Tools of the trade.

EphTwoEight

Was asked to help Photograph a building. Its a 300' long building on only 80 yards or so to the freeways fence, with my 10-20mm it barley covered it all.

So I went home and got my lift. Parked on the freeway and got a better shot.



Then a State guy pulled up and wondered what was going on.



We got the building, but that Sigma lens sucks. :dunno

Skippy

EphTwoEight wrote:

Was asked to help Photograph a building. Its a 300' long building on only 80 yards or so to the freeways fence, with my 10-20mm it barley covered it all.

So I went home and got my lift. Parked on the freeway and got a better shot.

Then a State guy pulled up and wondered what was going on.
We got the building, but that Sigma lens sucks.

Awwww ya should have done a PANO, you would have fitted it in.
You had a nice sky for your background.

Least ya didn't get arrested for trying .... Skippy
.

EphTwoEight

Skippy wrote:

Awwww ya should have done a PANO, you would have fitted it in.
You had a nice sky for your background.

Least ya didn't get arrested for trying .... Skippy
.

True, I should of tried a pano, but I rarely get them to turn out right.

Any suggestions? Would 35 or 50mm be the way to go? Set the camera to manual or what?
thanks

black mamba

Good on you for getting the shot. A little ingenuity ( and a lift ) go a long way.

Scott_Quier

EphTwoEight wrote:

True, I should of tried a pano, but I rarely get them to turn out right.

Any suggestions? Would 35 or 50mm be the way to go? Set the camera to manual or what?
thanks

50mm
Manual Aperture, Shutter speed, and white balance
Overlap about 30% from one frame to the next
No circular polorizer

hschlessphoto

i think this shot is not bad! i like it a lot, i dont see how the lens sucked. I think this shot came out very well

EphTwoEight

Thanks Scott, I'll try that again. He wants to get there next weekend and tape over the photoelectric cells for the signs to come on earlier, and turn on all the interior lights in each space. (they also have several other buildings in town a may want them photographed too!)

i think this shot is not bad! i like it a lot, i dont see how the lens sucked. I think this shot came out very well

The signs on the very ends are blurred! Thats where I wonder if the spendy Nikkor 12-24 would be worth its money?

Scott_Quier

EphTwoEight wrote:

The signs on the very ends are blurred! Thats where I wonder if the spendy Nikkor 12-24 would be worth its money?

For this job, I wouldn't think so. Slap the 50mm on, flip the camera to portrait orientation and take a series of photos (per direction above) and stitch together a very, very nice pano. Easy stuff with no more capital invested.

EphTwoEight

How does portrait mode help, and would I need one of them pano heads for the tripod? And will standing at the center of the building be good enough for a good pano? Thanks

Scott_Quier

EphTwoEight wrote:

How does portrait mode help, and would I need one of them pano heads for the tripod? And will standing at the center of the building be good enough for a good pano? Thanks

Get's you more data (sky & foreground) that you can either keep or toss.

Tripod - Only if you have stuff in the very near foreground. That's when you need to pivot your camera about the lens nodal point, etc.

For more distant subjects, you can get'er done hand held - though I would use a tripod 'cause I'm that sort of anal engineer

From the center would get you a balanced shot. I would also, time permitting, try it from one end or the other just to see what the change in perspective would offer up - it would be an opportunity for some creative expression.

BTW - I'm not a pano expert. I've done it a couple of times and I've stayed at a H.... (we'll just leave it at that:D)

ian408

A pano kit would help in this instance. But enough to warrant purchasing one?
Not sure.

But manual exposure, overlap by around 25% or so depending on the number
of vertical reference points and "confusion". By confusion, I mean things like
trees or clouds that might be hard to stitch back together. In the later, more
toward 30% is better.

The lens you use will depend on how far away you are from the subject and
how much detail you want. I'm guessing around 50mm or maybe something
in the 16-35 ish range would work. I would suggest that your frame include
some sky and maybe 1/2 the amount of road you're showing now just so
you're emphasizing more of the building.

Using the lift is a great way to gain perspective. Nicely done.

EphTwoEight

ian408 wrote:

A pano kit would help in this instance. But enough to warrant purchasing one?
Not sure.

But manual exposure, overlap by around 25% or so depending on the number
of vertical reference points and "confusion". By confusion, I mean things like
trees or clouds that might be hard to stitch back together. In the later, more
toward 30% is better.

The lens you use will depend on how far away you are from the subject and
how much detail you want. I'm guessing around 50mm or maybe something
in the 16-35 ish range would work. I would suggest that your frame include
some sky and maybe 1/2 the amount of road you're showing now just so
you're emphasizing more of the building.

Using the lift is a great way to gain perspective. Nicely done.

Thanks, I have a 50mm 1.8 that takes some sharp images. Also a 17-50 2.8. But the distortion of that 10-20 is frustrating.

Any recommendation on software for the stitch? I have that Canon version, and liked Double Takes. Is there another I should check out? (for Mac)

ian408

EphTwoEight wrote:

Thanks, I have a 50mm 1.8 that takes some sharp images. Also a 17-50 2.8. But the distortion of that 10-20 is frustrating.

Any recommendation on software for the stitch? I have that Canon version, and liked Double Takes. Is there another I should check out? (for Mac)

If you have or can get CS3, it rules for panos. I've also used Panorama Factory
with similar results. CS3 is better than pano factory which is better than the
Canon stuff.

Scott_Quier

ian408 wrote:

If you have or can get CS3, it rules for panos. I've also used Panorama Factory
with similar results. CS3 is better than pano factory which is better than the
Canon stuff.

+1 on all counts!