panoramics

[darkzephr]

so these are some panoramic's I made today. Let me know the best one, and some criticism sounds good too

[darkzephr]

and one more.


by the way, these are taken with a polarizing filter and edited in photoshop

[tirediron]

Nice work, I love panos. Two things, they all have exposure issues, esp the 2, and 3, and all need to have the horizons leveled.

[darkzephr]

yeah, I was kinda sad about how the horizon turned out. How should I fix my exposure issues, since i'm still a pretty big noob. if I turned it up more, I'd get some crazy white on the left that would take all the attention.

[tirediron]

yeah, I was kinda sad about how the horizon turned out. How should I fix my exposure issues, since i'm still a pretty big noob. if I turned it up more, I'd get some crazy white on the left that would take all the attention.

I'll give you John's 'How-to' guide to Panoramas...

1. In order to get a good pano, your camera has to be level, and has to rotate around the nodal point. This is a theoretical point which can be taken as the point where the centre of the lens axis intersects the centre of the film plane/sensor. What this means is that you have to shoot from a tripod for best results.

Therefore, put your camera on your tripod and level it. Even though my tripod legs and head both have levels built-in, I carry a small dollar-store spirit level in my camera bag to make sure everything is as close to level as I can get it.

2. Once I'm satisfied that everything is level and square and my tripod is locked (except for the rotating axis) where I want it, it's time to work on the exposure. Another important factor is to NEVER SHOOT PANOS IN AUTO! Set your camera to a manual or semi-manual mode (I use full manual, but either shutter or apeture priority will work as well).

Determine the range of your pano (eg the left and right limits) and then go through and meter the different areas. Find out what the camera is recommending as maximum and minimum exposure, and when you've done this for the full range of the image, then average the settings. Don't change these settings; yes some will likely be slightly under exposed, and some slightly over, but deal with it in post.

3. Now you're ready to start shooting. I always start at the left-hand end of the intended pano and work right, simply so that the images are in the correct order when they're on my computer, but that's up to you. Expose the first image, and choose a landmark about 2/3 of the way to the right-hand side of the frame. Now, being careful to ensure that you don't upset your level, move your camera so that the left-hand edge of the frame lines up on the land mark you just chose. Ideally you want about a 30-35% (or 1/3) overlap between each image. Continue shooting in this manner until you have the whole sequence captured.

4. Download and stitch using your favorite software.

A few tips: With respect to the issue of exposure: If there is an extreme dynamic range within the pano, (say bright sun to deep shade) I will often bracket each image 1/3 stop on each side, so that for every image used in the pano, you actually expose three. This gives you a bit of latitude in terms of trying to produce an image with a pleasing and realistic dynamic range, but be warned, it often looks hokey.

One of the most important tools you can have for taking panos (aside from a good tripod) are filters. There are two types, one is the circular polarizer (CPOL)for enhancing colours and deepening the blue in sky and the other is graduated neutral density(G-ND); these help to prevent blown skies and preserve detail on the ground. When using a CPOL, it's important to remember not to change it's setting through the course of the pano either. Find the optimum setting and use it at that setting for the whole image. Likewise with your G-ND; don't change their position or intensity.

Here are a couple of my panos (left as links due to their size) taken in Chennia, Crete earlier this year:

This one Is an overview of the city, using six images:

http://www.rthtg.net/john/crete/Pano_City%20(Large).jpg


This one is a view of the harbour in the old part of town, which was stitched from approximately 14 images, and in hi-res, weighs in about around 40Mb as .jpg!

http://www.rthtg.net/john/crete/Pano...%20(Large).jpg


Hope that's helpful, and answers some of your questions.
~John

[darkzephr]

hmm, well I had a tripod, set all in manual, and was using a polarizing filter.
The thing is the exposure, I'm guessing its just going to take practice before I get good at exposures. My camera has a d-range optimizer which is supposed to help with exposure, but I had it turned off for the panoramic for fear it might corrupt my image.

[cdanddvdpublisher]

lighting wise i like the second, but the horizon is way off...

[Marko]

For me, again this is where the artistry of it all comes into play.

There is no perfect pano posted here. BUT IT IS LURKING JUST WAITING TO BE PULLED OUT.

The perfect pano lies somewhere in between the posted panos.
For me, all the elements are in shots 1 and 2. Some of the others render parts of the image very well too.

Look how amazing the sky and water look in shot 2 (and the right side of shot 4). And the left and right sides just need some dodging in shot 1. (The left and right sides look best in the shot posted on July 18). That shot actually looks good but it's missing the great sky and water.

One of the most important tools you can have for taking panos (aside from a good tripod) are filters. There are two types, one is the circular polarizer (CPOL)for enhancing colours and deepening the blue in sky and the other is graduated neutral density(G-ND); these help to prevent blown skies and preserve detail on the ground. When using a CPOL, it's important to remember not to change it's setting through the course of the pano either. Find the optimum setting and use it at that setting for the whole image. Likewise with your G-ND; don't change their position or intensity.

This is excellent advice (as are the other tips - thx tirediron) when shooting shots with the sky...

Hope that helps

Marko