Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 24 minutes ago

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Most focus stacking tutorials show you what to do when you're in front of your computer, but that just shows you "how" to do it. It's as important to know "why" and "when" to focus stack. So, we're going to start at the actual composition phase in the field.

First, it's important to understand why you why you would want to focus stack based on the lens you're using and the distance to your subject(s). Next, you'll want to make sure that your composition is best suited for a focus stack before taking the shots. You'll also want to be sure that you get the proper focus stack brackets. Finally, it's time to turn to the computer to stack the images together. BUT, there are instances where Adobe Photoshop's auto stacking feature outputs a poor result. So, I'll show you a super easy way to fix that. Let's have some fun!

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Table of Contents:
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00:00 - Introduction
01:13 - What is focus stacking?
03:25 - Setting the right focus mode
04:25 - Pro Tip - Use a polarizer!
04:55 - Taking the foreground photo
06:15 - Taking the middle ground photo
06:51 - Taking the background photo
08:15 - Get better waterfall photos
08:54 - Sending the focus stack brackets to Photoshop
12:21 - Aligning the brackets
14:39 - Focus stacking using Auto Blending
16:25 - Focus stacking using layer masks (the manual way)

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Continue your video watching journey:
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How To Set Up Back Button Auto Focus AND WHY - youtu.be/7K8hxS5qrsw