First ever pano

Snowgirl · August 21, 2011

Hi there. Yesterday 3 friends and I hiked up to The Bluffs high above the Waterford Valley near Sussex, NB, Canada. Although it was a sultry day on the valley floor, high on The Bluffs there was a nice breeze blowing where we stopped to take photographs and have a lunch.

This is my first attempt at a pano. It's a conglomeration of six shots, overlapped by about 20%, unfortunately hand held. I wanted to take my tripod and do this properly, but I'd never been up to The Bluffs before and had no idea how steep or difficult the walk might be. It's a 45 minute uphill walk on a narrow path through some beautiful forests and I found I had enough weight on my back with the pack, camera, lunch and water. I was quite glad I hadn't added my heavy tripod - despite the fact it would have been very useful. Instead, I sat down near the edge of the bluff and used by knees and elbows to stabilize the camera as I carefully rotated my body around to take the shots.

Oh, and did I mention my deathly fear of heights? This was a true challenge for me.

C&C gratefully accepted.

kdog · August 21, 2011

Looks good! Good composition and your stitching looks great. I've shot many panos handheld, one gets good at them with a little practice.

black mamba · August 21, 2011

Beautiful scene....and very well captured. I'd say the hike was certainly worth the effort. Good work on the pano aspect.

Tom

Snowgirl · August 21, 2011

Thank you both. Much appreciated. I'm planning on going back up there in the fall (maybe when Lauren is here if she feels ambitious) when the leaves are all brilliant reds, golds and oranges and try and do it again. Don't think I'll try it in winter, although some folks do snowshoe up there. The path runs right along the edge of the bluff and it's several hundred feet down if you slip. I focused on the trees on the uphill side of the path to keep from even THINKING about the edge!

redleash · August 22, 2011

45 minutes uphill? Hmmmmm - sure, why not. (Don't tell my doctor.) And I am not afraid of heights. But you get to carry the pack with the food and water.

Like the pano, Ceci--the horizon looks a bit off on my screen but the stitching is very well done. Kdog's right, you can get some excellent panos w/o a tripod so don't hesitate to do it again.

Helvegr · August 22, 2011

I for one really like the composition. Keeping a bit of foreground in the frame give you a nice sense of being on the edge looking over an expanse.

For my tastes the top left is way too hot. Granted sometimes the mid day sun doesn't give us many choices, but those white hot parts of the sky take a bit away from the shot.

Anyway, just my 2 cents as a viewer, I'm no pro.

Great work on overcoming your fears and enjoying the hike!

Snowgirl · August 22, 2011

Helvegr wrote: »

I for one really like the composition. Keeping a bit of foreground in the frame give you a nice sense of being on the edge looking over an expanse.

For my tastes the top left is way too hot. Granted sometimes the mid day sun doesn't give us many choices, but those white hot parts of the sky take a bit away from the shot.

Anyway, just my 2 cents as a viewer, I'm no pro.

Great work on overcoming your fears and enjoying the hike!

Thanks. I know what you mean about the 'hot top'. It was about 11:15 a.m. when the pics were shot on a very bright day. Even with a polarizing filter I still had the hot spots. Perhaps if I had an ND filter too that would have helped.

Glad you liked it overall though.

Snowgirl · August 22, 2011

redleash wrote: »

45 minutes uphill? Hmmmmm - sure, why not. (Don't tell my doctor.) And I am not afraid of heights. But you get to carry the pack with the food and water.

Like the pano, Ceci--the horizon looks a bit off on my screen but the stitching is very well done. Kdog's right, you can get some excellent panos w/o a tripod so don't hesitate to do it again.

At 45 minutes you're not walking too fast. 30 minutes would be pushing it hard! OK, I'll carry the pack.

First ever pano

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