La Graciosa Quiz

[FrankMi]

I created this panorama from 7 individual hand-held images but when I was done, I wasn't sure I liked the result and thought I could do better. So, I started the entire post processing exercise from scratch using different techniques.

When I was done and compared the two images, I couldn't decide which one I liked better. Or, for that matter, if I liked parts of one perhaps and other parts of the other.

Once I became thoroughly confused, I had a an idea! I'd ask the experts at CiC what they liked or didn't like about the two images. Perhaps I could then combine the best of both?

So. Are you up to a quiz? Which do you like best, and why?

The reward, puny as it is, is that I'll reveal the steps I took to post process the images.

So here is exhibit "A"



And here is exhibit "B"



I apologize that they are not the same aspect ratio so swapping them in Lightbox is not seamless.

[Donald]

So. Are you up to a quiz? Which do you like best, and why?

Exhibit 'A'.

Why? - I prefer the darker tones in the sky and on the land. I think they provide a better balanced, more harmonious image. There is more of a richness to the colour.

[flashback]

I like A for the reasons Donald listed, as well as the water looks richer and there's more detail evident.
I like the color of the sky in A but I like seeing more of the clouds, as in B
I could be off here but there appears to be more space, from horizon to edge of picture, on the right than on the left. Perhaps the horizon is sinking a bit on the right and needs a slight counter clockwise nudge?
Great shots and well beyond anything I can do outside of fussing with a single image.

[TonyW]

I prefer A too for the reasons given. In both of them the horizon is curved and the high point is to the left which means that the image could perhaps do with a very slight rotation.

The thing that stands out to me is that the foreground looks slightly blurry about a third of the way from the right but not further to the right nor on the left. I wonder if the different images had the centre of focus at different distances.

It's a nice scene in any case.

[dje]

Exhibit A for me too Frank, but I'm a bit of a contrast freak !! Great composition and stitching job, splendid scene.

Dave

[John 2]

"A" for me as well frank for all the reasons already given although without the comparison, there is nothing wrong with "B" except maybe a burned out cloud or two..

[davidedric]

Another vote for "A". I know where on Lanzarote you were standing, too

Dave

[Brownbear]

Absolutely gorgeous!

I prefer the 1st image for the gorgeous rich colour (blue water and sky) and the natural clouds. And because I can see more of the people on the right hand side - albeit I'm not sure why.

[Marie Hass]

Frank, it is almost as if #2 has more detail and #1 more contrast. Difficult to choose.

Waiting for the big reveal as far as how you did it.

Marie

[Shadowman]

Version A. Same reasons as others.

[FrankMi]

Great comments! ...and I am very tempted to reply to some of them but I'll bite my tongue for a bit and let others chime in with their thoughts. I can tell you that although there were 7 images fed into Photoshop CS5, there was sufficient overlap that only 6 of them were actually used in the final output.

To give you something additional to contemplate, although there are several ways to complete the process, in both of the images above I did use the identical panoramic output from Photoshop so this is what it looked like after I did the stitching but before I did any real image processing. You might think of this as a panoramic SOOC image.

[Mike Buckley]

Exhibit 'A'. Why? - I prefer the darker tones in the sky and on the land. I think they provide a better balanced, more harmonious image. There is more of a richness to the colour.

My response also. Tell me how you did it even if you don't tell Donald and all the others who agree with us.

Seriously, this is a wonderful photo that requires being viewed at the larger size to fully appreciate. Very well done.

[FootLoose]

Frank, I prefer A for the rich colours but the I find the cloud shadows a bit distracting. It seems like the burn tool has been over-used here. In the section of the sea between the island and the horizon, for example, there seems to be several lighter and darker areas.

[FrankMi]

Frank, I prefer A for the rich colours but the I find the cloud shadows a bit distracting. It seems like the burn tool has been over-used here. In the section of the sea between the island and the horizon, for example, there seems to be several lighter and darker areas.

Hi Greg, as those areas are like that in the original SOOC images, I suspect that we are seeing differences in colouring in the underwater shallows between the islands.

It may be easier to see the bottom more clearly in the Caleta de Soto Harbour portion of the image?



For a sense of scale, the harbour is just under 2 miles (3 KM) away and the volcano is about 3 miles (5 KM) away.

[Stagecoach]

It's A for me as well Frank, reasons are the deeper colour and for some reason there also appears greater separation between sea and sky.

Grahame

[IzzieK]

Me too Frank...I prefer A for all the reasons already stated...

[bnnrcn]

A for me too Frank, I like the more contrasty look and stronger colours

[FrankMi]

Wow! I was not expecting such an overwhelming preference for the first image! I actually did this one first and wasn't happy with the fact that was not as sharp as the original images, but there was a reason for that.

I had a number of options to choose from when doing a panorama like this. First of all, I have learned the benefit of frequently shooting with exposure bracketing on (particularly on holiday where I may not have time to carefully consider all aspects of the images taken) so there was a +2EV, 0EV, and -2EV image of each of the original images, 21 in all but only 18 were actually used.

One option was to just use the 0EV images, make a panorama and be done. Another option was to do the merge of the three EVs using either tonemapping or manually, then create the Panorama with the result OR create three identical panoramas, one for each EV, then go from there. Because I can get a much more consistent output by creating the three panoramas and it is easier, that is were I started. The panorama image you see above was the 0EV copy.

So why bother with the +2 and -2EV images at all in a daylight scene like this where there is no need for high dynamic range techniques? Well for one thing, it is part of my normal processing workflow. But more than that, I've found all too often that I don't have the time with a tour guide pushing you on, to carefully evaluate all of the lighting and exposure factors. OK, unless I'm shooting with my DSLR and carefully set up each shot, I tend to get lazy!

What did I do with Exhibit A? I carefully aligned the three panoramas and passed them into Photomatix to create several tonemapped images. What! Why do HDR when there is no clear need for the extended exposure range?

Products like Photomatix provide much more than just tonemapped capability. They can instantly change the colour, texture, graininess, highlight detail, shadow detail, sharpeness, etc. with either preset or configurable settings that give you a wide variety of image options with a single click of the button. Can I do that in Photoshop? Sure, but it can be far easier to click a button to move back and for the between multiple potential results then choose the one that best fits the scene. It's not just the time it takes to experiment with different views, its also the ease to switch and instantly compare results that makes selecting just the right look possible.

Why several tonemapped images? I often find that the setting that produces just the right look for the sky is often not very appropriate for the subject, or foreground, or foliage, etc. So I do two things, I create a click of a button, output for each part of the image that may benefit, but I also create several base versions of the scene as well. When I bring these versions back into Photoshop, I may end up having 5 or 6 different "looks" to choose from. Sometimes I throw them all out and go back to the SOOC image. It all depends on what looks best for the image involved.

Sounds like a lot of work but I can generally go through the process from start to end in less than a half hour and I enjoy seeing the magic unfold.

So, what was the issue with the first image? Mostly it is sharpness. Particularly in a tonemapped panorama where there can be 20 or so source images, getting them all perfectly aligned for the tonemapping process can be anywhere from difficult to impossible, depending on how fussy you are. For me, Exhibit A simply isn't as sharp as it should be. So, on to the second attempt.

Here I used primarily the 0EV image and only brought in the -2EV image to address the blown highlights in the clouds at the top left. Because the bulk of the pixels were from a single image, the original sharpness was retained.

I did enhance the colours, vibrance, contrast, etc. as I felt was appropriate, but I kept the colour tones more in line with the original scene. Despite muting the tonemapped output, I still felt the first rendition was just a tad excessive!

What really surprised me about this experiment was how many folks really liked the more vibrant HDR processed image!

Your comments and feedback?

[Mike Buckley]

Frank,

I wonder if you're confusing the second image's increase in mid-tone contrast with increased sharpness. Though it's difficult to tell when viewing such relatively small images, when I compare the areas in the two images that have the same amount of contrast, they seem to be equally sharp. It's only in the areas where there is a noticeable difference in mid-tone contrast, such as much of the island, that I notice a difference in perceived sharpness.

Even so, I don't think the first image is lacking in mid-tone contrast and I don't think so many people including me would have preferred that image if they felt it wasn't sufficiently sharp.

[Brownbear]

I was a wee bit surprised that I preferred the more vibrant image when choosing between the two images, and I'm very surprised to learn that it is an HDR image. Beautiful! And a great learning example. Thank you for sharing.