The “Brenizer Method” is essentially stitching for portraits instead of landscapes. Not for the increased resolution it brings (though that’s obviously a bonus), but for another reason. I thought I’d just write down a few thoughts about it here…
Here’s an alternate version of the above picture:
So why use this method? It’s all in the depth of field. The above was shot with a wide angle right? WRONG! there’s no way you’d get that shallow depth of field with a wide angle. In much the same was as you wouldn’t get the wide field of view with a long lens.
So, to put it simply, by stitching several photos together with a longer lens, you can get the shallow DOF associated with the longer lens, but also the wide angle. Some people think of it as a simulation of a large format system (which whilst I can see, I disagree with since large format is still pretty different).
Obviously the increased resolution is nice for a detailed large print too… I mean, here’s a crop of the above shot (it’s not even at 100% yet though)
Hopefully as I play with the technique more, I’ll get enough examples to put together a kind of tutorial on the technique, but if you can stitch a landscape, why not give it a go with portraits?
(Apologies to Sarah for posting pictures of her… she’s very patient at times…)
