If you are photographing some products and you want the most noise-free image possible, image stacking is the best way to go.

Image alignment and focus stacking algorithms in Photoshop will do the rest for you.Įxample of a focus stacked image. Make sure your light is constant between the shots and that you don’t shift your perspective too much. Whether it will confuse the algorithm or it will show up when stacked, the fact is that you’ll have issues and the result won’t be perfect. If the light changes it might pose some issues with the stacking. The only issue here is to have the same light during these shots. This process usually requires a tripod and some fiddling to get it right, however image alignment in Photoshop is so advanced nowadays that you can do it handheld with some practice. The only way to go usually is to shoot more images at different focus and then stack them together in order to create a composite image which will have bigger field of focus than a single shot would have. Having enough depth of field to squeeze the whole subject into focus when focusing up close is really hard. We can call it “macro photographer’s way of life”. The 3 sample images are blended together through HDR software to create a composite with greater amount of dynamic range 2. That’s true especially when it comes to noise. That is great improvement on the amount of quality and detail over JPEG HDR processing. With the improvement HDR software solutions offers, processing RAW bracketed files is an option nowadays. Generally, more than 5 photos is not worth the hassle since they don’t help much. However, there are no limitations (at least by software) to the number of photos you can use. Usually, 3 shots 1 EV apart do the trick. Stacking 3 or more images shot at different exposure settings (underexposed, normal, and overexposed) can be used in order to expand the dynamic range beyond the capabilities of the camera. You can get a cleaner, sharper image and you can compress tones to gain better dynamic range in your photos by stacking. Let's look at them in detail. But what are the benefits of stacking images? Well, as simple as it may sound, you are able to achieve results you wouldn't have been able to obtain with a single photo. Since the beginning of the digital age in photography, stacking images has become much more common than it used to be earlier.

Photo stacking in photoshop