Shooting Panoramas

Once you've collected your gear, it's time to shoot some panoramas.

1. Pick a good location. This concept is basic to all photography, but is even more important when taking spherical images. I find you need to be in proximity to a tall object, or in a valley or canyon for the final image to be successful. You usually don't want 50% of your image to be sky. The camera should be about 1.5m from any object, including the ground.
2. Attach your camera to your panorama rig with the lens' optical center at the center of rotation. This is something you should do before you venture into the field. If you are "just winging it", then make sure you are not closer than 3m to an object otherwise you may have too much parallax to correct in software.
3. Level your rig. Use bubble levels to make sure your horizontal rotator is level and use a secondary bubble level on the camera to unsure your vertical rotator has the camera level. The first frame will be the "key" frame from which all angular measurements are made for subsequent frames. If this frame is not level, then the horizon in your panorama will appear as a sine wave, which can be corrected - but who needs that hassle?
4. Set the camera to manual exposure and manual focus. If you are not shooting high-dynamic-range sequences, then expose for the brightest portion of the scene. Manually set you focus to the hyperfocal point for your lens/aperature. Attach a cable release.
5. Shoot a horizontal series of frames with 50% overlap. My lens allows me to shoot a frame every 45° to achieve correct overlap.
6. Shoot the zenith and nadir points. I shoot the nadir twice; first by pointing straight down to the top of the tripod, which is useful for stitching; second by hand holding the camera in the same approximate postion but with the tripod out of frame, which is useful for faking the nadir in the final spherical image. You should end up with a series of pictures similar to the photo on this page.

Getting Started with 360° Spherical Panoramas

Joshua Tree Panorama
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

Gear

I get a request from time to time asking about how to get started with panoramas so here's a brief introduction to the gear you will need.

• Digital camera - get the widest lens possible shy of a true fisheye (trust me on this). I use a 10.5mm DX Nikon lens or a 12-24mm DX Nikon zoom at 12mm for my panos.


• Cable release


• Dual axis bubble level, the type that fits into your flash hot shoe.


• Pano head - There are many out there but I recommend the Nodal Ninja if you're just starting out or you plan to always have it with you - it is very small. Really Right Stuff makes the best, but it's quite expensive.


• Tripod - something very solid and with a ball head. Remember you are going to be taking LOTS of images from a single point and you don't want any movement at all.


• Software - PTGui for stitching your images together. Photomatix if you're doing high dynamic range preprocessing - highly recommended for outdoor panoramas where light levels vary widely in a single shot. Pano2QTVR for converting equirectangular panoramas to Quicktime VR. Photoshop for tweaking sharpness, contrast and brightness.

Stay tuned on how to use this gear to make panoramas.

Dusk at Bryce Canyon

Dusk
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

Years ago I visited this location after hiking up from the small town of Tropic and the only camera I had with me was a 35mm disposable. This time I brought the whole kit and ,once again, carried it up from Tropic, through the hoodoos to the rim.

Waiting for sunset here at Inspiration Point is interesting because many people show up for the event, yet miss the best part. During the ten minutes or so after sunset the sky turns to beautiful pastels and soft, cold, quietness settles on the scene, producing this beautiful image.

Half Dome from Glacier Point

Half Dome from Glacier Point
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

Finally I've reached the point I've been striving toward with respect to spherical panoramas. The problem with 360^ images is, unless you have a planetarium (which I do), it is difficult to display the fruits of one's labor. Sure there's Quicktime VR and polar projections, but this limits viewers to a small field of view for the former or a large field of view for the latter.

This hyperpolic projection is related to the polar projection, yet it gives me far more control over subject emphasis than polar projections. You can still see in every direction, but as you can see, emphasis can be directed to any subject within the sphere.

The only drawback I forsee with this method is that a series of these photographs will tend to "look" similar even though their subject matter varies. -- We'll see.

Yosemite Polar

Yosemite Polar
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

When shooting HDR images problems arise when there is motion within the scene. If people, animals, vehicles or wind-blown plants move between frames, ghosts will appear in the subsquent HDR image. This problem is compounded if you're trying to shoot HDR panoramas, which require multiple HDR images.

This photo was shot on a Monday afternoon when crowds were small at Glacier Point but alas, I couldn't keep them still long enough to get all the frames done. I considered taking another set, but since I was perched on the edge of a 3000' drop, I thought I'd better not try my luck.

There is a lot of detail in this image; you can see Nevada Falls, Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls, and the Ahwahnee Hotel.

SF MOMA

SF MOMA
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

This is a study in contrasts. Color vs B/W; straight vs curve; light vs dark; real vs abstract; photograph vs artifact; documentation vs interpretation; observation vs participation.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is itself a work of art which complements the exhibitions on display. It is an experience as much as it is performance art - enjoy the interaction of other visitors with the spaces and the exhibitions. Ideas float through the air in all directions; for me, some work and some do not.

Highly recommended.

Looking Both Ways

Epiphany
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

There is a new museum in San Francisco about the African Diaspora. It is currrently showing contemporary art on the subject, and offers a multimedia display about important African Americans whom have forged different aspects of modern life. It is so beautifully executed as to diminish its own message - yet the message is powerful enough to radiate throughout.

Torpedo Room

Torpedo Room
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

The idea of being able to see in all directions at once has motivated me to take these equirectangular panoramas in interesting places. This image was made from 26 photographs taken in the very cramped space of the aft torpedo room of the Soviet Foxtrot class submarine "Scorpion", docked in Long Beach, California. I would normally shoot this in HDR, but the low light levels would make the exposure times too long to be practical.

Farm Shed

Shed
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

I've been struggling with the "proper" use of HDR techniques to produce quality high images. Here is an example of increased detail without the surrealism normally associated with HDR shots.

The location is a small farm near the northern tip of Pt. Reyes; the photographs were take in cloudy (foggy) bright conditions, which helped tremendously with natural saturation and fine detail.

Baker Beach

Baker Beach
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

I had an assignment from the office to take a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge to use in an exhibit about the solar system (the relative orbit of pluto passes through it when the sun is centered and scaled at Chabot Space & Science Center). I went to all the "normal" places such as Fort Point, Presidio, Palace of the Legion of Honor, Marin Headlands, and Baker Beach, which turned out to be the most interesting of them all. I liked the idea of the fence serving as foreground interest which mimics the structure of the bridge. All in all a nice picture of a cliche subject; the exhibit chose to use an image from Fort Point - go figure.

Glass Blower HDR

Glass Blower
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

This high dynamic range shot was extracted as three .tif images from a single raw file. Normally this won't do you any good since there is the same amount of information either way. But you can skew your tone-mapper results by extracting at 2ev intervals and telling the tone-mapper that the intervals are at 1ev.

I needed help getting her hair to look right so I used this technique to some success.

Light Scatter Over Distance

Sierra Foothills
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

It's amazing how strong the effect of clear air is on photographic contrast and saturation. This shot, taken after a rain storm, in nearly perfectly clear high-altitude conditions demonstrates the saturation/contrast fall off over distance. The snowy mountains in the distance are basically monochromatic and have very low contrast.

Butterfly

Butterfly
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

I normally avoid this type of shot, since it borders on cliche, but I'm taking this opportunity to promote the Butterfly show at the SF Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. It provides access for those of us whom have trouble getting close to these flighty creatures. You can find more information here.

Ahwahnee Great Room

Ahwahnee-Inside Out
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

I just love doing these polar panoramas from interesting places I visit. The "normal" panorama from which this is created is spectacular in its own right, but this has a more interesting perspective.

It's best viewed at larger sizes so you can get "inside" the space.

The normal version

Restful Nest

Restful Nest
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

Here is a view of the Restful Nest bed and breakfast inn near Mariposa, California. It's on the way to Yosemite, though I can recommend it as a destination in its own right. The grounds are beautiful and quiet; there's a pool and hot tub for relaxing after those long hikes.

Spring Flowers

Spring Flowers
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

Finally a break in the rain and I can get out and take some springtime photos. I found this place on a nature walk near Mariposa, California. Sylvia and I were staying at a great BnB called Restfull Nest and this trail is just down the street from their driveway.

Overcast days like this automatically turn up the saturation in images without having to do anything special.

Piers

Piers
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

It's NOT boring! I've been fretting over whether or not anyone would give this image a second's look and finally there's been some traffic on Flickr. This is another of my "normal" HDR shots. It would be impossible to take this normally, even with neutral density filters, because of the deep shadows and bright highlights. I wanted to capture the texture of the rusting metal siding and the stained wood as a statement of the interconnectivity of dissimilar objects. - maybe that's too much for people to conclude on their own. Oh well.

Mars Encounter, Inside Out

Mars Encounter, Inside Out
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

This is an impossible view of an exhibit hall at Chabot Space & Science Center. It was made from a spherical panorama, which allows the viewer to see in all directions at once. It was converted to a polar projection looking downward. The center of the image is facing straight down and the entire circumference of the circle is facing straight up.

Shrimp Boat

Shrimp Boat
Originally uploaded by SdosRemedios.

This beached and decrepit shrimp boat rests offshore from China Camp; it's a high dynamic range image made from three exposures.

Flickr group produces astonishing color pix with new HDR plugin

The "High Dynamic Range" plugin merges several shots of the same scene taken at different exposures, producing pictures that have breathtaking, vivid, hyperreal colors.

read more | digg story

How to be the Best Living American Photographer

Yesterday someone told me that Lee Friedlander is the greatest living American photographer, and I had to reflect upon what that means. It's akin to saying someone is the greatest poet or composer; what scale are we to use to rank these artists and upon whose authority have we consented to agree?

We can talk all we want about technical issues: sharpness, contrast, detail in the extremities, but that's not what a photograph is about. We can talk about composition, balance, color and contrast; but again these attributes do not a photograph make.

A message, more or less explicit that the written word, is the aspect of an image which makes it successful or not. It can be forthright, concealed or subconsciously understood, but it is essential to create a reaction from the viewer. I've come to realize that in our modern world there are so many images to which we respond that their creators have generally opted for an immediate impact, an instant message. But in the arena of fine photography, the message can be quite elusive or difficult to interpret; somewhat like a symphony or a poem. And herein lies the pleasure for this photographer.

Interpreting the photographer's message in an image is the reason people look them. And when a message is absent or obscure to the viewer, that viewer will lower their esteem for the image, as a naive viewer of the Mona Lisa might. As a photographer, I want people to understand what I'm trying to convey in my images more than anything else. Even if they don't like the message, getting the message makes the photograph successful.

Successfully conveying a message using an image is difficult and problematic because we don't have a lingua franca we can utilize when we construct a photograph. Viewers schooled in classical art will have different criteria for an image than someone schooled in graphic design. And so as a viewer of photography, we have to discern the "language" through which the photographer is speaking. In music, some people like the baroque style and some do not; and in photography some people like a photographer's style or not. And some people can't recognize the language at all.

Getting back to the greatest living American photographer. Let's look at one of Lee Friedlander's images and try to understand the message he crafted into the photograph.

At first glance you might not give this photograph the time it deserves, it's a poorly composed and oddly exposed image of an indoor chair outside in the sunlight. There appears to be more indoor chairs nearby since we see their shadows.

So we have this three dimensional object surrounded by two dimensional shadows, one of which is created by the photographer - a self portrait. The irony, of course, is this is an inverted portrayal of what a photographer intrinsically does - takes a three dimensional world and compresses it into two dimensions. Here he is out of place (outside) and alone where there should be others.

Based on this photograph we might infer that to interpret Lee Friedlander we look for:

• Irony or humor
• Ordinary objects
• Odd juxtaposition
• Unstylized composition
• Self deprecation
• Clever use of shadows and reverse images

Use these criteria to decypher other of his images and you can refine your Friedlander codex and enjoy perusing his work for years to come. I am sure that those whom have declared him the best living American photographer have their own codex by which they evaluate his specific pieces as conforming or not. A quintiessential Friedlander would comply on all accounts. His message is interpreted by the interaction of these factors in the viewer's mind; and sometimes there can be multiple interpretations.

It's not merely his specific set of traits or techniques that make him a great photographer. Its the consistent use of these characteristics in a large body of work. At some point the viewer can think in "Friedlander" and easily understand his ideas. I can only hope to be able to accomplish this with my work. Salieri wants to be Mozart.

I don't get to decide who has created a consistent broad style over a body of work which conveys witty ideas to those whom have taken the time to analyze it. But I can say I know why they think Lee Friedlander is the greatest living American photographer.

Regards,
Steven dosRemedios