Classic Panorama

Well, the camera...not the photograph.<p>

This was taken downtown Los Angeles with 10 vertical frames from my retina IIIc

using the built-in meter. The phone cables give away where the frames stitch

together:)<p>

 

Stitched in photoshop, of course.<p>

 

<p align="center"><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/3734652-lg.jpg"

border=2><p><center><i>Downtown at Sunset</i></center>

I've never tried this. Did you level the camera for all shots?

WOW! Great shot! If you didn't mention it I'd never said that this picture was made by such old cam as your Retina :-)

Great light and stitching.

 

Cheers,

Ray Hull

I like it. Did you move along the street as you shot or did you just stay in one place and move the camera for each shot???

Excellent photograph. I'm quite interested in panoramics like yours. You did a good job stitching. Here's one I did with a Rolleiflex and a Rollei panoramic tripod mount.

 

<a href="http://westfordcomp.com/classics/rolleiflex/commonpan.html">360 degree view.</a>

Wow ! Even my post was panoramic.

I really like this. Nice exposure and once again shows that many older cameras are superb pieces of equipment. I have a Retina IIc which is a pleasure to use.

Thanks all for the kind words!

 

And Gene, nice one yourself. Your photos always make me homesick for the

Massachusetts of my youth...

 

Ok, how I did it:

 

The panorama was taken with the camera hand held in the vertical position. I stood in

one place and rotated my body, pausing to wind the camera and remember what the

last frame covered. I overlapped more than was necessary I think.

 

Stitching was done in photoshop without using the photo-merge. I tried it and it just

wasn't right and couldn't match up the phone wires at all.

 

I first scanned all the frames and saved them, then dragged each frame into one

image, keeping each frame on a separate layer. I then rotated each frame to make the

vertical edges of buildings and such true verticals. I then repositioned the frames by

making one translucent so that I could match them up as best I could. Of course, only

a small part of each frame matches up perfectly. I then added a layer mask to each

layer and painted away the top layer to hide the parts that don't match. I tried to

make the major transitions along the edges of the buildings or hidden in the trees.

The masks were then blurred to help hide the transitions and separate curve

adjustment layers were added to each frame to match the color and density.

 

See, nothing to it!

 

By the way, the xenon is a fabulous lens. I think the equal or better than just about

any 50mm ever made.

"By the way, the xenon is a fabulous lens. I think the equal or better than just about any 50mm ever made."

 

On what basis do you make this statement? Have you tried every 50mm lens ever made?

Sorry David, this isn't that kind of discussion.

My wife is the best woman ever made. Yes, I have tried the rest.

You know there is just something about Retina's that appeals to me. I got out my IIa the other day and shot a roll through it and was amazed at the nice photo's it produced. It's also just kind of nice to handle and easy to use. Small and compact, rangefinder is smooth and VF is pretty good. I remember turning up my nose at anything Kodak back in the 1950's; I was wrong about the Retina.

bg - Superb! Lots of work and great result. Just curious - why not eliminate the telephone lines completely, just leave the power lines?