New York Panorama

jasonkt · Aug 10, 2008

Yesterday on my rooftop in Coney Island, I decided to try my very first panorama. Any critique welcome! I didn't look up any tips before hand (although I have read the forum article a long time ago, I did this on a whim) so there really wasn't any planning. Also I didn't really do much more than overlap the photos so the crop isn't good (obviously) and the exposures and color are slightly off.

I'm planning on coming back to this later tonight or tomorrow so any advice will be helpful. I'm also planning on taking a more serious approach to it in the near future with some new shots and a real tripod. But for now I had fun and that's cool too right?

it's large so check out:

http://www.jasonkip.com/brooklynpanorama.jpg

sburatorul · Aug 10, 2008

its nice that you had fun and yes it is important however there are some bad aspects. don't know what program you used for this panorama but it didn't do a very good job, the photos aren't overlapped correctly. furthermore u have lens vignetting in the left side and its not very nicely looking... plus i can see some exposure differences.

try setting your camera on a tripod and using manual, have all the pictures with the same settings of shutter aperture iso. for the panorama itself i suggest using hugin, its free and simple to use.

Alex_B · Aug 10, 2008

I think it was not meant to be perfectly stitched, sburatorul.

sburatorul · Aug 10, 2008

ok than i might be missing the point of this panorama... though i can't see what other point it may have

if i am wrong please correct me

Cybermg703 · Aug 10, 2008

awsome! thanks for the comments also

tirediron · Aug 10, 2008

Having fun and learning are indeed what it's all about. I'll repost my handy-dandy, fifty-cent panorama how-to...

John's basic '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

Crimsonandwhite · Aug 11, 2008

Tired, you are the man, going above and beyond every time! I have been thinking about playing around with Panos and all this info is gold!

tirediron · Aug 11, 2008

Crimsonandwhite said:
Tired, you are the man, going above and beyond every time! I have been thinking about playing around with Panos and all this info is gold!

:blushing: Thanks.

Alex_B · Aug 11, 2008

but you know, that we do have a panorama tutorial on this forum?
Here you find the link:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1176850

tirediron · Aug 11, 2008

Alex_B said:
but you know, that we do have a panorama tutorial on this forum?
Here you find the link:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1176850

I do now; some good info there, esp. on the stitching side. Thanks for the link.

TamiyaGuy · Aug 11, 2008

That's some really fantastic advice, TiredIron. I might use some of it myself

I do like the landscape, but I'm afraid that I can't take my mind off the technical faults in the photograph. I feel that if there was less vingetting, better alignment etc, I would be able to appreciate the photo much more.

Just another thing to add to TI's post: Try not to shoot a pano in the extreme wide-angles of your lens; try to shoot at about 25mm on a crop-body sensor.

jasonkt · Aug 11, 2008

well here is a first edit attempt, YEAH, IT'S BAD. I tried to use the healing brush and/or spot healing brush tool...and it didn't work so great. Trying to adjust each layers levels/colors/exposure etc to match each other was also harder than I imagined. Looks like what I really need to do is...take the pictures over

Oh well, if you want to comment or leave suggestions, please do!

I like them all...even cynical ones...reminds me that I need to put effort into the things I want to be good at.

http://www.jasonkip.com/nypanorama.jpg

JIP · Aug 11, 2008

I think one problem you have with this pan is there is no real focal point. You have one section that has a bridge which might be a good one on it's own. You also have a view of what I am assuming manhattan which also might be nice on it's own but you have all of thi dead space in the middle that you could very easily loose. This is all really my opinion though that should be taken with a giat grain of salt as I know nothing but what I like.

jasonkt · Aug 11, 2008

nah it's a good point and one I thought of...I think I can do a better job with a single panorama of the Verazanno (sp?) bridge instead of trying to go bridge to NY...or maybe a bigger crop to include more of the city instead of just skyline.

manaheim · Aug 11, 2008

Awesome, tired... thanks! I did what the OP did a month or so ago and it came out all borked up... I've been meaning to look this up. Thanks for the guide.