Want to create perfectly focused and sharp macro and landscape images? Here is a step-by-step guide on focus stacking, it will help you create perfectly sharp images. The steps described in the article will help you to photograph images for focus stacking. It will also help you to apply focus stacking using adobe Photoshop. So, let’s dive right in.
Here are the steps you will learn in this post –
To create a focus-stacked image, first photograph multiple sets of frames with different areas of image focus. The second step is the post-processing of the multiple images in Adobe Photoshop to create a sharp image. Let’s start with the first step.
1. How to photograph images for Focus Stacking
Images are photographed with Nikon D500, Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens, and Gitzo tripod. Since we have three frames ready, now it’s time to apply focus stacking in Adobe Photoshop. Let’s learn how to apply focus stacking in Adobe Photoshop.
2. How to apply focus stacking in adobe Photoshop
Here is a step-by-step guide on post processing an images using adobe Lightroom
Here is one more example of focus stacking.
I have photographed beautiful Corynandraf with three images. In the first image, the front area of the flower is in focus. In the second image, the middle area is in focus. And, in the third image rear part of the flower is in focus. Here is final Focus stacked image. You can see all the areas of a flower are in focus and sharp. Note: – We may be tempted to increase the aperture to a value of f/16 or f/22 to get a correctly focused image. However, increasing the aperture number may not give perfect sharpness for your image. If you want a perfectly focused and sharp image from foreground to the background, focus stacking is an excellent option. The focus stacking technique will help you to create perfectly focused and sharp images of macro objects. You will find this technique extremely helpful in landscape images as well. How do you focus-stack your images or any thoughts on this article? Either way, let me know by leaving the comment below right now.
About the Author
Shreyas S. Yadav is an engineer, wildlife and nature photographer from India. He is also a writer and lifelong adventure explorer. Through his writings, he teaches about digital post-processing and nature photography. He shares field techniques about nature photography, post-processing, and wildlife photo stories on his website. You can also follow Shreyas on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and 500px. This article was also published here and shared with permission.
