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Getting everyone to smile with Group Shot

Microsoft Research Group Shot helps you create a perfect group photo out of a series of photos. Group Shot builds a composite image from your favorite parts in each photo:

“Taking group photographs can be frustrating, because capturing a single image in which everyone is smiling and has their eyes open is nearly impossible. Most photographers take a series of photographs, hoping to capture at least one satisfactory image of the group. However, this approach may never yield such an image. On the other hand, within the series of images, it is likely that at least one good image of each individual within the group will be captured. A group photograph could be created by combining the best portions of each individual image into a single composite image.”
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There are many other things Group Shot either can do now or will be able to do as the application is extended:

• Removing unwanted images from photo backgrounds.


• Artistic shots with special lighting.


• Extended depth of field


• Aesthetically pleasing images that could never occur in reality: “You can get things that don’t exist,” Colburn says. “You can take a picture of a building against a sunset, but you want to have the sky looking blue—however you want to compose these things that might not exist in reality but might be how you remember them.”

You can download it here.