1. A method of distinguishing between foreground and background regions of a digital image of a scene, the method comprising: (a) capturing first and second images of nominally the same scene, the first image being taken with the foreground more in focus than the background and the second image being taken with the background more in focus than the foreground; (b) storing the captured images in DCT-coded format; (c) assigning regions of the first image as foreground or background according to whether one or more sums of selected higher order DCT coefficients decreases or increases for equivalent regions of the second image; and (d) rendering in accordance with the assigning one or more processed images based on the first image or the second image, or both, at a digital rendering device, display or printer, or combinations thereof.