Just a view…
Nikon D300, Nikkor 18-200mm, 26mm, f/9.5, 1/320sec, ISO200, 17 frames
Today’s image is not really spectacular in itself, just a view from a hill in Denmark, and frankly, it looks like I could have shot this with almost any wide-angle lens. However, this image is a 17 frame panorama stitched together in Photoshop. A bottom row of 8 and a top row of 9 images (don’t ask why the odd number…). I shot two rows to get some more sky in the shot. Every time I make a panorama, it always amazes me, just how well PS photomerge works. Very rarely do I have to do anything at all after Photoshop is done merging the images.
Anyway, after the rendering, the image was cropped, a bit of color contrast enhancement was added and then I desaturated a few selected colors. Mostly the blue and green which was got a bit too hot after the contrast adjustment. Back into LR where I fixed a few highlights.
Btw, to shoot a panorama:
- Hold the camera in portrait mode, your image will be higher after the final crop, you may have to shot more frames to get the scene you want.
- Make sure your exposure is locked so it’s the same throughout the scene.
- Make sure your white balance is locked in as well.
- Focus on the main subject in the scene, switch to manual focusing or use your AF-L button to lock focus, reposition for the first frame and shot.
- If you use a tripod, make sure it’s perfectly level, as well as your camera otherwise you will have to crop out a lot of good pixels in post.
- If you shoot hand hold, get a solid stance with your feet pointing in the direction of the first shot. Take a few shots and re-position your body and feet and shoot again. Don’t over twist your body, because that will actually mimic an un-level tripod. Basically as you move through the scene, your camera will get lower and lower the more you twist your body, and you lose good pixels when you crop.
- Make sure you overlap each frame by min. 20%.
Awesome scene, Jan. That sky is beautiful.
You did a heck of a job processing this in PS. Would never know this was stitched with 17 exposures. Great job on this pano.
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June 16, 2011 at 8:44 am
17 frames??? Wow Jan, this is amazing!!!!!
Check out Half and half from Dave DiCello
June 16, 2011 at 9:04 am
That is sick… Seamless shot my friend. This is great. I am amazed at how much work you out in to this. When I look at it after I read your work flow, i see it in a different light and appreciate it even more. Good work!
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June 16, 2011 at 10:12 am
Thanks Adam,
To be honest, its very easy to do.
Once you got the frames you want to stitch, you simply drag them into Photoshop, choose File-Automate-Photomerge – go with the default settings and click okay. Thats it. Photoshop will do the rest.
June 16, 2011 at 5:29 pm
That’s an awesome shot man, don’t know what yer talking about! Looks beautiful!
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June 16, 2011 at 10:44 am
Incredible pano Jan and thanks for the “how-to” write up! I’ve been hoping to grab one while I’ve been off from work this week but friends and weather have had other ideas!
June 16, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Thanks Curt.
June 16, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Great pano Jan. Did you check the Guiness book of world records to see if you set one? Pretty impressive.
By the way, you mentioned that you were eyeballing Trey’s HDR Webinar. Well he recorded the 9 session webinar that I attended and just announced it on DVD for $97. Great webinar but I wish I knew he was issuing a DVD at that price (I paid $197 for attending). Still worth it
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June 16, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Thanks for looking
No records here im sure. I have a 36 image pano, 12 shots in 3 rows some where in my digital storage. My old PC could not process the raw files. Maybe I should try it on this one… hmmm..
June 16, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Wow Jan this is incredible post processing…I would have never known. The image is beautiful. Fantastic post.
June 16, 2011 at 2:46 pm
How can you say it’s just a view? Au contraire my friend! I thought it was exceptional before I realized that it was a 17 gazillion frame pano. Breathtaking. . . I think that you should change your title
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June 16, 2011 at 3:55 pm
Awesome greens and blues!
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June 16, 2011 at 4:29 pm
I really like how the grass in the foreground in contrast with the green behind it adds more sense of depth and three dimensionality to the image, Jan. The clouds and sky are also very impressive.
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June 17, 2011 at 12:43 pm
that is some view! beautiful!!!
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June 17, 2011 at 1:44 pm
17 images? Awesome results!
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June 20, 2011 at 10:29 am
Great pano tips and a very nice image to show those tips off with.
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July 13, 2011 at 8:30 pm