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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

How To Go Big

Get more resolution from your camera with these three key techniques: Upsample, Stack, Stitch

This Article Features Photo Zoom

4) onOne Software's Perfect Resize dialog

When addressing the source, consider the frequency of detail represented and noise contained in the file. Noise is challenging to separate from detail. Strike an optimal balance between blurring to reduce noise and sharpening to increase signal. You can blur and upsample smooth low-frequency detail more aggressively than high-frequency detail. For images that contain both, limit how far you go based on the high-frequency detail in them. Don't blur and/or upsample so much that the detail looks synthetically rendered; make it look optically captured.

When choosing a destination, consider the substrate. Hard-coated glossy surfaces in print or display will render finer detail, including artifacts, while soft, fibrous matte print surfaces will hide many artifacts, but not render detail as well.

No single solution will fit all visions. How you choose to process and present your images speaks volumes. While there are general parameters for what most people think is acceptable, or even well-crafted, the choices you make become an integral part of the statement you make. You can do anything and it will work if what you do effectively supports the statement you make. Statements make art; craft supports them.

Develop a critical eye for what to look for in images: contour, texture, noise and gradation. Then, using your best judgment, trust your eyes. If you create an effect that's convincing to you, it's quite likely to be convincing to others. In many cases, because of your expertise and insider knowledge, you may find that you're more discerning and critical than others are.

5) PhotoAcute's dialog

Stack
You can increase the resolution of a file and improve the detail an image renders by making multiple exposures of the same composition and combining them into a single file. To do this, try PhotoAcute—super-resolution is its specialty, and using it's as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Click Select/View images and load the images you want to combine. The benefits are marginal if you use fewer than four files; for best results, combine six or more files. Curiously, you'll see slight benefits even if you use multiple copies of the same file instead of the preferred and recommended method of using multiple exposures.

2. Click Adjust processing options and check Increase resolution. PhotoAcute also offers options to improve noise and chromatic aberration, and increase dynamic range that are convenient. However, if the improvements that need to be made to these aspects of an image are substantial, there are other better ways to achieve these goals.

3. Click Process this group.

How far can you go? A little more than you can with upsampling. Just as with upsampling, how far you can go depends on many factors, including source, destination and the statement being made. The overhead is high with this technique (merging six files takes a little time), but the results are good. Using this exposure and processing method isn't something I would do with every image, but I would strongly consider it for images where resolving fine detail is particularly important and the technique is practical.