Changing the Focus of a Photo After it’s Taken with Light Field Technology

To some, there are few things on earth more fun than snapping photos. Some use their cameras for pleasure, others use it for business, while some even manage to do it for both. If there’s one complaint that all photographers share, though, it’s that a poor focus can ruin what could have been an amazing shot. Most often, no amount of post-processing will help.

Well, believe it or not, that problem might become a thing of the past, if “Light Field” technology hits the mainstream. It’s a sensor-based technology that allows more than the usual amount of light rays in that can capture a lot more overall depth and information. What that means is, the resulting image isn’t simply a flat one, but one that contains a lot of extra data for the sake of future use.

Picture, for example, snapping a photo where the subject in the foreground is blurry, while the background is crisp. With the appropriate software, you could take your raw Light Field photo and quite literally click on various areas where you would like to focus. Yes, it’s really quite possible with this technology.

Another plus is being able to change the perspective of the photo just a tad, in case it will result in a better overall result. For example, if you took a picture of a railing with a lake or ocean seen through it, you can move the picture up and down and see both the railing and the water separate from each other. A good example of this can be found here.

Tech start-up Lytro aims to bring this technology to consumers in the near-future, and thanks to its recently-acquired $50M in funding, it’ll happen sooner than later.