Photo Stitching

[JemC]

Hi all
This is my attempt at photo stitching (5 photos), thought i would give this a try after seeing some posted on here,
Now i know this is not perfect as this type of thing to me is quite new, but curiosity got the better of me so i had to give it a go, was also unsure as to crop more of the sky out...or more of the grass...so left both,
i do however like the dark clouds rolling in over the hills in the distance.
Any comments or critique on this are more than welcome, thanks in advance

[Geoff F]

As far as I can see, James, the overall composition looks fine although it appears to be excessively over sharpened. But that could just be a result of uploading the image.

[JemC]

Hi Geoff
It's not a result of uploading, that's me going to far with the slider,
reduced the sharpening on this one and it does look better, thanks

[PRSearls]

Hi James,

I think you did well; one thing to keep in mind is a visual point of interest for the viewer. This is a lovely, peaceful scene and for me, this is the low, gray stratus clouds (I'm a retired pilot) contrasting with the blue sky. Your composition looks good to me. I might clone out the dark blue corner in the upper left of the image. This seems to be slightly distracting to me.

When I click on your image and view it at a larger size, there appears to be a sharpening halo along the crest of the hills. Other that this minor nit, I'd say you've done a fine job. Panos are great fun and even when you don't need to capture a sweeping panorama, this technique can produce a large file with great detail for large prints.

- Paul -

[FrankMi]

Hi James, the pano processing seems to have gone very well and the composition is pleasing so I think that you've pretty well nailed this one other than the sharpening issue. Congratulations!

Wait! No, maybe not. Oh! No, not a problem with the image, I just thought I saw a Loch Ness monster but it must have been just my imagination. LOL!

[JemC]

Thanks Paul
appreciate your comments and find them helpful

Regards
James

[JemC]

Hi Frank

I'm not quite far enough North to capture Nessie,
How much would that picture be worth though? LoL

[Mark von Kanel]

dont worry James, show an american a picture of water in the uk and he will find nessie!

[FrankMi]

dont worry James, show an american a picture of water in the uk and he will find nessie!

I was almost certain... oh, never mind!

[GrahamH]

Reminds me of a picture that I recently seen.
Let me see now, a layer of grass, a layer of water, a layer of clouds?
Where have I seen that very costly picture before?

BTW, I think this picture is better than the other one.
Graham

[JemC]

LoL

Point taken Graham

it's just sometimes you don't want to get out of the comfort zone, especially when your learning....maybe i need a fresh challange to do over the next couple of weeks instead of landscapes......

[FrankMi]

maybe i need a fresh challange to do over the next couple of weeks instead of landscapes......

Give a try at focus stacking, James. It can be a lot of fun and you can use almost any object or scene to play with.

[JemC]

Hi Frank
Thanks for the suggestion? Challange accepted any chance you could explain a little on what it is?? or is finding out part of the challange

Regards
James

[FrankMi]

Hi Frank
Thanks for the suggestion? any chance you could explain a little on what it is?? or is finding out part of the challange

Regards
James

LOL! It could be if you wanted it to be! Focus stacking is where you take multiple images, usually on a tripod, and stitch them together in software, very similar to a pano except that the software looks for the sharpest part of each image in the set and combines them all into one image.

Let's take a beach scene with some grassy dunes in the foreground, a few sun bathers on the sand, and a sailboat just off-shore. You take a shot focusing on each subject without moving the camera.

In Photoshop, for example, you load all three images as layers then use Edit/Auto-Align Layers to get all three image in perfect alignment, then Edit/Auto-Blend Layers to merge the three images into one. You can actually do this without the Auto-Blend feature so long as you can make selections to merge layers in your PP software.

Here is an example I played with inside the house. The counter top was inches from the lens and the fireplace was about 12 feet away. Even the dust on the counter top is in focus!



Here is another example using a much closer subject with much less DoF.



As you can see, the subject can be just about anything and the result is a tack sharp image, well, in most cases anyway! LOL!

[JemC]

Hi Frank

Wow........this will certainly test me, you certainly make it sound so simple, Oh well! off to find a subject and give it a go. It may be a few days before i get anything posted due to work commitments....

the pictures by the way are superb.

Regards
James