EUROGRAPHICS 2007 / D. Cohen-Or and P. Slavík (Guest Editors) Volume 26 (2007), Number 3 Synthetic Shutter Speed Imaging J. Telleen , A. Sullivan , J. Yee , O. Wang , P. Gunawardane , I. Collins , J. Davis University of California, Santa Cruz No Stabilization Optical Stabilization Lens Synthetic Shutter Speed Figure 1: The Image without image stabilization is too blurry to make out any text. The image with optical stabilization is less blurred but much of the text is still unreadable. Our method has little blur and the text is clearly legible. Abstract Hand held long exposures often result in blurred photographs due to camera shake. Long exposures are desirable both for artistic effect and in low-light situations. We propose a novel method for digitally reducing imaging artifacts, which does not require additional hardware such as tripods or optical image stabilization lenses. A series of photographs is acquired with short shutter times, stabilized using image alignment, and then composited. Our method is capable of reducing noise and blurring due to camera shake, while simultaneously preserving the desirable effects of motion blur. The resulting images are very similar to those obtained using a tripod and a true extended exposure. 1. Introduction Digital cameras offer a new opportunity for camera manu- facturers to solve problems that plague photographers. Many solutions that were intractable with film cameras are possi- ble in the digital realm. Unfortunately most current cameras treat digital sensors as mere replacements for analog film. By treating these sensors as flexible measurement devices new opportunities arise. This paper addresses one such challenge, hand held long exposures, by making use of rapid sequential images and embedded computation that would not have been possible on a film camera. Photographers often need to open the camera shutter for extended periods of time in order to capture the desired im- age. Unfortunately it is difficult to hand hold a camera for long periods without introducing undesirable blurring due to camera shake. One motivation for an extended exposure comes when part of the scene is moving. A long exposure allows the motion to be captured as a localized blur, which c  2007 The Author(s) Journal compilation c  2007 The Eurographics Association and Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.