Week 3: Panorama

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Photos of the Week

Week 3 Assignment: Panorama

Panorama images can be described as any image that has a wide aspect ratio or longer proportion, either horizontal or vertical, than a standard image (i.e. 4 x 12 vs. 4 x 6). these types of images can be created using special panoramic cameras such as a Hasselblad Xpan or Fuju/Linhof 617, which are film cameras that shoot the images in a 3:1 wide panoramic ratio. Today, many point and shoot digital cameras have a panoramic stitch feature built into the camera for creating easy panoramic images. Using a DSLR however, you have to create panoramas the "old fashion" way, with Photoshop or other panoramic software. The benefit is a higher resolution and higher quality image due to the larger sensor of the DSLR. You may also ask: Why not just shoot a larger single image and crop out the panoramic you envision? The answer: Resolution and the limitation on the size you will be able to print the panoramic with good quality. You may not notice much of a difference on the computer screen at the sizes above, but when it is printed 6 feet long to hang on your wall, the difference will be exponential.

I use Photoshop with its Photomerge" feature, found under File/Automate. This works great for stitching 2 - 10+ images together to create a large panoramic image. The software is not foolproof, but as long as you keep the camera level throughout the string of images, overlap the images 25 - 50%, and keep a constant exposure, focus and depth of field, your results should be excellent.

This week I chose 2 photos of the week in order to show you two types of panoramas (also, I was unable to choose just one). I tried two slightly more difficult shoots, a low-light night panoramic, and something I had never tried before, a macro close-up panoramic. The first is a night shot of the new Light-rail train station at Seatac Airport, which was created by combining 4 images. The second is a combination of 8 images to create a close-up panoramic image of the Gerber daisy.

Coming Next:

Week 4 Assignment: Black & White