I shot this image about 15-20 minutes past sunset, taking advantage of the soft and high dynamic last light of the day. I lit the rooms with flashlights wrapped up in pieces of orange plastic tablecloth I purchased from the nearby Party City for $1.99...forget expensive orange gels...
Tech stuff
24mm tse 2 image shift stitch. Bottom image- focal point immediate foreground rock, shot at f13. I cropped away the top 2/3 of the image and left only the immediate foreground to stitch with a full sized upper image.
The upper image is a 3 image focus blend at f13. Focal points- very top, half, and bottom. Used PS layers to auto align/auto blend for in PS Layers.
Next I stitched the image in PTGUI.
The resulting image needed zero exposure blending, just selective Curves, a bit of color balance to taste and very minimal selective dodge/burn.
For internet viewing (PS only)...add layer, add Guas Blur..30 points, reduce opacity to taste, reduce size by 50%, flatten, sharpen, reduce size by 50%, sharpen, reduce size to internet viewing and smart sharpen to taste. Add Watermark. Additional smart sharpen if needed.
So there you go, my arduous workflow. Overall this is the core of my typical workflow for a pano stitch image, minus the exposure blending piece. I had a vision when I shot these images, and the above end result image is what I had in mind to convey.
What, was nobody home in the middle one? Thats an outstanding execution of an idea you clearly went in there with. I feel that I can go right up to those windows and see a fire going inside, with Anasazi preparing a meal for the evening. Great work here, Kane.
You're killing me Josh. In that moment, lighting up all three windows vs the two outside windows seemed "different" which is what I was ultimately going for here.
The light reflected upon the 'roof' is what makes this so special. That balances out the light from the entries perfectly.
Lighting just the outside two granaries was a stroke of genius, because anyone else would have lit all three.
You succeeded in making an increasingly iconic image yours and I applaud your creativity. 'Developed' perfectly, too!
It's the rare image that renders Doug K. speechless...congratulations!!
*Edit*
I wonder why you needed a focal blend with the inherent abilities of a tilt/shift lens to render all pin sharp, esp. using an f13 aperture.
Thanks for the nice comments! John, that's a good question. I wish I had a better answer other than I don't like tilting the lens, never have, I prefer focus stacking. Honestly, I don't focus stack that often either.
Dang, dude, the muses smile upon you. Very cool and original. About the tilt function, though, I expect more from you. I've rented a t/s once or twice and I suspect you'd tackle the learning curve much faster than most and then you'll have that nice tool in your arsenal. Just do it. Then teach me.
Discussion
14 repliesTech stuff
24mm tse 2 image shift stitch. Bottom image- focal point immediate foreground rock, shot at f13. I cropped away the top 2/3 of the image and left only the immediate foreground to stitch with a full sized upper image.
The upper image is a 3 image focus blend at f13. Focal points- very top, half, and bottom. Used PS layers to auto align/auto blend for in PS Layers.
Next I stitched the image in PTGUI.
The resulting image needed zero exposure blending, just selective Curves, a bit of color balance to taste and very minimal selective dodge/burn.
For internet viewing (PS only)...add layer, add Guas Blur..30 points, reduce opacity to taste, reduce size by 50%, flatten, sharpen, reduce size by 50%, sharpen, reduce size to internet viewing and smart sharpen to taste. Add Watermark. Additional smart sharpen if needed.
So there you go, my arduous workflow. Overall this is the core of my typical workflow for a pano stitch image, minus the exposure blending piece. I had a vision when I shot these images, and the above end result image is what I had in mind to convey.
Lighting just the outside two granaries was a stroke of genius, because anyone else would have lit all three.
You succeeded in making an increasingly iconic image yours and I applaud your creativity. 'Developed' perfectly, too!
It's the rare image that renders Doug K. speechless...congratulations!!
*Edit*
I wonder why you needed a focal blend with the inherent abilities of a tilt/shift lens to render all pin sharp, esp. using an f13 aperture.