Knik Glacier Pano

coldclimb

Alright, so I stitched this from 85 images, cloned a bit of a corner or two, and wound up with a picture that is 65 feet long at 72 dpi. However, before I go to print on a five to ten foot version, I want to be sure it's worth it. What do you all think of this, and is there a way I can do this better, or is there a different sort of post-processing you landscape photogs might use? I'm trying to branch out my styles and think of looks for my photos that I don't normally get. Let me know how you think I can improve! My goal is to wind up with a large print worth hanging on the wall that will make people say "Wow!"

This is the Knik Glacier at the head of the Knik River near Palmer, Alaska. We brought the water rescue team's boats up the river for some training and sightseeing, and spent some time jumping off icebergs and playing in the water in our protective gear. At full res, this shot has two versions of the same airplane in it, where I caught it flying over the glacier on two different passes, but you can't see it at this size.

thapamd

Great job on the stitching and a wonderful pano!

Rhuarc

Wow, great shot! (or shoudl I say shots!)

I don't know how much cropping room you have, but if it was me I would actually prefer to see a bit more of the sky with the white fluffy clouds above the mountains. If you wanted to keep the same ration image then perhaps cutting just a bit off the bottom to counter it.

Anyway, love the shot anyway!

Marc Muench

John,

If I am printing large, I always ask, Will this be large to view from far away or will it be large to view up close?

I believe the later is what you are doing. If so, then make sure there is plenty of detail to entertain the viewer with.

Even at this size and the fact you have so many images there most likely is plenty of detail. What is the size at 300ppi, should be about 15'? which will be your print size.

Regarding the image overall, I like the composition! The light is flat but this does help show all the detail allowing the viewer to get lost in ice, mountains and other things in there

Dont forget to sharpen after you downsize for the printing

dseidman

That has to be the most photos I've ever heard of going into a panorama. The original must be huge!

I agree with Marc on the light being a bit flat. I'd try something like this a little closer to sunset and with something more like 9-18 exposures since the light changes fast at that time of the day.

NorthernFocus

Wow, that's quite a stitch job. I can't even imagine laying out the grid for that many images and keeping track of how to stitch it together As for the end result, it isn't a bad picture but I can't feature going through the time, trouble, and expense to produce the print you describe. Granted it's a technical masterpiece and a very detailed image of a glacier but beyond that there's no inspiring lighting or other features to make it really special. Then again I wasn't the one swimming amongst the bergy bits so don't have the same context as you

kdog

I'd love to see a much larger size of this, John. I couldn't even begin to assess the shot at the size posted, but I'm assuming (and hoping) there are some amazing details in there. Maybe you can post a link to a version that's say 3,000 pixels wide or so and let viewers pan around in their browsers?

As for suggestions on processing, how about trying this in HDR?

Cheers,
-joel

coldclimb

Thanks for the comments everyone, it does help to have outside input since landscapes have never been my specialty, but I want to be better at taking them.

Good points on the lighting. This glacier is twenty miles upriver from any road, but it's possible I'll get another chance to shoot it this summer.

Articblooms: I used Autopano Pro to stitch it, so it wasn't much work for me, just a few hours for my laptop.

Marc: yeah it's a bit cooler up close than far away, since you can see detail in the crevasses. Would I be better off trying for another photo in some good light in order to get something more worth printing for both perspectives? I can hike to this location within a day, so that might be a possibility.

For those who want to see it closer, I made a version 800 pixels tall, so check that one out here: http://coldclimb.smugmug.com/gallery/8451328_6weHd#580352066_MqQzL-O-LB


This is a slightly sized down version of one of the original photos used in the stitch, with a tiny airplane putting some perspective to all that ice.

schmoo

coldclimb wrote:

This is a slightly sized down version of one of the original photos used in the stitch, with a tiny airplane putting some perspective to all that ice.

Did I get it right? Wow!!!

afmdmc

ok so you want to print it at say 10 ft. so it would be 10' x ?
i'd love to print this for you but i can only print up to about 50"
i think it'd be really kool.

rainbow

Incredible job. I did not know you could stitch that many together (or even think of doing it).

My two cents on a reshoot would be to consider taking it at water level so that the little ice floes are more dominant in the foreground. I realize this may not be practical or you may lose the majesty of the background or you may not have access. Just a thought on perspective.

Prezwoodz

schmoo wrote:

Did I get it right? Wow!!!

Good eye. That is the plane!

squirl033

very impressive! not sure where you'd put a 15' pano print, but it would take up a pretty large piece of wall no matter what you do with it! even at 10', you be getting something in the ballpark of 425 PPI, more than enough resolution to stand up to close scrutiny.

Shane422

Great pano. You might look into a Gigapan to make the process easier next time. They have versions for Point and shoots as well as DSLRs.

coldclimb

Schmoo: Yep that's it. The same plane is also in there just above the sandy mounds at the foot of the glacier on the far (left) side of the valley. This glacier is huge! It stretches 20-something miles one direction, and joins up with a bunch of other glaciers that go pretty much from Palmer to Valdez. Alaska is a place of much bigness.

To get a better idea, click here for a map: http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=61.330904,-147.711182&spn=1.357221,3.532104&z=8
The Knik Glacier is the wavy one on the left side nearest Palmer. If you zoom in a little, the long wavy black "arrow" in the middle of the glacier points directly to the mound of bedrock where I stood to shoot that pano.


afmdmc: I'm not quite sure if I want to make it ten feet just yet, I want to be sure it'll be mind-blowing before I print one that big. I'm sorry I don't have the original file with me at the moment, but I was thinking of something like five or six feet wide and one or two tall, or so.

Rainbow: Here's a shot from water level of a little slice of things. I kinda like the higher one to get more of the bigness and details and such, but however you shoot it, it's pretty!





The whole gallery is here for those interested: http://coldclimb.smugmug.com/gallery/8709644_kwQVX#575780190_rewkW

rainbow

You are right on the higher viewpoint you chose for the pano. It is such a great site that I would encourage to post more photos.

And I cannot believe that you get to "play" in the water there!