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"Learn Something New"
Workshop at the Ranch
May, 2008 Edition
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch.
I'm always trying to expand my photographic knowledge. I think
it is healthy to do so. Although I am best known for sports
imagery and have made my living for more than 28 years in the
sports photography market place I have always tried to learn
new techniques and challenge myself by photographing new subjects.
This past year my business crossed into a new era. For the first
time in my photographic career the majority of my annual income
was not generated from sports related photography, and this
came in one of the best business years of my career. I have
successfully diversified my portfolio/talent to the point where
sports coverage is not my only source of income and in fact
I now have multiple avenues to work with. Some years back I
saw that the sports photography market place was changing and
at the same time I was changing too. My interest in sports imagery
did not diminish, it was my interest in photography that increased.
It came to my mind that I was becoming more than a sports photographer
and that my collective talents could allow me to photograph
new subjects if I really applied myself. The old saying goes,
"Never give up your day job." Well, I still shoot
sports. Some say better than ever, but, I have declined some
high profile job offers, including the Summer Olympic Games
in Beijing, in order to concentrate on other photographic endeavors
that I equally enjoy and, as was very evident in 2007, make
good income with.
This Workshop at the Ranch article is not so much a tutorial
about photographing landscapes or using Photoshop to make panoramas,
although we will discuss those topics in detail. I do not profess
to be and expert in these areas like John Shaw or Mattias Klum.
This month's article is two fold and is also written to bring
to mind that accumulated knowledge over time, when applied,
can create new and rewarding avenues in one's career in the
future. I'm not suggesting that everyone should abandon their
field of expertise and embark in a completely new direction,
but what I want to promote is learning something new. New skills
and techniques when learned and applied over time tend to produce
results, and those results tend to produce a broader base of
photographic expertise that you can offer a client, and that
tends to result in more income.
This month's side kick article in On The Road illustrates a
photo road trip from Colorado Springs to Las Vegas and back.
It features southwest landscape images and a brief recount of
the sites across northern Arizona and south-central Utah. The
7 day excursion became a very valuable and productive "site
survey" that revealed many potential Lightpainting locations
that I hope to return to and make large scale landscape Lightpaintings
in the very near future. The images in this Workshop at the
Ranch are a byproduct of that same trip to where I applied some
simply learned techniques and made some images that are far
from the normal sports venues I frequently work at. I feel confident
that I will reap some benefits of my labors from this recent
southwest tour and hope this article and images promotes that
idea of Learning Something New ........
Simply put, these PANORAMAS are made by stitching, or "merging"
multiple images together in Photoshop (I use CS2) by using the
Photomerge function. By making these multiple image panoramas
I can greatly increase the file size, detail and quality of
the final print over merely cropping out a long narrow panorama
format from a single image and enlarging the file size. After
opening the images you want merged into a panorama in Photoshop
... click "File" on the tool bar ... then place the
cursor on "Automate" and an extension box will open
... then click Photomerge and the Photomerge box will appear
with your individual images listed. Click OK and the Photomerge
window opens with the images arranged and merged together in
a panorama. Then check the box marked Advance Blending, click
Preview and see if the images have blended into a panorama efficiently,
then click Exit Preview and click OK. The merged panorama is
then opened into Photoshop. Then, I Flatten the layers that
comprise the one panoramic image by clicking "Layer"
on the tool bar which drops a long box of options, and then
click "Flatten" near the bottom of the list. I save
the panorama as a Tiff. As we all know, any task, function or
action in Photoshop can be made very complicated if one desires.
There are third party panorama making programs that can be bought
separately and plugged into Photoshop. There are also many individuals
who have books and teach seminars on Photoshop. Tony Corbell
and Scott Kelby come to mind as experts in this field. All I'm
trying to do is get those who have not done this before a starting
point that produces good results. The method I'm using is simple
and easy to do. The individual pictures that form the panorama
can sometimes be detected in some areas of the final panorama
image. If the image has an expanse of sky you might see where
the images are blended together. The blended area might require
some Patch Tool or Clone Stamp Tool work to make the blended
merged areas of the panorama perfect and undetectable, but in
a nut shell, the procedures I have described will work. With
all this said, let's move onto the images themselves. Each image
text will feature a KEY POINT along with other suggestions that
help when making your individual images acceptable to be merged
together as a PANORAMA.
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Image #1
Grand Canyon Sunset ... This finished panorama is comprised
of 3 horizontal images and measures 28 inches X 10 inches.
I used a Nikon D3 camera which produces an image with
a file that measures 14.187 inches in length by 9.44 inches
in height. This panorama utilizes 3 horizontal images
thus giving the vertical measurement of 9.44 inches. As
when making any panoramic image from multiple images I
make sure to overlap the individual images by 30% to insure
a seamless blend when merged. Although 3 horizontal images
were used, the final merged length is less than 42.5 inches
(3 images x 14.187, the long measurement of the D3 file)
because of the overlapping of the individual images. After
the merge process was complete the file measured 31 inches
X 9.44 inches. A file this size is so large and detailed
that I can now enlarge it and crop it for a panorama print
measurement of my choosing or clients request, in this
case, 28 inches X 10 inches without loosing quality. KEY
POINT #1, LEVEL THE HORIZON so that each sequential image
is in perfect horizontal and vertical alignment from the
first image of the sequence to the last image. If your
camera is tilted causing the horizon to be sloping down
or rising up, the tilted result will be greatly increased
as the sequence of images move from left to right. There
are many ways to accomplish a perfectly level horizon
line. I made good use of the Virtual Horizon feature in
my Nikon D3 camera. When this mode is activated the LCD
screen displays a virtual horizon indicator similar to
that found in aircraft instrumentation. I also use a very
solid tripod and a ball head that has a bubble level.
Again, there are many products on the market to help you
achieve a perfectly level horizon, but I keep it simple
and efficient with my Gitzo Ball Head with bubble level
and the Nikon D3 Virtual Horizon feature. Nikon D3, ISO500,
1/160 at f5.6 set manually, Single Point Auto Focus and
then I turned off the auto focus, Nikon 24-70mm Lens (at
70mm), WB 7690K, Picture Control VIVID, Gitzo Carbon Fiber
Tripod with Gitzo Ball Head, Kirk "L" Bracket,
Lexar 8G Flash Card. Keeping the horizon perfectly level
when making a multiple image merged panorama can take
some practice. Once my tripod was leveled using the bubble
level on the Gitzo Ball Head I connected the camera with
Kirk "L" Bracket to the ball head and activated
the D3's Virtual Horizon display. I loosened the base
plate of the ball head so it could freely pivot the camera
horizontally. I watched the Virtual Horizon display while
pivoting the ball head from left to right and made slight
adjustments to the ball head joint until a perfectly level
horizon line was achieved when pivoting the ball head
from left to right while aimed at my subject. (NOTE: It
was windy during the making of this picture so I used
an ISO of 500 in order to achieve a shutter speed of 1/160
to ensure a sharp image without an movement.)
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Image #2 Spring Shadows
at the Grand Canyon ... This finished panorama is comprised
of 5 horizontal images and measures 48in X 10in. In
short I have photographed 5 horizontal images in a row
moving from left to right of the Grand Canyon as seen
from the South Rim. KEY POINT #2, OVERLAP each successive
image by 20-30% so that when Photomerged the edges of
the pictures are not butted up side by side but overlapping
each other. This will greatly increase the potential
of a perfectly blended merge. Nikon D3, ISO320, 1/500
at f13, this is a manual exposure. Remember one of the
biggest downfalls of photomerging images together is
the use of auto exposure. The exposure must remain consistent
in each individual picture that is to be merged. Using
a Program or Auto exposure mode will not work because
the slightest variance in exposure will cause the individual
pictures to be distinguishable when made into a panorama.
I used Single Point Auto Focus on the Canyon then I
turned off the auto focus switch on the front of the
camera. I do this so the focus does not change for the
sequence of pictures (NOTE: Manual Focus could also
be used), I used a Nikon 70-200mm VR Zoom Lens, and
WB 6250K which is a manual White Balance setting using
the Kelvin Scale. Using an Auto WB mode will produce
similar results as an auto exposure with variances in
each pictures WB. I set the Picture Control on VIVID,
used a Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with Gitzo Ball Head
, and Lexar 8G Flash Card. (NOTE: With multiple images
being used to make the panorama the final file size
is quite large. The large file provides great quality
and detail within the image which allows the freedom
to do some file enlarging and cropping to fit specific
dimensions for the making of a specific print size.)
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Image #3 Cliff Palace
at Mesa Verde ... This finished panorama is comprised
of 7 vertical images and measures 48in X 16in. I followed
the same procedures as before accept this time I overlapped
vertical images from left to right rather than horizontal
images. KEY POINT #3, MANUAL EXPOSURE and MANUAL WHITE
BALANCE. By using a manual exposure and manual white
balance, as suggested in image #1 and image #2, the
exposure of each individual image and the WB of each
individual image will be consistent throughout the final
photomerged panorama. For my manual White Balance I
like to use the Kelvin scale because it is familiar
to me due to my more than 28 years in the profession.
You might choose a WB of daylight, or cloudy or whatever
you want depending on the WB you want. For those who
photograph using a priority auto exposure like Aperture
or Shutter Priority, or Program mode, or even Auto ISO
mode, you must learn to make a manual exposure in order
to make successful merged panoramas. The in-camera meter
is easily seen within the camera eyepiece and the LCD
monitor on the back of the camera will also help you
determine if the exposure "looks" correct.
How you achieve your exposure manually is up to you,
but it must be manually set and not done automatically
by the camera. If you use a program or auto exposure
mode the likely hood is very high that the exposure
of each individual image that is to be merged will be
distinguishable in the final panorama. AUTO FOCUS is
fine to establish focus on your subject, but, once your
subject is in focus, then KEY POINT #4, TURN OFF THE
AUTO FOCUS function either on the camera or on the lens.
This will prevent the lens from readjusting the focus
as you photograph each individual image for the panorama.
If auto focus is still activated while making each individual
image there will be variations in focus within the final
panoramic image. Of course Manual Focus can also be
used. Nikon D3, ISO200, 1/200 at f10, Single Point Auto
Focus then I turned off the auto focus, Nikon 70-200
VR Zoom Lens, WB 6670K, Picture Control VIVID, Gitzo
Carbon Fiber Tripod with Gitzo Ball Head, Lexar 8G Flash
Card. (NOTE: It is best to use a longer focal length
lens of 70mm or more when making individual images for
a merged panorama. Using a wide angle lens is usually
not successful in the merge process because of the wide
angel distortion. The Nikon 24-70mm Lens works well
at 70mm as does a longer lens like a 70-200mm.)
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Image #4 Bryce Canyon
Hoodoos ... This finished panorama is comprised of 3 horizontal
images and measures 36in X 10in. By now you should have
a good idea of the procedures that are helpful in making
a photomerged panorama. Make sure you have a LEVEL HORIZON
(bubble and, or Virtual Horizon), OVERLAP your images
by 20-30%, MANUAL EXPOSURE, MANUAL WHITE BALANCE (Kelvin
or other), then AUTO FOCUS and Turn Off the auto focus
on the camera or lens (or Manual Focus), and take your
sequence of images moving from left to right. Now, KEY
POINT #5, make a BLANK FRAME after each sequence of pictures.
By simply holding your hand over the front of the lens
and taking a picture you will cause a blank frame in between
each sequence of multiple pictures. I don't just shoot
3 sequential images, then pack up and leave. I tend to
make several clusters of sequential images. The light
might change or I might recompose the scene slightly.
A blank frame between clusters is very helpful when editing
the day's shoot. With so many multiples of similar looking
images it is sometimes difficult to tell when one sequence
starts and ends. These Hoodoos in Bryce Canyon all looked
alike when I was viewing the thumbnails on the computer,
but because I shot a BLANK FRAME at the end of each sequence
of 3 images I was able to distinguish each cluster of
3 from one another. Nikon D3, ISO200, 1/200 at f14 set
manually, Single Point Auto Focus then turn off the auto
focus, Nikon 70-200mm VR Zoom Lens, WB 6670K, Picture
Control VIVID, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with Gitzo Ball
Head, Lexar 8G Flash Card.
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Image #5 Sunset
Hoodoo ... This finished panorama is comprised of only
2 horizontal images and measures 24in X 10in. The sun
was setting fast and clouds were moving in as I approached
this landscape in Bryce Canyon. I had no time to set up
my tripod. I just ran to the edge of the canyon and made
a 2 image sequence before the light vanished. My experience
over the first 5 days of the trip paid off and I was able
to move from left to right making only 2 sequential images
that merged perfectly in Photoshop. As you can tell by
the final measurement of the image the overlap of the
two sequential images was slightly less than my normal
30%. I had intended on photographing this scene with 5
vertical images using all the Key Points and information
explained in the previous images. Although the rapidly
vanishing light made me bypass some of our Key Points,
this panorama is still a much larger file and contains
more detail and quality than if I had made only one single
frame of the entire scene and blown it up and cropped
it into a panorama format. The idea of using only 2 images
is perhaps a good representation of a starting point for
those of you who have never made a sequence of individual
images into a photomerged panorama. As with learning something
new, start small and manageable, then work your way up
to something bigger. Nikon D3, ISO200, 1/60 at f13, Single
Point Auto Focus on the sunlit Hoodoo, then I pressed
the AF Lock Button on the back of the D3 to lock the focus
and take the 2 sequential images, this time from right
to left as the light was running out, Nikon 70-200mm VR
Zoom Lens, WB 6670K, Picture Control VIVID, Lexar 8G Flash
Card.
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Image #6 Storm Cloud
... This finished panorama is comprised of 9 horizontal
images and measures 75in X 10in. With so many individual
images it will could be enlarged and cropped to 12 feet
X 18 inches and hold excellent quality. This panorama
marks the end of a long road trip that put 2,250 miles
on my truck over 7 days. Approaching home I noticed this
storm cloud building up during sunset. It looked like
10 separate rain showers were falling along its massive
horizontal spread over the Colorado Landscape. Just for
fun, and I'm glad I did it, I wanted to make a giant horizontal
panorama and see how photomerge in Photoshop would handle
it. Very well indeed. Nikon D3, ISO250, 1/200 at f5.6,
Single Point Auto Focus then turn off the auto focus,
Nikon 300mm Lens, WB 4550K, Picture Control VIVID, Gitzo
Carbon Fiber Tripod with Gitzo Ball Head, Lexar 8G Flash
Card.
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I hope this information helps some of you get
started on making beautiful panoramas. The file size, quality
and detail is incredible when multiple sequential images are
merged together to form one big picture. The prints produced
from files of this size are remarkable. Keep in mind that when
you Learn Something New it's always a benefit to your existing
business, and it may lead to new market places and additional
possibilities for income. Just think, all this came from a sports
photographer.
See you next time here on Workshop at the Ranch. .......Adios,
Dave
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