, you can handle your depth of field requirements without focus stacking. On the other hand, as you widen your lens, move away from your subject, or narrow your lens aperture, the amount of the scene that’s in focus will increase. So as you zoom your lens, move closer to your subject, or widen your lens aperture, the amount of the scene that’s in focus will decrease. Now, if you’re familiar with camera optics, you’ll know that the depth of field is affected by three key factors:
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