In many macro and product photography settings, achieving sufficient depth of field without sacrificing sharpness across the entire scene demands focus stacking. The workflow begins long before you press the shutter, with deliberate planning: choose a stable subject, plan for consistent lighting, and prepare a workflow that supports precise alignment. During shooting, maintain steady technique, shoot RAW for maximum latitude, and capture a sufficient stack that brackets across the depth you want to preserve. Because moving elements can create ghosting when layers are merged, you should minimize motion during the sequence and keep the camera as still as possible. Small movements become amplified when stacking, so control is essential.
After capturing a set of aligned exposures, the real challenge unfolds in post-processing. Start by inspecting the raw files for consistency in exposure, white balance, and focus distance across frames. Use a dedicated alignment tool to register the stacks with subpixel precision, checking for drift that can produce softened edges or halo artifacts. A robust workflow includes masking out dynamic elements or temporarily removing them from certain layers to prevent misalignment. When the subject is largely static, you can merge more aggressively; when movement is present, you’ll rely on refining masks and selectively blending regions to protect detail without introducing ghosting.
Controlling ghosting demands a disciplined approach and targeted masking.
The first operational step is to prepare your exposure stack by organizing files in a logical sequence and naming convention that reflects focus steps. Then, in the alignment phase, you should choose a reference frame that best represents the overall geometry of the scene. As you apply the alignment, use guides or alignment aids to verify that edges align cleanly and that high-contrast areas do not produce false positives. If the subject contains repetitive textures or fine patterns, you may encounter parallax or misregistration; in these cases, reduce the reliance on automatic features and perform manual tweaks on key control points. This blend of automation and manual oversight yields more reliable results.
Ghosting often arises when elements inside the frame move between shots, or when lighting shifts subtly across frames. To mitigate this, separate the static background from the moving elements during the merge, so you can preserve detail in the background while reducing ghost effects on the foreground. Use a blend mode that preserves texture and tonal transitions without amplifying misalignment. It helps to create a composite with multiple passes: a detailed base merged from well-aligned frames, and selective passes that only alter areas where movement was minimal. Finally, apply global tone and color corrections after the merge to ensure uniformity across the entire image.
Scene-specific presets help you maintain consistency across shoots.
When you encounter subtle movement in the foreground, consider using a mask to exclude that region from the initial merge, then reintroduce it with a separate pass that blends more conservatively. This strategy preserves the stability of the background while allowing you to recover foreground texture where it’s stable enough to be trusted. A key tactic is to test different feather radii on masks, balancing edge integrity with natural transitions. You can also leverage a luminance-based mask to separate highly saturated highlights from midtones, which often helps to prevent halo artifacts around moving elements. Consistency remains paramount, so repeatable workflows pay dividends.
Another solid practice is to work with alignment presets that reflect the scene type. For leafed plants or fabrics with fine grain, you might benefit from tighter registration and smaller blend radii. For metallic or glass surfaces, you’ll often need more conservative color corrections prior to merging to avoid color fringing. If your stack includes motion-blurred frames, consider excluding those frames from the main merge while retaining them for reference or for specialized composites. Throughout the process, document the parameters you apply, so you can reproduce the results or troubleshoot if artifacts reappear.
Maintain consistent exposure while protecting texture and color fidelity.
A crucial consideration is lens distortion, which can skew alignment when stacking. Apply a pre-merge correction for barrel or pincushion distortion using a high-quality lens profile, then re-check alignment. Distortion can move edge details differently across frames, creating ghosted lines if left unchecked. After correction, re-run alignment with updated control points and verify that the edges of fine textures align crisply. For subject edges that are particularly delicate, consider a small amount of local warp instead of a global correction to avoid introducing new artifacts. This careful approach keeps the final composite clean.
Managing exposure consistency across the stack helps reduce post-merge anomalies. To this end, shoot with manual exposure to avoid shifts that arise from automatic compensation, and use a stable light source or distance-controlled illumination. When minor exposure drift occurs, you can correct it in post with a controlled dodge-and-burn workflow or by applying a selective equalization to midtones, rather than global changes that could affect color balance. For scenes with strong specular highlights, a graduated approach to highlight recovery helps preserve detail without clipping. Regularly preview the merged result at multiple magnifications to catch subtle inconsistencies.
A repeatable, tested workflow speeds up production and reduces errors.
In the merging stage, consider using a stack-based merge algorithm that suits your subject’s texture. For micro-details such as dust, grain, or skin pores, a blending approach that emphasizes high-frequency information can preserve sharpness without amplifying ghosting. Conversely, for smooth surfaces, a lighter influence from moving frames may be appropriate to minimize artifacts. You should experiment with different blend equations and layer orders to identify the balance that yields the most natural perception of depth and texture. Once you settle on a method, apply it uniformly across the set, then review critical regions for any residual ghosting and correct as needed.
Finally, finalize your image with a careful pass of color science and sharpening. Color grading should be approached with restraint to avoid introducing artificial halos around edges where layers blend. Sharpening can be applied selectively to areas where depth information is strongest, avoiding regions with known motion-induced softness. Use a soft mask to restrict sharpening to intact textures, and validate the result by viewing at calibrated targets or in print previews. A non-destructive workflow—saving iterative versions—lets you compare approaches and revert to earlier, artifact-free states if necessary.
To build a robust, evergreen workflow, you should create a template that encodes your preferred presets for alignment, masking, and merging. Documenting each decision—such as which frames to exclude, how masks were feathered, and what blend modes were chosen—provides a knowledge base you can reuse across projects. Templates help ensure consistency across sessions, particularly when you shoot similar subjects under comparable lighting. As you gain experience, you’ll refine your presets to minimize manual intervention while preserving flexibility to handle unusual scenes. A reliable template reduces the cognitive load during post-processing and helps maintain production schedules.
The final step is archiving and future-proofing your work. Store your source images with metadata detailing capture conditions, equipment, and processing steps used. Create a project log with notes on any challenges you faced, such as movement in certain areas or lighting quirks, so you can anticipate similar issues next time. Back up all iterations and ensure that you can access older versions if you decide to revisit your composites. Periodically review your workflow against new tools or techniques, adopting enhancements that improve accuracy, speed, and predictability while maintaining the integrity of your focus-stacked imagery.
