The Thrill of Overkill ... or: should I not learn in S M A L L steps????

[Matt K.]

Well folks, here it is, for all it's worth. While on our trip through the Kooteneys I tried my hand on some HDR panoramas. So here I was, setting the tripod up on the beach, thinking on how I would do this. Decided to keep it somewhat simple and do only a three step HDR; checked exposure in three places, set the camera to manual, set aperture and shutter speed, ensured the VR was off on the lens, and got the remote control out. Figured if I do 10° turns I would get enough overlap for the panorama to find enough markers. So I began shooting. First left to right. Then I adjusted the camera for the second path, aiming it a wee bit higher. Shot right to left. Repeat the left to right after moving the angle a bit higher yet, third path. The do it again, right to left: fourth path. 300 images in RAW format ... oh boy.

Then here at home I fed the mess into PTgui, several times ... experimenting. Finally I figured out how to get the horizon level. After that and doing just a little bit on HDR toning (don't like the way PTgui is set up for this, mainly because I don't know how to use it ) I let the program stitch the panorama. After sitting there for 30 minutes my computer managed to optimize 30 images. Better go to bed ....

Next morning it was done. 3.6 Gig of panorama. Wow. What now???? Anyway, I reduced the thing down to a resolution of 2000px high and 20,688px wide (from 7997px high and 56,388px wide), and it still is 34 meg. Anyway, here it is, tell me what you think. I personally do not like the colours in it. That is my biggest beef. as usual, click on the image to get to the original.

[Hillbillygirl]

WOW. When you go at something you go all the way, don't you?

Love this pano matt. Would love to be able to see the whole thing in all its glory without having to scroll across/up/down. BUT, having said that, you did a wonderful job, and such depth/detail in this. A job very well done.

[Bambi]

wow, this is fantastic. I am so impressed

[Runmonty]

Wow - spend much on memory/storage do you? This is great. I can imagine it filling a whole wall at a tourist information centre or similar.

[Richard]

Impressive technique, Matt. You could do with a very long and tall corridor to hang it in to show off the extreme detail.

[Lungelarry]

took me 3 minutes just to look at it all on flickr.........

[Iguanasan]

Wow! Go big or go home. This is an awesome job there Matt. Excellent detail in that shot.

[mbrager]

Loving the details as I go over the whole panoramic shot. It's like being there, lounging on the water's edge for an hour or so absorbing the details. It isn't clear to me that bracketed shooting (for HDR processing) brings you any advantage here, since it's a fairly clear day and there aren't drastic darks or brights in the scene. I did look up the software company and that looks interesting. Thanks for posting.

[Michaelaw]

Wow!...That new Mars rover has nothin on you Matt That's one cool panno!

[Mad Aussie]

That really was worth looking at Matt! I'll be back to view that again for sure!
There is a green cast to it on my monitor. And one of the mountains to the left has a double up where the HDR process couldn't make up it's mind. It's still very cool though.