Thursday, September 20, 2007

Another Panorama


This one was taken at the same place as yesterday's photo, but before I left, I went to the edge of the water and hand held a series of shots to try to make into a panorama.

I basically followed a few simple rules when trying my first panoramic shots.
1. I obtained the ideal exposure for the most important part of the photo, the sunny area in this one, and set my camera to manual and took ALL of the shots in the series at that SAME exposure. That gives the best chance for the images to merge smoothly.
2. I overlapped each photo in the series by at least 1/3 of the frame. This was to give the Elements program the best chance of lining up the different photos correctly.
3. Try to keep the camera as level as possible. I used my tripod mostly, but today's panorama is composed of shots that were all hand-held.

There are attachments that you can buy and use on your tripod to make taking the series of shots for a panorama more exact, but they cost a lot of money, so I didn't buy one.

Since we're on the east coast, we drive over to the beachside (barrier island) and watch sunsets over the Indian River Lagoon.

You get better changes of success by using a tripod, but I also wanted to see how successful a handheld series would turn out.

My Nikon D70s has optional grid lines within the viewfinder which I leave on all the time. They're invisible to me now except when I make a point of noticing and using them.

For this shot, I used one of the lines to line with the far side water line in each photo.

It turned out pretty well.

I'll have to go back one day when it's time for sunset and get one with the outrageous colors that can result.

13 comments:

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

YES John ...it"the Panorama" turned at MORE than well! I couldn't tell that its made out of more shots... So you did a great job on this one... I red your 'manual' but it way to difficult for me, so you are an expert in this... my compliments !

I red in a post from CJ that you lost your parent too on cancer (dad) I lost mine 4 years ago I stillf eel hurt, so I know what you mean. Just want to share that with you...

Thanks for your interest about my dog ( at the vet), do you have a dog too? Just wondering....

:) JOAnn

Qtpies7 said...

Gorgeous! As usual!

Lori said...

Wow, that's a fantastic shot. Really amazing. I love how it draws your eye down the center of the photo. You did a great job! Thanks for all of the hints about creating panoramic shots!

isa said...

Pretty good? I'd say it is phenomenal!
Overlapping by 1/3...and still keeping the view intact...super!

Gudl said...

It looks awesome! And again, I want to be there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually, I have friends, they moved there, at least somewhere close by. So maybe one day I WILL be there ! Ha! I can dream about it....

Beverly said...

That is neat. I need to try that with my camera sometime. I'm traveling to Virginia. Some of the mountain views would be good subjects.

none said...

Beautiful. A work of art.

bluemountainmama said...

beautiful! very well done....
i have yet to attempt a panoramic shot.

the north georgia mountains are really pretty....i used to visit there when i lived in NC. hope you are able to make that fall trip! :)

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

That picture is beautiful!!

Daniel J Santos said...

Great, great photo, well done.

Coy Hill said...

Terrific panorama! and handheld at that! Great job!

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

Loved the panorama again and thanks for sharing the instructions.....I will love to do this some time......am sure there's this sense of achievement that comes with this :)

CG said...

The panorama looks so good I want to try one myself!