Stitch Action Photography

By Pauric OCallaghan
Time Required: 30-45 minute

Print this Project

It’s very rewarding to create a picture that conveys more than what a single image can capture. Whether the picture is of baby’s first steps or an Olympic gymnast’s somersault, the process at work conveys motion in a static image. Stitching multiple images together is a form of time-lapse photography. In traditional time-lapse the output is a video. But here we’ll place each frame on top of the other, allowing viewers to replay the action in their minds. Photo sequencing only works when the object moves across a static background. A dog performing a series of tricks at a show works well; a runner directly approaching the camera does not. Subjects can be anything from a bird in flight to a snowboarder’s jump.

December 18, 2012, 10:43 pm PST

Steps

Step #1: Set up your canvas and align the images.

NextPrev

First, you need a graphics application that handles multiple layers, and it's easier if you have a graphics pen. A mouse is OK, but a bit cumbersome.
Create your canvas, the space in which your photos will be laid out, with a height that's double the image, and a width equaling all images laid end to end.
If you have three pictures, each 800×600 pixels, your canvas will be 2400×1200 pixels. Place your images on the canvas, giving each its own layer. Place image 1 in the first layer, image 2 in the second layer, etc.
If the photographer panned the camera during the sequence, you need to line up the background. I used the horizon for vertical alignment, and spaced the rider evenly for horizontal alignment. The waves were moving, so I had no other point of reference between images.
Start by aligning images 1 and 2, turn other images to “invisible,” and set image 2 to 50% transparent. Then move image 2 around until you are set. Repeat with image 3 at 50% over 2, and so on.