JP2007281937A - Photographing system, and device and program for synthesizing image - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a photographing system capable of easily acquiring a photographed image, where an object is photographed under desired lighting conditions, and to provide an image synthesizing device and an image synthesizing program. <P>SOLUTION: The photographing system comprises: a lighting section for lighting the object with each of a plurality of pieces of illumination light having mutually different lighting directions each; a photographer for photographing the object lighted by both environmental light and illumination light by an the lighting section under the plurality of pieces of illumination light to obtain a plurality of photographed images; a light component calculator for obtaining the component of the environmental light or that of illumination light included in light for lighting the object in the photographed image, based on the plurality of photographed images; and an image synthesizer for designating the target quantity of light in each orientation of light for lighting the object, and for creating the image of the object lit with the quantity of light equivalent to the designated quantity of light by image synthesis, based on the component calculated by the light component calculator and the plurality of photographed images. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a photographing system that photographs a subject, an image composition device that synthesizes a plurality of photographed images, and an image composition program.

  Conventionally, when shooting lighting photos and commemorative photos in the studio, multiple lighting devices are placed on the left, right, front, top and bottom of the person who is the subject, and the subject is irradiated with light from multiple directions. Multi-flash photography is performed. In multi-flash photography, the shadow of a subject can be finely adjusted by adjusting the amount of light emitted from each of a plurality of lighting devices, and a highly commercial photographed image that expresses the texture and stereoscopic effect of the subject can be obtained. .

  However, since the shadow balance changes depending on the type of the subject and the lighting device, and the arrangement position thereof, the work of adjusting the shadow balance by adjusting the irradiation light amount of each of the plurality of lighting devices requires skilled techniques. It is difficult for photographers who have little experience to make full use of the advantages of multiple-flash photography. Also, even if you adjust the shadow balance, if the subject moves, etc., it is necessary to readjust the position of the subject and the amount of light emitted from the lighting device, which is very troublesome for the photographer. There is a problem that patience is necessary for the subject person.

In this regard, Patent Document 1 discloses that a subject is photographed in a state where a plurality of illumination devices that emit light from each of a plurality of directions are turned on one by one, and a plurality of generated captured images are weighted and combined. Describes a technique for generating a simulation image when a subject is photographed by causing a plurality of illumination devices to emit light under assumed illumination conditions. For example, the photographer can easily adjust the shadow balance of the subject after shooting by specifying the weight for combining each of the shot images while checking the simulation image on the screen of a personal computer. It is possible to reduce troublesome work.
JP 2002-273316 A

  However, if the technique described in Patent Document 1 is applied and a plurality of photographed images are simply combined with weights, the simulation image becomes brighter than the actual studio lighting, which is imagined at the time of photographing. There is a problem that the captured image and the image change. In order to use such a simulation image as a final captured image rather than a temporary image for determining the illumination condition, it is necessary to improve the image quality of the simulation image.

  In view of the circumstances described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a photographing system, an image composition device, and an image composition program that can easily acquire a high-quality photographed image obtained by photographing a subject under a desired illumination condition. And

The imaging system of the present invention that achieves the above object includes an illumination unit that illuminates a subject with each of a plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions, and
An imaging unit that captures a subject illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light by the illumination unit under each of a plurality of illumination lights to obtain a plurality of captured images;
A light component calculation unit for obtaining a component of ambient light and / or a component of illumination light included in the light illuminating the subject in the captured image based on a plurality of captured images;
A target light amount in each direction of light that illuminates the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated by light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated by the component calculated by the light component calculation unit and a plurality of captured images. And an image composition unit created by image composition based on the above.

  Conventionally, a technique has been proposed in which a subject is photographed by irradiating light from each of a plurality of directions one by one, and a plurality of photographed images are weighted and synthesized to generate a simulation image. However, the subject is irradiated with both the light from the irradiation device for illuminating the subject and the ambient light such as the fluorescent light attached to the studio or the sunlight that shines into the studio. If the images are synthesized as they are, the ambient light components are included redundantly, and there is a problem that the brightness of the simulation image becomes brighter than the actual studio brightness. According to the photographing system of the present invention, when a subject illuminated by both the plurality of illumination lights and the ambient light is photographed, it is included in the light illuminating the subject based on the plurality of obtained photographed images. A component of ambient light and / or a component of illumination light are calculated, and image composition is performed based on the calculated component. For example, the components of the illumination light are combined with a desired weight, and further, the components of the environment light are combined, thereby avoiding the problem that the components of the environment light are overlapped and added many times, It is possible to easily acquire a high-quality captured image in which a subject is captured under desired illumination conditions.

Further, the imaging system of the present invention includes an image decomposition unit that decomposes an image into a high frequency component and a low frequency component based on a spatial frequency,
It is preferable that the image synthesizing unit reproduces the designated light state by using a low-frequency component of the captured image when synthesizing the image.

  The low-frequency component of the photographed image is a blurred image obtained by removing the constituent components of the subject from the photographed image and extracting the light / dark state of the light. When the images are combined, the low-frequency component of the captured image is used, so that a high-quality image can be reliably obtained even if the subject is somewhat blurred between the plurality of captured images.

  In the imaging system of the present invention, it is preferable that an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing related to the state of light illuminating the subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit is preferable. is there.

  According to the preferable photographing system of the present invention, a high-quality image can be obtained by image processing.

  In addition, in the photographing system of the present invention, it is preferable that an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting the gradation of light that illuminates the subject is provided on each of the plurality of photographed images prior to image composition by the image composition unit.

  By adjusting the light gradation, an image having a desired contrast can be obtained.

  In addition, it is preferable that the imaging system of the present invention further includes an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting the light quality of the light that illuminates the subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit.

  By adjusting the light quality, it is possible to express hard straight light like under a fluorescent lamp or soft diffused light like when using a reflex plate.

  The image capturing system of the present invention further includes an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting a color temperature of light that illuminates a subject on each of a plurality of captured images prior to image combining by the image combining unit. To do.

  By matching the color temperature between a plurality of photographed images, for example, a high-quality image such as an image in which the skin color of a person is expressed in a visually beautiful color can be acquired.

In addition, the image composition device of the present invention that achieves the above-described object provides a plurality of objects obtained by photographing an object illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light under a plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions. A light component calculation unit that obtains a captured image and obtains a component of ambient light and / or a component of illumination light included in the light illuminating the subject in the captured image based on the plurality of captured images;
A target light amount in each direction of light that illuminates the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated by light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated by the component calculated by the light component calculation unit and a plurality of captured images. And an image composition unit created by image composition based on the above.

  According to the image composition device of the present invention, it is possible to easily obtain a high-quality captured image in which a subject is captured under a desired illumination condition.

  Note that the image composition apparatus is only shown in its basic form here, but this is only for avoiding duplication, and the image composition apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above basic form. Various forms corresponding to each form of the photographing system are included.

In addition, the image composition program of the present invention that achieves the above object is executed in a computer, and a plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions from each other on an object illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light on the computer. A plurality of photographed images obtained by photographing under the condition are acquired, and based on the plurality of photographed images, the component of ambient light and / or the component of illumination light included in the light illuminating the subject in the photographed image are obtained. A light component calculation unit to be obtained;
A target light amount in each direction of light that illuminates the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated with light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated with a component calculated by the light component calculation unit and a plurality of captured images. And an image composition unit created by image composition based on the above.

  Note that the image composition program is shown only in its basic form here, but this is only for avoiding duplication, and the image composition program referred to in the present invention is not limited to the above basic form. Various forms corresponding to each form of the photographing system are included.

  Furthermore, the elements such as the light component calculation unit constructed by the image composition program of the present invention on the computer system may be constructed by one program component of one element, and a program having a plurality of elements. It may be constructed by parts. In addition, these elements may be constructed so as to execute such actions by themselves, or constructed by giving instructions to other programs and program components incorporated in the computer system. May be.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily acquire a high-quality captured image in which a subject is captured under a desired illumination condition.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a photographing system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  This photographing system 1 is a system that performs multi-flash photography in which a subject P is photographed by irradiating light from multiple directions, and a plurality of illumination devices 10U that irradiate the subject P from above, front, right, and left. , 10F, 10R, 10L, a digital camera 20 that captures the subject, and a personal computer 30 that performs image processing on the captured image. A combination of the plurality of lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L corresponds to an example of an illumination unit according to the present invention, and the digital camera 20 corresponds to an example of an imaging unit according to the present invention.

  The digital camera 20 is equipped with a continuous shooting function for continuously photographing the subject P, and a synchronization signal is generated at every predetermined timing, and the shutter is released in accordance with the synchronization signal. A plurality of photographed images photographed by the digital camera 20 are subjected to gamma correction processing for adjusting the brightness, and the like, and then sent to the personal computer 30.

  The lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L incorporate a light emission control device that causes the lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L to emit light at a predetermined timing. The lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L are connected to the personal computer 30 and the digital camera 20, receive the synchronization signal emitted from the digital camera 20, and receive the synchronization signal as many times as instructed by the personal computer 30. It emits light at the point.

  The personal computer 30 controls the light emission of the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L, and generates a composite image by combining a plurality of captured images sent from the digital camera 20.

  In the present embodiment, the subject is continuously photographed with the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L being emitted one by one.

  Prior to the description of the flow of a series of processing in the photographing system 1, first, the configuration of the personal computer 30 and the image composition device 400 (FIG. 1) which is an embodiment of the image composition device of the present invention built in the personal computer 30 (FIG. 4) will be described.

  The personal computer 30 includes a main body device 31, an image display device 32 that displays an image on a display screen 32 a in accordance with an instruction from the main body device 31, and various types of information corresponding to key operations on the main body device 31. And a mouse 34 for inputting an instruction corresponding to, for example, an icon or the like displayed at that position by designating an arbitrary position on the display screen 32a.

  FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the personal computer 30.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the main unit 31 includes a CPU 101 that executes various programs, a main memory 102 that reads programs stored in the hard disk device 103 and develops them for execution by the CPU 101, and various programs Are stored in the hard disk device 103, the CD-ROM 210 and the DVD, the CD / DVD drive 104 and the FD 220 for accessing the loaded CD-ROM 210 and DVD, and the FD drive for accessing the loaded FD 220. 105, an input interface 106 for inputting a photographed image from the digital camera 20 shown in FIG. 1, an output interface 107 for sending instructions to the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L shown in FIG. Elements and also shown in Figure 1 The image display device 32, keyboard 33, and mouse 34 are connected to each other via a bus 35.

  Here, the CD-ROM 210 stores an image composition program which is an embodiment of the image composition program of the present invention. The CD-ROM 210 is loaded into the CD / DVD drive 104, and the image composition program stored in the CD-ROM 210 is uploaded to the personal computer 30 and stored in the hard disk device 103. Then, the image composition program is activated and executed, whereby the image composition apparatus 400 which is an embodiment of the image composition apparatus of the present invention is constructed in the personal computer 30.

  In the above, the CD-ROM 210 is exemplified as the storage medium for storing the image composition program. However, the storage medium for storing the image composition program is not limited to the CD-ROM, and other optical disks, MO, It may be a storage medium such as an FD or a magnetic tape. Further, the image composition program of the present invention may be supplied directly to the personal computer 30 via the input interface 106 without using a storage medium.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a CD-ROM 210 in which an image composition program is stored.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the image composition program 300 stored in the CD-ROM 210 includes a captured image acquisition unit 311, an image processing unit 312, an illumination image generation unit 313, an image decomposition unit 314, a subject detection unit 315, and a positional deviation correction. A unit 316, an image composition unit 317, a color space inverse conversion unit 318, a designation unit 319, and a photographing control unit 320.

  Details of each part of the image composition program 300 will be described together with the operation of each part of the image composition apparatus 400.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image composition apparatus 400.

  The image composition device 400 includes a captured image acquisition unit 411, an image processing unit 412, an illumination image generation unit 413, an image decomposition unit 414, a subject detection unit 415, a positional deviation correction unit 416, and an image composition unit 417. The color space reverse conversion unit 418, the designation unit 419, and the imaging control unit 420 are included, and the image processing unit 412 further includes a color space conversion unit 412A and a light adjustment unit 412B. . The light adjustment unit 412B is an example of an image processing unit according to the present invention, the illumination image generation unit 413 is an example of a light component calculation unit according to the present invention, and the image decomposition unit 414 is an image decomposition unit according to the present invention. For example, the image composition unit 417 corresponds to an example of the image composition unit referred to in the present invention.

  The captured image acquisition unit 411, the image processing unit 412, the illumination image generation unit 413, the image decomposition unit 414, the subject detection unit 415, the position shift correction unit 416, and the image composition unit that constitute the image composition device 400. 417, a color space inverse transform unit 418, a designation unit 419, and a shooting control unit 420 are a shot image acquisition unit 311, an image processing unit 312, and an illumination image generation unit 313 that constitute the image composition program 300 shown in FIG. , An image decomposition unit 314, a subject detection unit 315, a positional deviation correction unit 316, an image composition unit 317, a color space inverse conversion unit 318, a designation unit 319, and a shooting control unit 320, respectively.

  Each element in FIG. 4 is composed of a combination of computer hardware and an OS or application program executed on the computer, whereas each element of the image composition program 300 shown in FIG. The difference is that it is configured only by application programs.

  Next, the operation of each part of the image composition device 400 and the flow of a series of processes in the photographing system 1 will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of a series of processes in which the subject P is continuously shot by the digital camera 20 and a plurality of generated captured images are combined.

  The personal computer 30 is prepared in advance with a light emission setting screen for designating light emission timings of the lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L. In photographing the subject P, the photographer sets the light emission timings of the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the light emission setting screen.

  On the light emission setting screen 510, irradiation devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L that can currently emit light are shown, and sent from the digital camera 20 to the irradiation devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L, respectively. A light emission setting unit 511 for setting how many times the synchronization signal is received is set. In this example, each time the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L receive the synchronization signal, the illumination device 10U that irradiates the subject from above, the illumination device 10L that irradiates the subject from the left side, and the subject from the front. It is set to emit light one by one in the order of the illumination device 10F and the illumination device 10R that irradiates the subject from the right side. When the photographer designates the light emission timing using the keyboard 33 or the mouse 34 of the personal computer 30, the designated content is transmitted from the designation unit 419 shown in FIG.

  The photographing control unit 420 transmits an instruction to emit light when receiving the synchronization signal emitted from the digital camera 20 “once” to the illumination device 10U that emits light from above, and the illumination device 10L that emits light from the left side. When the synchronization signal is received “twice”, an instruction to emit light is transmitted, and to the illumination device 10F that emits light from the front, an instruction to emit light is transmitted when the synchronization signal is received “three times”, and illumination is performed from the right side. The device 10R is instructed to emit light when receiving the synchronization signal “four times”.

  When the photographer sets the number of continuous shots with the digital camera 20 (step S1 in FIG. 5) and presses the shutter switch provided in the digital camera 20, the photographing of the subject P is started. In the digital camera 20, when the shutter switch is pressed, a synchronization signal is generated at every predetermined timing, and the shutter is continuously released once every time the synchronization signal is generated. In this example, it is assumed that the subject P is continuously shot four times.

  The synchronization signal generated from the digital camera 20 is received by the lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L.

  The upper lighting device 10U emits light when the synchronization signal is received once (step S2 in FIG. 5).

  In the digital camera 20, the subject P is photographed under the irradiation light from above by the shutter being released while the upper illumination device 10U emits light (step S3 in FIG. 5).

  Subsequently, the left illumination device 10L emits light when the synchronization signal is received twice (step S2 in FIG. 5), and the digital camera 20 captures the subject P under the irradiation light from the left (FIG. 5). 5 step S3).

  Similarly, when the synchronization signal is received three times, the front illumination device 10F emits light (step S2 in FIG. 5), and the subject P is photographed under irradiation light from the front (step S3 in FIG. 5). When the synchronization signal is received four times, the right illumination device 10R emits light (step S2 in FIG. 5), and the subject P is photographed under the irradiation light from the right (step S3 in FIG. 5).

  The captured image captured by the digital camera 20 is sent to the personal computer 30 after being subjected to gamma correction processing or the like in the digital camera 20.

  The captured image acquisition unit 411 illustrated in FIG. 4 acquires a plurality (four in this example) of captured images sent from the digital camera 20 via the input interface 106 illustrated in FIG. The acquired plurality of captured images are transmitted to the image display device 32 shown in FIG. 2 and displayed on the display screen 32a.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a plurality of captured images displayed on the display screen 32a.

  The personal computer 30 is provided with a composition setting screen 520 for displaying a plurality of photographed images and setting weights for composing the plurality of photographed images. The composite setting screen 520 displays a plurality of captured images 521 sent from the digital camera 20, and includes a weight setting unit 522 for setting weights for combining the plurality of captured images 521, and a weight. A determination button 523 for confirming the weight set by the setting unit 522, a cancel button 524 for canceling the weight set by the weight setting unit 522, and a plurality of weights determined by pressing the determination button 523. A composite image display unit 525 for displaying a composite image obtained by combining the captured image 521 is provided.

  The photographer confirms the plurality of photographed images 521 and inputs the weights for combining the plurality of photographed images 521, whereby the amount of irradiation light emitted from each of the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L. Can be easily specified after shooting.

  However, even if the photographer confirms the plurality of photographed images 521 and images a desired shadow balance, etc., and specifies the weights when combining each of the plurality of photographed images 521, the plurality of photographed images 521 are actually designated. In many cases, the composite image combined with the weights is brighter than the composite image that was photographed by the photographer. This is because each of the plurality of captured images 521 includes ambient light such as a fluorescent lamp attached to the studio and sunlight entering the studio in addition to the irradiation light from each of the lighting devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L. This is because, if a plurality of captured images 521 are simply combined, the ambient light is overlapped and added. The image synthesizing apparatus 400 according to this embodiment is designed to avoid such problems.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining various processes performed on the captured image by the image composition device 400.

  In the image composition device 400, as shown in step T1 of FIG. 8, an image in which the subject P is captured in a state where only ambient light is irradiated (hereinafter, this image is referred to as an ambient light image), and the lighting device 10U. , 10F, 10R, and 10L, a plurality of images in which the subject P is captured (hereinafter referred to as illumination images) are generated, and the ambient light image, the plurality of illumination images, The subsequent processing is performed using. However, in general, a digital camera generally performs a gamma correction process for correcting luminance on a captured image, and a captured image sent from the digital camera 20 has a discontinuous color space (for example, SRGB color space) in many cases. A plurality of captured images acquired by the captured image acquisition unit 411 illustrated in FIG. 4 is also transmitted to the image processing unit 412.

  The color space conversion unit 412A of the image processing unit 412 multiplies the color space of the photographed image by a luminance linearity by multiplying the photographed image by the inverse function of the γ curve used in the digital camera 20 for various processes performed in the subsequent stage. The color space (for example, RGB color space).

  The personal computer 30 also selects a gradation selection unit that selects a desired gradation correction curve from among a plurality of gradation correction curves used for image processing, and a type of illumination that illuminates the subject in the composite image. A setting screen (not shown) provided with an illumination selection unit, a color selection unit for selecting the color of the skin of the person who is the subject, and the like is prepared in advance. When the photographer uses the mouse 34 or the like to select the gradation correction curve, illumination type, and color, the light adjustment unit 412B of the image processing unit 412 performs various image processing on each of the plurality of captured images. . First, gradation correction processing is performed on each of the plurality of captured images using the selected gradation correction curve. By applying gradation correction processing to the captured image, the contrast of the image can be adjusted. Subsequently, the light adjusting unit 412B performs a process of adjusting the light quality between the plurality of photographed images in accordance with the selected type of illumination. By adjusting the light quality between the plurality of photographed images, it is possible to accurately represent the kind of light such as soft light using a reflex plate and hard light from a fluorescent lamp. Further, the light adjusting unit 412B performs a process of adjusting the color temperature of light between the plurality of captured images in accordance with the selected color. By adjusting the color temperature of light between a plurality of photographed images, it is possible to express the color of the skin of a person who is a subject with a beautiful color. The captured image subjected to the image processing is transmitted to the illumination image generation unit 413.

  The illumination image generation unit 413 compares a plurality of captured images for each pixel, generates an ambient light image by extracting the darkest pixel from those pixels, and subtracts the ambient light image from each of the plurality of captured images. Thus, a plurality of illumination images in which only the illumination devices 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L are irradiated and the subject P is photographed are generated (step S5 in FIG. 5). The generated ambient light image and a plurality of illumination images (step T1 in FIG. 8) are transmitted to the image decomposition unit 414.

  The image decomposition unit 414 decomposes each of the ambient light image and each of the plurality of illumination images into a high frequency component and a low frequency component based on the spatial frequency. The high-frequency component of each image is obtained by extracting the constituent components of the subject in the image, and the low-frequency component of each image is obtained by extracting the light / dark state of the light in the image. The high-frequency component of each illumination image (step T2 in FIG. 8) is transmitted to the subject detection unit 415, and the ambient light image and the low-frequency component of each illumination image (step T3 in FIG. 8) are transmitted to the positional deviation correction unit 416. It is done.

  The subject detection unit 415 detects the position of the subject in each image based on the high-frequency component (step T2 in FIG. 8) of each of the plurality of illumination images (step S6 in FIG. 5). By using the high-frequency component of the image, the subject can be detected with high accuracy.

  In the present embodiment, first, the face of the subject is detected, and a person is detected based on the detected face. This detection method is also described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-220555 and the like, and is a technique that has been widely known so far, and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted in this specification. The detection result is transmitted to the positional deviation correction unit 416.

  In the positional deviation correction unit 416, based on the detection result transmitted from the subject detection unit 415, the positional deviation of the low frequency components (step T3 in FIG. 8) of each of the plurality of illumination images transmitted from the image decomposition unit 414 is corrected. (Step S7 in FIG. 5). In the present embodiment, first, the position of the subject in the illumination image corresponding to the state in which the subject P is photographed under the irradiation light from the front where the shadow balance is the best is determined as the reference position, and the other three The amount of deviation between the position of the subject in each illumination image and the reference position is calculated. Subsequently, the low frequency component of each of the three illumination images other than the reference illumination image is moved by the calculated amount of deviation to correct the position deviation. In this embodiment, the position of the subject in each of the plurality of illumination images is detected, and the positional deviation is corrected based on the detected position. For example, the edges and density patterns of each of the plurality of illumination images are compared. Based on the comparison result, the positional deviation may be corrected without detecting the position of the subject. In addition, since the ambient light image is generated based on a plurality of captured images before the positional deviation is corrected, the ambient light image is often blurred and the position of the subject cannot be determined in many cases. For this reason, in the present embodiment, the position detection of the subject and the correction of the positional deviation are not performed for the ambient light image. The low-frequency component and high-frequency component of the reference illumination image, the low-frequency component of the illumination image whose positional deviation is corrected, and the low-frequency component of the ambient light image are transmitted to the image composition unit 417.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the composition setting screen 520 in which weights are specified.

  The photographer uses the mouse 34 and keyboard 33 of the personal computer 30 to specify weights for combining the plurality of captured images 521 in the weight setting unit 522 of the combination setting screen 520 shown in FIG. 9 (FIG. 5). In step S8), when the determination button 523 is selected, the input weight is transmitted from the designation unit 419 to the image composition unit 417. In this example, 75% of the weight is assigned to the uppermost photographed image 521 (the photographed image irradiated with illumination light from above), and the second photographed image 521 (the photographed image illuminated with illumination light from the left). Image) with a weight of 60%, the third photographed image 521 (the photographed image irradiated with illumination light from the front) with a weight of 20%, and the bottom photographed image 521 (from the right) It is specified that a 20% weight is added to a photographed image irradiated with illumination light.

  The image composition unit 417 performs image composition according to the specified weight, but the plurality of photographed images 521 shown in FIG. 9 are not synthesized but are generated based on the plurality of photographed images 521. A plurality of illumination images are combined (step S9 in FIG. 5).

  In the present embodiment, first, the low-frequency components of the four illumination images transmitted from the positional deviation correction unit 416 are combined with the weights transmitted from the designation unit 419 and transmitted from the positional deviation correction unit 416. The low frequency components of the ambient light image are synthesized (step T3 in FIG. 8) to generate a low frequency synthesized image. Subsequently, the high-frequency component of the reference illumination image transmitted from the positional deviation correction unit 416 is synthesized with the low-frequency synthesized image to generate a final synthesized image (step T4 in FIG. 8). By combining only the low-frequency components of the image with the specified weights, even if the subject is blurred enough to be corrected only by positional deviation correction, the image is shot in the desired irradiation state. The captured image can be accurately reproduced. The generated composite image is transmitted to the color space inverse transform unit 418.

  The color space inverse conversion unit 418 adjusts the luminance by performing gamma correction processing on the composite image, and converts the color space of the composite image into a color space with discontinuous luminance (for example, sRGB color space). . The converted composite image is transmitted to the image display device 32 shown in FIG.

  The image display device 32 displays the transmitted composite image on the composite image display unit 525 of the composite setting screen 520 shown in FIG. 9 (step S10 in FIG. 5).

  The composite image displayed on the composite image display unit 525 is not simply a composite of the four captured images 521, but an illumination image obtained by subtracting the ambient light image from each of the four captured images 521 is combined, Only one ambient light image is added. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to avoid the problem that the component of the ambient light is repeatedly added and overlapped, and the combined image becomes brighter than the image that the image has been imaged. It is possible to accurately reproduce a captured image obtained by photographing the subject P in a state where light is irradiated with light amounts designated from 10U, 10F, 10R, and 10L. In addition, the ambient light image and the plurality of illumination images are combined after correcting the positional deviation of the subject between each other, whereby a high-quality combined image without blurring or the like can be obtained.

  When the photographer selects the determination button 523 on the composite setting screen 520 shown in FIG. 9 again using the mouse 34 or the keyboard 33 of the personal computer 30, the composite image displayed on the composite image display unit 525 is finally captured. It is determined as an image (step S11 in FIG. 5: Yes). The determined captured image is transmitted to the hard disk device 103 and stored, or transmitted to the CD / DVD drive 104 and recorded on a DVD or the like.

  As described above, according to the imaging system 1 of the present embodiment, a high-quality captured image in which a subject is captured under a desired illumination condition can be easily acquired.

  Above, description of 1st Embodiment of this invention is complete | finished and 2nd Embodiment of this invention is described. In the following, the same constituent elements in the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and description will be made by paying attention to the differences between the first embodiment and the second embodiment.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a photographing system 1 ′ to which the second embodiment of the present invention is applied.

  In the imaging system 1 ′ of the present embodiment, unlike the imaging system 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the personal computer 30 is not connected to the lighting devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′. A photographing control device 40 that controls photographing is connected to the illumination devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, 10L ′, and the digital camera 20. The illuminating devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′ are simple illuminating devices that do not include the light emission control device and emit light upon receiving a synchronization signal.

  The imaging control device 40 receives the synchronization signal from the digital camera 20 and distributes the synchronization signal to each of the illumination devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′. The imaging control device 40 is provided with an operator group for performing settings similar to the settings on the light emission setting screen 510 shown in FIG. When the photographer sets each of the lighting devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′ and the light emission timing using the operator group, the photographing control device 40 sets the synchronization signal sent from the digital camera 20. The synchronization signal is transmitted only to the lighting device that has reached the light emission timing. Thus, by providing the imaging control device 40, the wiring of the imaging system can be simplified, and the simple lighting devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′ without the light emission control device are provided. The light emission order can be easily controlled.

  Illumination devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′ are sequentially irradiated, and a plurality of captured images in which the subject P is captured under irradiation light from each of the illumination devices 10U ′, 10F ′, 10R ′, and 10L ′ To the personal computer 30.

  A plurality of captured images sent from the digital camera 20 are acquired by the image composition device 400 shown in FIG. 4 via the input interface 106.

  The image composition device 400 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the image composition device 400 of the first embodiment, but the processing performed by the subject detection unit 415 is different from that of the first embodiment.

  In the present embodiment, graphical features such as the shape and color of the subject candidates are registered in advance in the hard disk device 103 shown in FIG. The subject detection unit 415 searches the high-frequency image sent from the image decomposition unit 414 for a region including registered features, and determines the searched region as the subject position.

  Thus, by registering in advance the shape and color of candidate subjects and detecting the position of the subject based on the characteristics, the positions of subjects other than a person can also be reliably detected.

  Here, in the above description, an example in which an ambient light image is calculated based on a plurality of captured images has been described. However, the image composition device of the present invention captures a subject in advance by capturing only the ambient light. Alternatively, an illumination image may be generated using an ambient light image.

  In the above description, an example in which an illumination image is generated based on an ambient light image and the illumination images are combined has been described. However, the image combining apparatus of the present invention combines a plurality of captured images and combines the combined images. The ambient light image that is overlapped and added may be subtracted.

  In the above description, an example in which an illumination image is generated based on an ambient light image has been described. However, the image composition apparatus according to the present invention may generate only an illumination image, and the ambient light in a captured image may be generated. Only the ratio of light corresponding to the above may be calculated.

  Further, in the above description, an example in which image synthesis is performed using a low-frequency component of an illumination image whose positional deviation has been corrected has been described. An image may be synthesized using a frequency component.

  In the above description, an example in which the ambient light image and the illumination image are frequency-resolved and only those low-frequency components are combined has been described. However, the image composition unit according to the present invention combines the ambient light image and the illumination image. Also good.

  In the above description, an example has been described in which each of a plurality of illumination images is synthesized with a specified weight, and then only one ambient light image is synthesized. However, the image composition unit according to the present invention also designates an ambient light image. It is also possible to synthesize with the determined weight. By synthesizing the ambient light image with a desired weight, the brightness of the synthesized image can be suppressed.

  In the above description, an example in which a plurality of individual illumination devices are provided has been described. However, the illumination unit referred to in the present invention may be a plurality of flash light emitting devices integrated with a digital camera, such as a reflex plate. May be.

  Moreover, although the example which light-emits each of several illuminating devices independently was demonstrated above, the illuminating part said to this invention may make a some illuminating device light-emit compositely.

  In the above description, an example in which a photographer designates weights when combining a plurality of photographed images has been described. However, “designation” in the present invention is different from the direction of illumination light emitted from the illumination device. It may be an indication of a target light amount in the direction, or may be a result of analysis by an analyzer that analyzes the target light amount in each direction from the target image.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an imaging system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. It is a hardware block diagram of a personal computer. It is a conceptual diagram which shows CD-ROM in which the image composition program was memorize | stored. It is a functional block diagram of an image composition device. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a series of processes by which the to-be-photographed object P is continuously shot with a digital camera, and the some picked-up image produced | generated are synthesize | combined. It is a figure which shows an example of the light emission setting screen. It is a figure which shows the some picked-up image displayed on the display screen. It is a figure for demonstrating the various processes performed to a picked-up image with an image synthesizing | combining apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the synthetic | combination setting screen in which the weight was designated. It is a schematic block diagram of the imaging | photography system to which 2nd Embodiment of this invention was applied.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1 'photographing system 10U, 10R, 10L, 10F Illumination device 20 Digital camera 30 Personal computer 31 Main unit 32a Display screen 32 Image display device 33 Keyboard 34 Mouse 35 Bus 101 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 102 Main memory 103 Hard disk device 104 FD drive 105 CD-ROM drive 106 Input interface 107 Output interface 300 Image composition program 311 Captured image acquisition part 312 Image processing part 313 Illumination image generation part 314 Image decomposition part 315 Subject detection part 316 Position shift correction Unit 317 image composition unit 318 color space inverse conversion unit 319 designation unit 320 photographing control unit 400 image composition device 411 photographed image acquisition unit 412 image processing unit 413 illumination image generation unit 414 image decomposition unit 415 subject detection unit 416 position shift correction unit 417 Image composition unit 418 Color space inverse transform unit 419 Designation unit 420 Shooting control unit

Claims (8)

An illumination unit that illuminates the subject with each of a plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions;
An imaging unit that captures a subject illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light from the illumination unit under each of the plurality of illumination lights to obtain a plurality of captured images;
A light component calculation unit for obtaining a component of the ambient light and / or a component of the illumination light included in light illuminating a subject in the captured image based on the plurality of captured images;
A target light amount in each direction of light illuminating the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated with light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated by the component calculated by the light component calculation unit and the plurality of photographings. An imaging system comprising: an image composition unit that is created by image composition based on an image. An image decomposition unit that decomposes an image into a high-frequency component and a low-frequency component based on a spatial frequency,
2. The photographing system according to claim 1, wherein the image synthesizing unit reproduces a designated light state by using a low-frequency component of the photographed image when synthesizing the images.   The imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising: an image processing unit that performs predetermined image processing related to a state of light illuminating a subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit. .   The imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting a gradation of light that illuminates a subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit. .   The imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting a light quality of light that illuminates a subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit. .   The imaging system according to claim 1, further comprising an image processing unit that performs image processing for adjusting a color temperature of light that illuminates a subject on each of the plurality of captured images prior to image synthesis by the image synthesis unit. . A subject illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light acquires a plurality of photographed images obtained by photographing each of the plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions, and based on the plurality of photographed images, A light component calculation unit for obtaining a component of the ambient light and / or a component of the illumination light included in the light illuminating the subject in the captured image;
A target light amount in each direction of light illuminating the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated with light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated by the component calculated by the light component calculation unit and the plurality of photographings. An image composition apparatus comprising: an image composition unit that creates an image based on an image. Acquires a plurality of captured images obtained by being executed in a computer and photographed under a plurality of illumination lights having different illumination directions on a subject illuminated by both ambient light and illumination light. And, based on the plurality of captured images, a light component calculation unit for obtaining the component of the ambient light and / or the component of the illumination light included in the light illuminating the subject in the captured image;
A target light amount in each direction of light illuminating the subject is designated, and an image of the subject illuminated with light having a light amount equivalent to the designated light amount is calculated by the component calculated by the light component calculation unit and the plurality of photographings. An image composition program for constructing an image composition unit created by image composition based on an image.

Images