Post processed Panorama

[torqueguru]

Hey,
This is a panoramic image of 3 shots, stitched together in photoshop. I applied some Post processing to bring out more detail. The goal was to not lose the naturalism. Is there anyway to make this better, what do you guys think of it?



Larger Version:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/...81b71b5e_b.jpg

Cheers!

[stevoarnold]

Hey there!

I think it looks really nice. I would say however that I feel you have cropped a little too much of the city from the bottom area - it would really benefit from moving the horizon up towards the bottom rule-of-thirds line. Although the clouds look really good and have a great sweeping effect to them, i feel there is more interest in the lower area that could have been brought out by pointing the camera downwards a little.

Otherwise, I like the exposure, it appears to be well stitched with no obvious lines/joins. The horizon looks nice and straight (which I personally find difficult to achieve when making panos) and the general dark brooding mood of the whole shot works really well.

Good work!

[torqueguru]

Hi Steve,
thanks for your input. I got the point you mentioned about the line to maintain the rule of thirds, The problem was, I had some foreground elements there which I wanted to avoid. Thanks for the valuable feedback! I really appreciate it!
Cheers,
Mukul.

[wulf]

One way round that would be to lose a little more off the top. I think you can get pretty close to getting the horizon about 1/3 of the way up the frame without affecting the feeling of the clouds opening out.

I think your result is pretty good but the clouds weren't in quite the perfect place (ideally that golden spire should punch up into the triangular opening in the clouds above). Some of that is just patience - you can't pose the clouds so you have to wait for them to get into place naturally - but you could also use that waiting time to experiment and see if you can find a better place to take the shot from.

Overall, I think you have found a good place between natural and dramatic without straying into over-processed.

Wulf