this was my first panorama, ( since then i have made two more which are in another thread)
i shot this in raw, so as i am learning i have revisited and refined it.
there are some very minor blemishes in 2-3 places, but i still like the overall picture.
any advice, critique comments would be much appreciated.
shot with 40d, 18-55 kit lens, (non IS) hand held, 19 shots, stitched in Ptgui
thank you scott, i always look forward to your, sbeme(scott g) and kaden k's advice.
you are right, i could clone the people out but, its just a practice shot honestly, and i feel the people give a sense of scale here. that's when you really realize the size of the dome, in my eye at least.
if perhaps you guys can advise me on something,
my work flow for pano's these days is
raw processing in LR2 to jpeg in ptgui to pano
i previously tried LR2 too tiff and then to ptgui,
i am thinking about printing this pano, what should i do to get the best quality in print, what size (pizels) and dpi. AND is there a way to stitch or correct the 2-3 places where the seam is obvious.
What I usually do for printing is take it to walmart - print small and then adjust it at home and then take it back to print bigger. This works for me. I have not fussed with dpi. Usually the fussing is that the frames available (that are inexpensive are not the size I want which causes more work). ie 8x10, 16x20, 11x14 - none of which matches my natural framing. Otherwise it will cost $200 to frame it and I would rather spend this on a lens.
the seem is not obvious to me and unfortunately I have very little experience on printing or pano's - I suggest you edit/retitle the subject to "Need help on Stitching/Printing" or repost or repost in "Post Processing and Printing" with the new title suggested above, so you get prompt good feedback.
Paul Hudson is really really good at photoshop if you pm him with a specific question. But I have not seen much discussion of printing on this forum.
Stick to one question and you will get better feedback even if you post one post per day. Other forums usually only allow on post per day.
But as I said - the picture is excellent (except would be better without the people).
i have 4 children and they are all approaching university and I like vacations - so I am learning with an old 2nd hand camera (20d), inexpensive lens and walmart is the ticket. In 10 years I will get the best equipment and specialty printers, but for me - walmart is an excellent value - based on my budget and skillset. Even further, walmart has done more to rein in the cost of living and keep North America strong than any other company (with a significant loss in diversity as a cost) - so yes to walmart. But now I am ranting.....
If you want cheap good framed pictures - walmart is the best solution for printing and framing - with the downside that you have to standardize on size.
"Even further, walmart has done more to rein in the cost of living and keep North
America strong than any other company (with a significant loss in diversity as a
cost) - so yes to walmart."
======================
Say it ain't so my brother!!! They have done more than any other company to
quelch small business, to kill diversity in business, not to mention to have their
workers on Welfare and Medical at a cost to the states and the United States
tax payers while making millions. It's like reaping benefits on the back of the poor.
They ought to be ashamed of themselves. Unionization would do a world of good
to Walmart.
I am not rich either, but the only way I'll be shopping at Walmart is if I am dead
and someone wheeled me in on a coffin against my will...lol.
Now I am the one ranting!
It looks like we also diverge in our social conciousness and politics.
Btw, did I tell you what I do for a living? I am the guy you seats in presence of
Cities, Counties, School Districts, Non-profits and bargains contracts on behalf
of literally thousands of working people and represents them on all sorts of issues
includig arbitrations.
Not sure if I like the politicized discussion on this forum, 'though I am quite tempted to chime in. And it's very interesting to see how our politics and values interesect or diverge from our photographer personalities.
At any rate, back to moody_blue....
Shot looks great. I think I'd need to spend some time and see a larger version to readily notice any seams, so that's good. Excellent job with lighting, symmetry, crop. I think the people are fine and do help with sense of scale. And besides, how would you get a shot like this without.
Handheld 18-55 kit lens images! Just goest to show you: fine images from less expensive lens with excellent technique.
As to printing, I agree with Scott S re posting to the Post-Processing/Printing forum. However, I'll share some questoins and thoughts as an advancing novice printer.
1. What size are you shooting for in the final print?
2. How will you make the print? Lab? Inkjet?
3. What kind of paper do you prefer? Matte doesnt require as much detail/dpi usually.
4. How close will the viewer likely be?
5. How large is the stitched file currently?
For smaller prints (eg 8x10, maybe a bit larger, you may want final resolution at approx 300dpi. The larger the print and the further the viewing distance, the more likely you can effectively drop the resolution down, probably in the neighborhood of 180+ dpi. Matte can be less. I suspect you have a huge file, so you probably dont have to worry about enough resolution.
While not a fan of Walmart, many printer choose to select a small area of the final print and print it full-size to check for problems. However, they generally do this on the final printer and a similar paper to catch issues with sharpness, color shifts, paper-ink interactions.
If you are having your print fulfilled, there are a number of excellent companies that are reasonalbe. WHCC, Adorama, MPIX all get consistently high reviews on dpreview and our own printing forum.
Personally, I'd go with a luster or semi-gloss paper on this image and forget about finding standard print sizes. It appears to be a great image that you are quite happy with overall and will be worth the investment to have it properly printed, matted, framed.
If you need more advice, let me know. I work on an Epson 3800.
Scott G
i guess I'm just experimenting, I've never printed any of my stuff (big size), and i think i should try blowing this one up, something like a 20x30.
honestly i'm not sure!
i don't own a printer so definitely i'd have to send it out.
have no idea about the different papers, and/or processes.
that's what i am trying to learn, after doing post processing preparing the item for print.
the viewer i'd imagine would be a foot or two away from the picture, right now i have two versions of it,
one is 9mb and the other 18mb
well just go out and try, i didnt find any tutorials, am just learning by experimentation.
intoE
ptgui is a software for stitching panoramas.
i was initially trying CS3 but the results weren't good, so i asked around and some of the more experienced folks recommended trying it out.
I agree about people giving a sense of scale, but I would rather the people be a family or a couple- not a couple of guys that look like photographers trying to get a shot. (Although I could have been one of those guys, hehe) http://boomerd35.smugmug.com/photos/72716022_woTuJ-S.jpg
