12 shot panorama - need help

[kirbinster]

I've done these before without much problem, but the exposures for this were all messed up. I shot then in aperature priority at f/9, but I think the metering got messed up with the bright sky and dark trees. I tried to quickly even out the exposure the best I could in Lightroom. Some of the shots I boosted by at much as +3.0ev while others were darkened by 2.0ev. The resultant pano is fair in my mind at best. What should I do to go out the next day there are great clouds and try again?

You can view the full size at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirbins...31415/sizes/o/

[scootermcq]

I'm not the guy to tell you how to fix in post, but I don't think I would try. For that many shots stitched together, I would proably suggest manual mode, so that the metering will not change from start to finish. I have done a similar thing with HDR, and if you just go with natural settings, you get great detail from start to finish, but the image does not look "cooked"

You commented on my pano of the falls, and I am not refering to that one.... here is an example natural

[kirbinster]

Not sure I follow what manual would do for me? I kept the aperature constant, and then let the metering adjust the shutter speed in matrix mode and I thought that would keep the exposure constant. I was paying attention to making sure I had overlaps in the shots and did not check the shots as I took them. DOH


PS- you still have a few bigs to clone out

[ShantDotMe]

when shooting multiple images for a panorama, as Scott said, go with full manual mode.

What I do is to take two / three totally different angles (brightest / darkest side) get an average settings & only then shoot from side to side

[kirbinster]

Went back and tried another with 8 shots:



LARGER SIZE

[inkista]

Much nicer!

Yes, my personal mantra when shooting panos is "manual manual manual".

Manual mode for exposure. Manual focus (so you don't have DoF shifting), and Manual (i.e., anything but Auto) white balance.

Until the new version of Hugin comes out that can do white balance/exposure/vignetting correction , that's how I roll.

[LeeR]

I'm with the others: panos normally require manual mode so that things remain consistent from one shot to another. This is often most important in the sky where the blue of the sky is determined almost exclusively by the exposure. Create multiple images with the sky in several different shades and you have a real problem ou your hands. For this same reason using a polarizing filter doesn't usually work with a pano since the effect of the polarizer it progressively stronger as your angle to the sun gets close to 90 degress. This would be fine if the sky changed consistently from shot to shot, but that has not been my experience.

[Camdixon]

I like the second shot much better. Can you provide the details of what you did to obtain that shot? also, when shooting how do you best make sure the pictures overlap properly?

[kirbinster]

Well in the second one I metered more on the trees and water than the sky. I also took more time in lightroom and used the gradient tool to try to equalize out the exposures before making the pano. But the sky is still not that even. I also did the shots on a tripod, while the first one was hand held. As for overlap, just make sure that some of the scene on the right side of shot "A" is in the left side of shot "B", and so on.

I still am not sure I understand how full manual will help. Won't I maintain constant depth of field by shooting in aperature priority? Further, when shooting that way shouldn't the camera be adjusting the speed to maintain constant exposure for me? I would think it would be harder to maintain constant exposure when you are adjusting both f/stop and speed. Also, if you adjust f/stop from shot to shot doesn't that in itself give you differing depths of field for each shot? What am I missing here.

[Sterling]

Won't I maintain constant depth of field by shooting in aperature priority?

Only if each frame is focused on something at the exact same distance.

I would think it would be harder to maintain constant exposure when you are adjusting both f/stop and speed.

The point is to not adjust anything from shot to shot. You want the exposure to be consistent for each shot, not identical. For example, if one shot is relatively close to the sun, the sky will appear lighter than a shot that is farther from the sun. By doing it your way, the camera will try to equalize the brightness of the sky in each shot which will not look natural.