Los Angeles Twilight Panorama

shniks · January 31, 2009

Hey guys- Here is a panorama I took this evening of LA (one can see the downtown area, the observatory and the ocean). I used a D700 with a Nikon 80-200/2.8 lens. Total 21 shots stitched together. Thanks for looking.

And this is one a few minutes earlier
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Cheers,

tisun · February 1, 2009

Beautiful colors. I almost missed most of the pano by not scrolling toward the right.

kdog · February 1, 2009

Fantastic, Nikhil!!

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Was that 21 frames, single row, vertical camera orientation?

Great work here.
-joel

CWSkopec · February 1, 2009

Very awesome pano, Nikhil!!

Baldy should be calling soon for an assist with the SF Pano!

pvrsvarma · February 1, 2009

Wow, What a perfection!

TFS

Cheers!

shniks · February 1, 2009

kdog wrote:

Fantastic, Nikhil!! thumb

Was that 21 frames, single row, vertical camera orientation?

Great work here.
-joel

Thanks Joel- yeah it was 21 frames, single row, vertical. I don't have the multi-row pano gear (I bought the RRS Omni- Pivot Pro, but am gonna return it as there is some leveling problem while panning). I think for now the tripod will suffice and PTGui does a great job of stitching.

Cheers,

shniks · February 1, 2009

Thanks Chris, PV and Tisun
it was such a clear day and I was debating whether or not I wanted to hike up all the way. I am glad I went.

Cheers,

bryanj87 · February 1, 2009

Wow, that is a fantastic image.

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Digital Illusions · February 1, 2009

absolutely amazing!!!

summerz · February 1, 2009

Stunning, amazing!

Cuong · February 1, 2009

Magnificent. That would be one heck of a wall hanger. How long is the hike from the parking lot to this location?

Cuong

shniks · February 1, 2009

Cuong wrote:

Magnificent. That would be one heck of a wall hanger. How long is the hike from the parking lot to this location?

Cuong

Thnx Cuong- It is around maybe 3/4 of a mile hike to where one starts getting good vantage points. If you keep walking you can go all the way up (should be a mile to a mile and a quarter) to the viewpoint from where the views are fantastic (you also pass Dante's View on the way which is great). The reason I chose this lower viewpoint was that I don't have a multi-row pano rig- it would have thus been very difficult to take a pano while aiming the camera down from the endpoint (from where you can see even the Hollywood sign). Someday when I get my multi-pano gear, I will take a 270 degree pano from there.

Cheers,

shniks · February 1, 2009

Thx
Bryan, Brian and Summerz. It was a really clear night as I mentioned earlier. Could see all the way to Catalina and LB.

Cheers,

coscorrosa · February 1, 2009

Awesome! I just upgraded my monitor from 19" to 26" and I *still* can't view the whole thing :cry

The good thing about doing 21-exposure panos at sunset is by the time you're done with the 21st shot you can start shooting the sunrise version

Reminds me (as things often do) of that Lyle Lovett song "And the lights of LA County, look like diamonds in the sky."

Anyway, both shots are fantastic. It's really good that you continue to shoot at the same places (Death Valley, this view point) instead of thinking "been there, done that" like a lot of photographers get in the habit of doing. Every day is different, and with a scene like this, it's worth going back to catch all the different permutations.

R.Jay · February 1, 2009

Never been to LA - only passed through the airport a few times - landing at night is quite a sight. #1 brings back those memories - fantastic clarity.

Someone mentioned it would make a good wall hanging, I agree - but it would need to be a pretty big wall !:D

Cheers, Richard.

shniks · February 2, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

Awesome! I just upgraded my monitor from 19" to 26" and I *still* can't view the whole thing :cry

The good thing about doing 21-exposure panos at sunset is by the time you're done with the 21st shot you can start shooting the sunrise version

Reminds me (as things often do) of that Lyle Lovett song "And the lights of LA County, look like diamonds in the sky."

Lol - my concern was that the light would change by the time I got to the last frame (as each one was around 6 or so seconds). It worked out in the end.

Not sure where I want to go for President's Day weekend! Death Valley beckons again, but then it might be fun to drive along the PCH and get some nice sunrise/ sunset shots. Ah decisions! decisions!

Cheers,

shniks · February 2, 2009

R.Jay wrote:

Never been to LA - only passed through the airport a few times - landing at night is quite a sight. #1 brings back those memories - fantastic clarity. Someone mentioned it would make a good wall hanging, I agree - but it would need to be a pretty big wall !:D

Cheers, Richard.

Thanks Richard. The view from certain areas of LA are just great.

BTW this pano's dimensions are 36172 px X 3602 px (It would have been bigger but I had to crop out some of the sky for compositional purposes).

Cheers,

speedsk8r · February 4, 2009

love the pano not many colors not that vibrant,doesn't pop out at you.

shniks · February 4, 2009

speedsk8r wrote:

love the pano not many colors not that vibrant,doesn't pop out at you.

So I assume that you did not like it (as you mention that it's not vibrant and is not popping out). Well, I really can't do much about the colors (it is what it is), but it does look okay to me, which is why I shot it.

Thanks for your comments though- it's good to hear the other side too.

Cheers,

schmoo · February 4, 2009

I never EVER get tired of seeing this shot, no matter what the weather! LA has one of the most captivating skylines, I think, or maybe the right term is "cityscapes." Whatever it is, the combination of uber-urban and natural beauty is perplexing, but it goes well.

Have you tried something like a split ND grad filter? In the first shot the sky is a bit overexposed, and I'm sure there was more color in it in real life. And in the second shot the city looks a bit underexposed. Of course you can do just as much in post using adjustment layers. Just my two cents.

(I don't have a set of filters myself so when I attempt to shoot this shot myself i'll be going the latter route)

Fan-friggin'-tastic, Nik! Keep showing us your great panos.

shniks · February 4, 2009

schmoo wrote:

Have you tried something like a split ND grad filter? In the first shot the sky is a bit overexposed, and I'm sure there was more color in it in real life. And in the second shot the city looks a bit underexposed. Of course you can do just as much in post using adjustment layers. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the feedback Schmoo. I don't carry a set of filters either (except the CP) and haven't really delved into PS adustment layers. I guess I will have to try it out, now that you mention it. Will be my weekend project to try and darken the sky.

Cheers,

Pindy · June 13, 2009

That is stunning. Were you up around Griffith?

dseidman · June 13, 2009

What a spectacular view! The nighttime image is just gorgeous.

thapamd · June 13, 2009

Boy, oh boy! Two of the most impressive panos I'v seen! Fantastic!

annnna8888 · June 13, 2009

Fantastic shots. Seeing such a huge city is mind-boggling for someone like me who lives in a small country with small towns (I can't really say that we have cities as our capital only has 300.000 inhabitants.

)

Ana

shniks · June 13, 2009

Pindy wrote:

That is stunning. Were you up around Griffith?

Hi and thanks for the feedback. Yeah these shots were taken from the hikng trail above the observatory. The trails starting point faces the parking lot of the observatory. It's a great hike and the views are wonderful.

Cheers,

wendell · June 13, 2009

The scope of this photo is awesome. It appears to me this should be 3 or 4 cities combined. I can't imagine so many people in one small area, but then again, I am a country boy from TN. Don't hold that against me please.
Good job with both panos. The 2nd is my fav. because of the colors.

wendell