Training focus stacking

Focus stacking is a great technique for landscape photography because it provides perfect sharpness throughout the scene you’re shooting. In fact, the results are so clear that the resulting images can look surreal. So, here’s how to focus pictures, just read on.

Focus stacking

How to teach focus stacking

A large depth of field is a necessary element in most landscape images, but it is not always possible to achieve a certain sharpness across a scene with an image. Despite shooting at a narrow aperture such as f/11 or f/16, if there are scene elements close to the camera and more interest behind the scene near the horizon, it is often impossible to see everything clearly. The background may be “acceptably sharp”, but not as sharp as the focus point and surrounding area.

In the focus stacking tutorial review, you should know that the best way to ensure optimal sharpness was to focus your images and combine them in Affinity Photo. The advantage here is that you can shoot from the “sweet spot” of your lens. This is the aperture that produces the sharpest results, although it is not the largest depth of field, and is usually f/8 or f/11. Then by merging these images together, you both create pin-sharpness throughout the image and get the sharpest results possible with your lens.

How to Improve Depth of Field Using Focus Stacking

Get amazing composite photos using this technique. Learn this skill for amazing photo editing, using focus stacking to improve the depth of field in your photos! Focus stacking is a creative technique in photography that is created by combining different focus points in an image to create deep depth of field (how sharp and focused the photo is).

Photos taken with different focus are merged or superimposed in the edit. A very sharp image is useful when your camera settings can’t quite get the required depth of field. This tutorial includes Lightroom and Photoshop for editing as well as a specific understanding of exposure steps. If you need a refresher, check out the tutorials on these topics:

Free landscape photography workshop; Edit epic landscapes in Lightroom
The ultimate Lightroom tutorial for beginners
Companion editing: Lightroom classic editing tutorial; Free raw files

Focus training

How to improve depth of field by teaching focus stacking

How to Improve Depth of Field Step 1: Take the right shots in the field

In the focus stacking tutorial review, you should know that you are out on location and preparing to take a photo, and the most important thing is to frame the photo well. Adjust your composition to what looks most appealing. To do proper focus placement, you need to take these specific shots. You’ll combine these later in the editing section: focus the camera on the background distance and then take at least three shots with different exposure settings.

Focus the camera on the foreground, then take three photos at least with different exposure settings. You can do one with focus on the ground and take three shots with different exposure settings but it’s optional. You can use a bracket or an on-camera setup that takes multiple shots at different exposures, but you can also do this manually. The handheld allows you to set your preferred exposure.

How to improve depth of field Step 2: Combine and edit photos in Lightroom

In reviewing the focus stacking tutorial, you should know to open two of the focused photos in the foreground and two focused photos in the distance. Choose the best exposure for each. Start by focusing the photos on the background, select both, and then right-click and choose Photo Merge > HDR from the menu. Merge and edit photos with the same focus point with an HDR

(HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, which occurs when multiple focus and exposure points are combined into one photo). This process merges exposures with the same focus point into a new image that you can now edit. Edit the photo as you like using the editing panel with the slider on the right.

Focused photos

Focus on hdr background blending for editing

In the focus stacking tutorial review, you should know that after finishing editing, tap “control shift C” on your keyboard to bring up the copy settings. In the pop-up window, make sure everything is checked and click copy. Then, do the same HDR merge for the two differently exposed shots focused on the foreground. Right-click on the newly merged image to paste the copied edits you made onto this new image.

Better depth of field Step 3: Assemble everything in Photoshop

Next, select both merged HDR images. Right-click, select Edit in from the menu, open a page in Photoshop as a layer. Select Edit, Autoblend layers. You can make detailed settings in the editing section. You need to make sure that the image is super sharp and has a wide dynamic range. Save and close the image from Photoshop and return to Lightroom where the final image resides. Combine photos in Photoshop to get the final stack and amazing depth of field.

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Bahareh Salehnia is a porter photography artist from New York. She is one of the most popular influencers on Instagram and the owner of one of the biggest photography learning pages on Instagram, with more than 3.4 million followers.