In Super Resolution Part 1, I tried Adobe’s new Super-Resolution to boost the megapixels of a cropped image while enhancing the details. But how would this translate to a portrait?
With lockdown still in progress, I have not been able to meet up with anyone for a shoot so I had to turn to an older shoot. It has been over a year since my first boudoir shoot with Bambi Bang Bang. The images were still Sony α7 III .arw raw files so would be a good base to start from. This shot was taken in the bath of the hotel room using the Sony α7 III and the 85mm f1.8 lens.
The image is 24MB and again when minced through the Super-Resolution process, results in a large DNG file being produced. This experiment was not about how big a file was or if I could enhance a cropped image, this was to see if the quality was affected by the process. I was most interested in zooming in to make this a headshot and to bring focus to the eye and retain the sharpness of the iris.
The resulting file is 7564x6052, 18.2MB JPG, JpegMini: 7.73MB, JpegMini Final: 3.34MB
50% zoomed in.
100% zoomed in.
This is incredible… I would have been happy at 50% but at 100% you can see blood vessels in sharp fine detail. You can even see me holding the camera up above Bambi while she was reclining in the bath. As the shot was taken from above I wonder how this Super-Resolution will look like if I can get a close-up shot on the eye to begin with. This does mean I can now reprocess older shots, for example, I could double up on a standard full-body shot to a portrait shot from the same shot. Of course it will not be the same as moving closer or zooming in to get the full 24MP coverage of the sensor but in a pinch, it will do for me.
The one drawback is that this process enhances everything! I can add an automatic skin smoother but you will have to be prepared for more cloning work if you want to export your final image at that high resolution.
Thanks to Bambi Bang Bang for allowing me to experiment with her eyes, you can see more of Bambi on her Instagram @bambibangbanguk and also please check out her brilliant artwork at @doeeyedoodles !