by Rob Graham
Late Summer Storm
9/10/15, Cheyenne Bottoms. I captured the low sun, approaching shelf cloud and lightning in this multiple image panorama. The complete series of photographs from this storm can be found at https://ksimager.wordpress.com/2015/09/15/late-summer-storm/ . This is a 23 image panorama; each image was taken at f/13, ISO 100, 1 s, 20mm, Canon 7d2. I could have gone with slightly faster exposures, but I was trying to capture lightning, which I was successful in doing :). C&C always welcome and appreciated.
Comments
22 commentsWhat an epic storm and awesome composition! Wish it were mine. Not much critique from me other than maybe I'd try to tame some of the blown highlight on the bottom left and burn in some of the shadow areas of the clouds for added contrast.
Very powerful and spectacular image. Love everything about it. Kudos.
Very dramatic image. Beautiful cloud formation. Excellent capture. Graham
Gorgeous storm scene. I like the vehicle coming out of it a lot too.
Couple things I see:
1) Super minor: It looks like the horizon is slightly dipping in the center. It might really, but it feels downhill because of the bright to dark transition on the horizon line.
2) There is a stitching issue in the clouds between the blue bands directly above the 2 red things on the horizon. I spent hours last night working through stitching so I'm a bit sensitive to it this morning. ;)
Thanks everybody for the comments. Richard, I tried to bring back some more detail in the sun, but there isn't much to be had. In hindsight, HDR would have worked, but things were moving to fast for me to even think about that :).
Jeff, you have 2 good points. The middle of the image is probably lower in reality, but I see your point. Nice pickup on the stitching error. I hadn't noticed it at all, despite how glaring it really is. I have more issues with horizons it seems, so totally missed the clouds.
WOW, dramatic, well done.
Jeff, what program are you stitching your panos in? I use PTGui, but haven't sprung for the pro version yet. How do you deal with stitching errors?
That's all nit-picky stuff anyway. Great moment you captured which is the important part.
Your point is well taken, Richard. Just being there is a large part of capturing great moments. Not many people will get out when a shelf cloud like this is coming, let alone stay and photograph it :).
However, crafting the final image is just as important if a photographer is wanting to do more than just take snapshots. That is one of the best parts of this site. I asked for comments and critiques, and a couple of you gave both. Jeff pointed out a major defect in my stitched image. I hadn't noticed the stitch error, but he picked up on it right away. I joined this site 8 or 9 years ago, and was very new to photography. This type of critique made me a much better photographer. Even though I don't post much anymore, I still signed on for another 3 years.
I am attaching an edited version that fixed the mentioned stitch errors and another bigger stitch error that wasn't as obvious without looking at the original files. C&C on the new image is welcome.
the revised version is spectacular. Share your thoughts on NPN.
Excellent work with the 23 image stitch here, Rob. A truly impressive weather scene.
btw: for what it's worth I've done several 3 image panos, using 6x7 MF camera, and stitched in PS5 without too much trouble. Loss on edges here and there that get cropped off, but no real problems. The program you're using is a good one from what I've heard.
I've always been able to get the stitching done in PS (or now LR). Until this week. I actually pulled down the trial of PTGui and tried that with issues still. And I tried another called Hugin that didn't work as well. I'll get one of them to work once I get home. I'm dealing with a 180ish degree shot in the Great Sand Dunes. The near dune has all the little waves to line up. They are close, but off by a little. The middle and background are good. Its a parallax issue for me. I'll probably need to do the foreground and background separately...I see PTGui has masking.
Regarding c&c, I love a comment that gets me thinking more about what I did and what would work better or just different. I've not been paying attention to what I put in front of my camera for long...20 months or so, but whether it is a nit, a suggestion or a mistake I made, they all help me learn and think more. I once posted an image I'd already had printed that got wonderful suggestions (ie lots of work). I keep the original printed version I posted above my computer at home to remind me to not be too hasty in printing.
Awesome storm clouds, Rob! Seeing storms like this was always one of my pleasures when in prairie country. The gravel road with the distant oncoming headlights feels like the perfect setting.
Incredible!
Rob: this definitely merits a"WOW" from a technical as well as aesthetic point of view. Wonderfully done. Richard
Amazing clouds and great image!!
Thanks for the compliments and critiques.
Jeff, I originally got PTGui a couple of years ago to stitch night sky panoramas. It was the only program I had any luck getting to work. I use it for most of my panos now, though it has issues at times like I assume most programs do.
A really sensational photo Rob.
Rob, congratulations on the EP. Somehow I missed this photo during the week it was posted. Sure brings me back to growing up in Kansas. Great photo. I can offer no comments on the stitching since I have never even tried it. But, I do wonder why you needed to use the technique. Was your lens not wide enough, or did you decide that a stiched image would work better, give you more control? I am trying to decide if I should get a wider lens then what I have now. Thanks for sharing.
Wow.