How to use Helicon focus where images are not identical

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dhuiting
Posts: 1
Joined: 21.08.2017 02:26

How to use Helicon focus where images are not identical

Post by dhuiting »

Hi all! I want to use try program after seeing Photoshop do a horrible job of blending focus for me.

What I am doing is shooting a photograph of a scene in a set with actors on 8x10 film. There are characters in a barbershop and some characters seen out the window, and there is not enough depth of field to get them all. Since the actors are human, they cannot possibly hold still enough throughout the 6 exposures needed to cover all the focus, so I have planned to shoot some background plates as well (with all actors gone) in case I need to paint in parts of the background. The problem is, the software can't possibly guess which parts of the photos I want to use from which photo in the stack, since people's heads will have moved, etc. and the existence of background plates is the only way to choose one photo I like of a person in the foreground, and then paint in other parts of the image around them (from a background plate) until I get to the next person I like in the background, and choose the photo of them that is most in focus (which will differ slightly in the person's position from the first photo of the foreground person).

Does that make sense?

I know this is the technique that Photographer Gregory Crewdson used to make his famous photographs on 8x10 film, but I just don't know the easiest way to stack focus with subjects that cannot stay perfectly still.

Can anyone help me?
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Stas Yatsenko
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Re: How to use Helicon focus where images are not identical

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Well, if you make change in the scene, you will need usual photoshop tools stitch result from several layers by masking objects (people). I would recommend you to try burst shooting. You will need to set cameras on a tripod, choose serial/burst shooting in the camera settings.
Then you will need to press release button and rotate focusing ring at the same time. Using this method, you will be able to shoot the whole stack in a second. You will probably need to make several trials to define how far and how fast you should rotate the focusing ring but after some practice this method is quite simple.
Clipping path
Posts: 21
Joined: 26.09.2017 14:33

Re: How to use Helicon focus where images are not identical

Post by Clipping path »

if try out burst shooting mode then you can solve your problem.
JoshuaHardy
Posts: 3
Joined: 27.11.2017 11:27

Re: How to use Helicon focus where images are not identical

Post by JoshuaHardy »

Burst shooting mode can be used as an option. Cameras capable of high continuous shooting rates are much desired when the subjects are in motion, as in sports photography, or where the opportunities are brief. Rather than anticipate the action precisely, photographers can simply start shooting from right before they believe the action will occur, giving a high chance of at least one frame being acceptable. Most modern digital SLR cameras have continuous shooting rates of between 3 and 8 frames per second.
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