On 5/5/07, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I don't mean the stitching together part; I have PS books that tell me how > to do that. And I am good enough with PS (Elements anyway) that I figure that > part would not be a major problem. > > So how do you guys do panoramas anyway? Up until now I have not been > tempted, but the other day I came across a scene that would have worked well. > > http://members.aol.com/eactivist/PAWS/pages/field2.htm > http://members.aol.com/eactivist/PAWS/pages/field1.htm > > Tripod always, right? Is a level needed?
Not always. If I'm out with my tripod, I'll have my pano head & hot shoe spirit level with me & I'll use it: <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/Misc/LBracket/Misc_009_1.htm> This shot was made using the above setup: <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/PESO/peso_025.htm> But if I'm just out and about and I think the scene deserves the pano treatment, I can get away with hand held. This is one of my most recent (4 shots hand held): <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/Misc/Images/K10D/HillarysBH_002.jpg> and here is an older 6 shot hand held: <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/Misc/Images/TSM_004_2.jpg> I had to spend quite some time cloning in sky for this one. This is what the original stitched image looked like: <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/Misc/Images/TSM_002.jpg> Where the tripod/pano head comes into it's own is when your shooting with close in foreground objects. Parallax error then becomes a real pain, and while you can stitch the shots together, it takes a lot of time warping, stretching & cloning to correct for the shift in perspective between frames. You may save time at the shooting stage, but it'll cost even more time in front of the computer later. > How do you make sure that you remain on the same plane (get the horizon on > the same plane)? Landmarks in the scene & the markings in the viewfinder if I'm working hand held. If I'm using the pano rig, I level the tripod with a bulls eye level, and then I level the camera & tripod head with a 2 axis hot shoe mounted spirit level > If you were going to shoot a 180 degree shot, how many pictures do you think > it would take? Depends on the focal length & how many frames are needed to cover the scene. > How much do you try to overlap? Generally I aim for at least 25%, but I've got away with less. > I am totally clueless on this one. > > TIA, Marnie aka Doe :-) If I don't have to invest in a lot of additional > equipment, maybe I will try one someday. Just give it a go. Even just using a tripod and rotating the camera will work as long as there aren't too many close in objects. That's how I did this 360 degree sequence: <http://www.arach.net.au/~savage/PESO/peso_014.htm> And if shooting hand held try and rotate the camera around the front element of the lens, not around the centreline of your body. Also, try this program: <http://www.photo-freeware.net/autostitch.php> It's free and much quicker & easier to use than Photoshop. Cheers, Dave -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
