Panorama of Sydney Airport Beach

[Benny Zheng]

I tried to stitch a bunch of photos together of the beach to create this Panorama (360 degree). Though not as perfect, i thought it would be nice to share this with the community.

The photos were shot on 6th October while i was spotting together with Matthew Macdonald at the fence and also features the thunderstorm approaching from the west of Sydney.

A word of caution, the filesize is approximately 5MB, 7000 pixels wide.

http://cid-677fe1fde921cbbf.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Aviation/6%20October%202009/PanoramaA7000.jpg (http://cid-677fe1fde921cbbf.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Aviation/6%20October%202009/PanoramaA7000.jpg)

[KrishnaM]

wow thats amazing..
i need to learn that trick..

[Danny Rizk]

Great job!!!
Really looks good.

[Dan Collins]

Beautifully done!

Imagining it with some heavies taxying or on take off :D

Dan

[Mick F]

Is it just me or are other people having difficulty viewing it?

Mick

[Gareth Forwood]

It takes a while to open, but it works for me. Awesome pic btw Benny, I'm going to have to give that a go sometime.

[Michael Mak]

I got this error message using Firefox 3.7a1pre:
XML Parsing Error: not well-formed
Location: http://cid-677fe1fde921cbbf.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Aviation/6%20October%202009/PanoramaA7000.jpg (http://cid-677fe1fde921cbbf.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Aviation/6%20October%202009/PanoramaA7000.jpg)
Line Number 120, Column 20:for (var i = 0; i < selfPageData.items.length; i++)
-------------------^Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-US; rv:1.9.3a1pre) Gecko/20091019 Minefield/3.7a1pre (.NET CLR 3.5.30729) ID:20091019043323

It works fine with Internet Explorer 8 though.

Great photo Benny! :)

[Benny Zheng]

Thanks guys. I think there is some problem with this Windows Live Skydrive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. I will try to find a host for a 5Mb filesize and update the link.

[Darren Butterworth]

Works perfectly now - great one

Daz

[Lee G]

Thanks to Benny being good enough to post his pano, I dragged out some pics from back in September while up Sydney Tower and stitched them together (rather badly at that) but for the visual of a 180 deg pano it's not too bad.

I'm still trying to find a pano program that can do what I want which is to be able to edit the size of the pictures and not stitch over the aircraft (in this case the 767).

Anyway if anyone is interested the link to the containing folder is -

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=d395eed5ab4b65efed24a2875c7fa58e2ceec505 e6643b0d4ca8d2a77d7aad89

[Philip Argy]

The link resolves to a 'private' message, Lee

[Lee G]

Phil,

I was just made aware that the link is not working.

Here is a link directly to the JPG which is 1.9 mb in size.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/xjnmdj2ndzh/Sydney Tower Pano CS4 5661x600.jpg

This one works as verified by Gareth Forwood.

Enjoy and feedback is not required but appreciated if you wish to send.

[Philip Argy]

Nice 180, Lee

[Shameel Kumar]

Great work guys! Both panoramics have captured a very interesting scene.

Lee, I think the problem your having with stitching your pano' together has got more to do with the setting you used when you shot your series of photos. The most common problem with pano's is a changing exposure level between each shot (as shown in your series). To get the best results, try these tips:

1. Switch the camera to Manual Mode. If you have it on Shutter Priority mode, then the aperture will vary between each shot since that control is left up to the camera. Same problem with Aperture Priority mode, though if it's bright light conditions, then the change in shutter speed between shots won't be much of a problem, only in low-light/night pano's would a varying shutter speed become a problem. Of course, full Auto mode is also not a good setting to shoot panos.

2. Set White Balance manually. Similar issue as above..by leaving the white balance setting up to the camera's brain, it may well change as you turn around during your series of shots. You might have some photos with nice blue sky, others with a yellow-ish hue..and that can be very tricky to fix in Photoshop. Have a manual setting... even if all your shots end-up having a wrong white balance (eg: they all end up having a yellow-ish hue or whatever colour) at least the whole pano is consistent, and its very quick and easy to fix in Photoshop or even more basic image editing programs.

3. Choose center-weighted exposure and focus (unless you prefer manual focus, then go for that!). This again changes another setting which normally would vary with each now to now be fixed and under your control.


These are the 3 main tips I learnt when I started becoming interesting in panoramic photography. I'm no expert by any means, far from it, but if you get these 3 tips committed to memory, then your next series of photos to stitch into a panoramic will become much easier to firstly photography, secondly easier to stitch together, and thirdly, result in a more impressive photo! :)

Here are some panoramics I've done in the past year:

View from Circular Quay, Sydney at night. Stitched together about 16 photos. First attempt at a nighttime pano and was a little rushed.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/3030298937_405f7d1efc_b.jpg


NASCAR race at Fontana, California - Feb. '09. Although this seems like a straightforward photo that's just been cropped down, it's actually 6 vertical photos stitched together (Reminds me, Tip #4: If you have the time, you get better results shooting vertical photos to create a pano, but that also means more photos to stitch).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/3513159386_3a129d22ce_b.jpg


Panoramic of a university building. Stitched about 5 photos together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3560822101_1ef5e2d059_b.jpg


Late afternoon sunset. Total of 8 photos put together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3618/3590295401_2d97e3a251_o.png


Camping with the family. No one said you can't do VERTICAL panoramics. Get some fascinating results when you pano from the ground up.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2440/3643414572_83f1237261_o.png


Another vertical panoramics. Put together about 7 photos here.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3642610401_224ec89246_o.png


Sunset in the countryside of California. Series of 10 photos I think. Here it is critical to have as many of your settings set to Manual, because there are big difference in exposure and white balance between the sunny parts and the dark parts of this scene.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3561/3771282700_446bfe61b9_o.png


Another vertical panoramic. Very tricky which all those lines. Gotta keep the camera very steady, which is hard to do when you don't have a tripod like in this case. I had to pretty much use my forehead as a make-shift tripod, but hey, whatever works!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3548701747_42e5285de4_b.jpg


Shark Bay, SYDNEY - start of the 2008 Sydney to Hobart Yatch Race. About 12 photos put together.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3548701445_63277d2197_b.jpg

[Shameel Kumar]

Continued...



It's a long flight from LAX to SYD, so I tried to think of some creative photo techniques since you don't get to fly every day. So I tried to do a pano of the wing of this QF 744ER. Turned out pretty good. Just imagine this shot done as the sun is setting!! Waiting for that opportunity.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2254/3548701973_dda0dbd56e_b.jpg


Euroka Clearing Lookout at the base of the Blue Mountains. The view was just amazing, it definitely could only be fully captured with a panoramic..even a single shot with a very wide angle lens wouldn't capture the same scene.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2446/3548703031_84656f1ae9_b.jpg


Avalon Beach, northern beaches of Sydney. Beautiful day, beautiful scene.. was a given to try a panoramic. About 8 shots put together.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3770502537_4339263864_b.jpg


Taken from the Sydney Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout. Always taken photos from the ground, thought I'd try something different up there!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3771797426_7f4b43f586_o.png


Vertical panoramic of a hot-air balloon during a short weekend away at the Lake Tahoe Keys, California. Combined 5 horizontal shots together.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2509/3764105153_4d9ff1499a_o.png


Little Planet: Dos Palos Cemetery (Memorial Day '09). This is my first attempt at creating a 'Little Planet' (very quick attempt, no tripod, didn't even bother changing the cameras settings to manual.. just did it for pure curiosity). A 'Little Planet' can be created only by shooting a 360-degree panoramic. If you want to know how to turn a 360-d pano into a little planet, do a quick google search, very simple if you have Photoshop or even Photoshop Elements like I do. This pano stitched together at least 16 vertical photos..but of course for better results I should have taken at least double that to really capture good detail.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2435/3770995177_7af163114c_o.jpg

Rest of my Flickr photos (http://www.flickr.com/photos/shameelkumar/)

[Greg McDonald]

Great shots Shameel!!

[Gareth Forwood]

Wow Shameel! Awesome shots, I'm definately going to have to give that a go sometime. Thanks for sharing your methods!!

[Raymond Rowe]

Nice shots Shameel can i ask how you put your signature into the photos.I also do a lot of pano work.

[Lee G]

Shameel, Great photos!

You're right - I had the camera set to Av Priority with AWB and autofocus when I took the shots. It wasn't planned, I just took the shots and later thought to have a look at how they would stitch up.

I've done some further research on panos since and next time will be ready with all the manual settings before giving it another go.

Do you use any particular pano software or just stitch in Photoshop?

[Martin Buzzell]

I just want some of the photos!

[Shameel Kumar]

Thanks guys for the compliments. I appreciate all your comments. :)

I'm definately going to have to give that a go sometime. Thanks for sharing your methods!!

Definitely give it a go! I still call myself an amateur, and only got my first-ever DSLR about a year ago. Don't just stop your creative use of a camera at Panoramics. Google up other techniques such as HDR Photography.


Shameel can i ask how you put your signature into the photos.I also do a lot of pano work.

A friend of mine had one of those ... dunno what you call it... Drawing Tablets I think is what they're called. You can draw on it using a stylus pen, so I decided to try drawing my signature for my photos. That's the best way I can think of creating your signature. You could try it with a mouse, but that's real difficult (trust me, I tried that first). You could maybe scan your signature as an alternative..that might be a good idea if you can't get your hands on a Drawing Tablet. :)


You're right - I had the camera set to Av Priority with AWB and autofocus when I took the shots. It wasn't planned, I just took the shots and later thought to have a look at how they would stitch up.

Phew.. thankfully I was correct. Would have been a major embarresment had I misdiagnosed that. :p
Yeah, there are many times when I get 'lazy' and don't bother getting all the settings correct, and of course, I end up unhappy with the end result. That 'Little Planet' that I posted is a key example... but now that you've done some research, you'll be set to go!!

I actually created a checklist for doing a pano' properly (well, 'properly' as in up to my amateur standards). I'm the sort of person that has spurts of enthusiam for photography, and then a few months when I'm just not feeling it. So I wrote up some dot-points if I ever forgot how to do it right. Here it is:

* Using a tripod is a MUST!
* Use Manual mode otherwise the camera auto-adjusts the exposure and you end with uneven exposures between frames.
* Also use Manual Focus instead of AF so the in-focus areas are linear/even between frames.
* With the first shot, have a finger in the frame as a marker for the start of the panoramic series.
* It is better to shoot in Vertical orientation, but Horizontal is still good.
* Try to spot an even line on the horizon (or the horizon itself) as a point of reference to make sure the photos are level
* After taking the final shot, take another shot with your finger in the frame to mark the end of the panoramic series.


As for what software I use to stitch the photos. Well, I first tried to do it using the Photomerge feature in Photoshop/Photoshop Elements...but found that the program would freeze when I used more than 8 photos (probably coz I have a crap computer, not a program issue), so I went in search of a dedicated Panorama stitching program. I downloaded a few trial versions of programs, and in the end I was most happy with the following program:

Arcsoft Panorama Maker Pro (http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/software_title.asp?ProductCode=PMK5PRO)

Since I don't take photography too seriously..and since DSLR accessories are expensive to say the least, I decided to continue using the trial version rather than buying the full program (the trial version for v4.0 has no expiration date, it just limits a few extra features, and also limits the size of the final panoramic, so the end photo won't be of an impressive size, but what need do I have for that? The size of the photos I've posted on here are good enough for me). So yeah, this program is very easy to use, gives you the option of vertical, horizontal or 360-degree pano, and actually does a very good job of aligning the photos (also has the option of manually adjusting the alignment of photos after it's tried its best with its auto-alignment). I'd recommend giving this program a go!! :)

[Benny Zheng]

A superb collection Shameel!

I like your wing shot in the air and the excellent contrast of colours in your photos.

[thierry stephan]

Very nice :)