Posted by Jack Garrett on April 23, 2008 at 4:52 PM
I just read on Marc Adamus post in PNWNP that he blended 2 F13 images to get a better depth of field. I've been using old school F22 theory and always wondered why my images were a little soft in the foreground. Is blending a better way of doing things these days? It seems like I need to blend for exposure as well as DOF in separate sequences..is that right? Also, where can I find a good tutorial on how to do all this? I have CS3 and want to get some better images both exposure and DOF-wise. I've done some HDR stuff but never with DOF included.
Jack
Posted by Todd Caudle on April 23, 2008 at 5:09 PM
The way Adobe updates things to make other forms of software irrelevant, I'd be quite stoked if a future update of Photoshop included something like Helicon Focus software that blended focused parts of several images into one image as well as CS3's Photomerge works.
You could certainly do it without special software the same technique as combining two exposures to create more dynamic range. Just focus one shot on the foreground and use something like f8-f11, shoot another one focused farther back, a third one focused at infinity, then lay each one on top the other, erasing the out-of-focus areas of each successive image with a layer mask. It would be labor-intensive, but I assume that's what Marc did. It's something I've been mulling for a while now.
I'll heartily second the 'Digital Schleimpflug' tutorial!
I was on the verge of purchasing something like Helicon Focus, when I first saw the link to this method. It's not automatic, but it is simple and straightforward.
I just tried it with some images that I exposed last weekend using different focal points, and it worked very, very well. Takes longer to read the tut than it does to implement the steps involved. CS3's new AutoAlign layers technique is what makes it all possible.
A big 'Thanks!' to Tony K. for spending all of the time and effort into compiling this tutorial and for saving me $70 (..for a 1 year license for HF!!!). And you're certainly welcome to use this testimonial if you like.
Posted by Paul Wegemann on April 23, 2008 at 7:49 PM
Have a look at CombineZM. It's free and works well. Not as easy as Helicon, but you can't beat the price. If you don't have CS3, doing this by hand is hard. (CS3 has Autoalign as John mentioned).
Hey Todd - You're not the only one who expects an Adobe update to include this feature.
Last year when I went with Nat to pick up a printer at George Lepp's house, George said that he expected Adobe to come out with their version in the near future. (He's mentioned Helicon Focus in two articles since that time.)
I wasn't clear whether he thought they would buy the rights from Helicon or just figure it out for themselves but I've been keeping an eye on Adobe's releases for that specific feature ever since. In the meantime I plan to try Tony Kuyper's tutorial.
Discussion
5 repliesJack
The way Adobe updates things to make other forms of software irrelevant, I'd be quite stoked if a future update of Photoshop included something like Helicon Focus software that blended focused parts of several images into one image as well as CS3's Photomerge works.
You could certainly do it without special software the same technique as combining two exposures to create more dynamic range. Just focus one shot on the foreground and use something like f8-f11, shoot another one focused farther back, a third one focused at infinity, then lay each one on top the other, erasing the out-of-focus areas of each successive image with a layer mask. It would be labor-intensive, but I assume that's what Marc did. It's something I've been mulling for a while now.
http://goodlight.us/writing/digitalscheimpflug/digitalscheimpflug-0.html
Guy
I was on the verge of purchasing something like Helicon Focus, when I first saw the link to this method. It's not automatic, but it is simple and straightforward.
I just tried it with some images that I exposed last weekend using different focal points, and it worked very, very well. Takes longer to read the tut than it does to implement the steps involved. CS3's new AutoAlign layers technique is what makes it all possible.
A big 'Thanks!' to Tony K. for spending all of the time and effort into compiling this tutorial and for saving me $70 (..for a 1 year license for HF!!!). And you're certainly welcome to use this testimonial if you like.
Last year when I went with Nat to pick up a printer at George Lepp's house, George said that he expected Adobe to come out with their version in the near future. (He's mentioned Helicon Focus in two articles since that time.)
I wasn't clear whether he thought they would buy the rights from Helicon or just figure it out for themselves but I've been keeping an eye on Adobe's releases for that specific feature ever since. In the meantime I plan to try Tony Kuyper's tutorial.