Need advice on a Panoramic shot for Las Vegas

[gokmen]

We (my partner and I, I am the amateur photographer but never

vtackled panaroma before) need to take a very wide panoramic shot of

the Las Vegas strip skyline for a development project we are working

on.

 

The professional photographers we have contacted so far have not

been very helpul and test shots were not what we wanted. We are

trying to create a shot of wehat the view would be like from the top

of a proposed high rise building.

 

We want to print (with a digital printer on roll paper Epson 2200)

prints with an aspect ratio of at least 4:1 up to 8:1.

 

We don't know if we should use a digital (we have Canon EOS 10Dwith

17mm) and stich or a Fuji 617 type camera. Or maybe a large format

with a mask..

 

Does anybody know what camera or process is used for those photos

sold in NY giftshops of skylines with almost 8:1 aspect ratios?

 

We will greatly appreciate any help and advice that anyone can give.

We will be happy to offer a weekend stay in Vegas at a top hotel for

the most helpful tip, if we end up using it. Please email directly

to gokmen@att.net as need to take this shot ASAP. Thanks in advance.

[art_haykin]

There are several superwide panoramic cameras on the market, and for rental. Do some checking.

[chris_henry1]

8:1 is almost surely a LF crop or a stitch, although a Seitz Roundshot or one of

the rarer custom-made rotating panoramic cameras could also do the same in

one exposure. If you use a 10D at 17mm, you will get an effective 28mm lens

angle of view at your vertical axis and whatever you pan on the horizontal

when you make your multiple exposures. A pan tripod is a good idea, as is a

bubble level. The 1.6x reduction factor ought to eliminate the vignetting/

edge-falloff artifact that can sometimes affect stitch panoramics. I guess you

could smooth that out in post-processing.

[chris_henry1]

You might do a few test shots with the 17mm/10D to see how much barrel

distortion may affect your ability to overlap the horizontally stitched

exposures. You might do better with a standard focal length or short

telephoto instead.

[miles_feigenbaum___dallas_]

http://www.keh.com/shop/product.cfm?bid=PA&cid=04&sid=newused&crid=6470872

[stephen hazelton]

"We are trying to create a shot of wehat the view would be like from the top of a proposed high rise building."

 

It would make a big difference where the building is in relation to that skyline, and how wide an angle you want to show.

 

If it's 10 miles out of downtown, sounds like the 8:1 would be right, for a more or less straight shot looking toward town, then cropped.

 

But if it's more or less in among the buildings that make up the skyline, you might need a much less stretched view. Or, to get the 8:1, you'd have to use a 360 degree view.

 

You don't say what you need this image for, but it could also be generated by imaging programs, rather than through photographic means. The practicality of this would depend on the nature of the view (a few large prominent buildings would work better than 100 miles of suburbs) and on whether someone already has models generated for other uses.

[conrad]

Personally, I would try using the Canon 10D and 17mm lens to take a bunch of successive pictures across the skyline making sure to overlap them a bit. Then use stitching software to tie them all together into one bit print.

[Rob F.]

It seems like it all revolves around two issues. First, what horizontal angle of view do you need? Sixty degrees? Ninety? over a hundred? Next, where are you going to shoot from, since the building isn't built yet. If you shoot from a helicopter, and need 150 degrees, you need a wide-angle panoramic camera. I don't think you can shoot a series of stills well enough aligned to stitch together. If you can answer these two points, you can get some more specific advice.

[chris_henry1]

Try here: http://www.panoramicassociation.org/

[upscan]

The cardinal rule is to lign up your camera so that it is ligned up to the horizontal at all points of the pan. This requires setting up your tripod and head very carefully and it is not easy. Once aligned, the head is rotated but otherwise its vertical inclination is not altered. Having done that, check the coverage of your lens and take enough shots to overlap them slightly. From there it is all photoshop. In PS7 line up the shots starting with the center one. The shot next to the right should be sized so that its left size matches the rhs of the center one but the extreme right of the rhs shot should be enlarged to maintain perspective and correct the receeding size of objects. In other words, the RHS shot becomes a trapezoid of which its left side is equal in size to the right side of the center shot and its rhs is larger to compensate for perspective. Once all shots are assembled cropping is necessary. I used PS elements 2 which has panoramic blending capabilities but PS CS should be better as it allows larger files. In Elements total maximum file size is around 260MB, quite small. The panoramic of this gym was assembled from three hasselblad shots taken with a 50mm WA. The original panoramic can be printed to 30" at 300 dpi for a file size of 260MB at 8 bit RGB. Link:

 

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gluemax/Scenery/tw-pano_.jpg

 

It could not have been shot with a 38mm biogon as the angle was too wide for the biogon. The total angle I estimate was around 140 degrees. With no overlapping this lens would cover 174 degrees in three shots.

[chris_henry1]

Here are some nice examples of stitched digital panoramics: http://www.photo.net/

photodb/folder?folder_id=231265

[w_byrn]

Suat;

 

I will be in Las Vegas Sunday heading for a Monday St. George appointment.

The 617 format may give you what your looking for.20"x60" enlargements on an Epson 10,000 on Premium Lustre Archval paper have worked great in the 3 to 1 ratio. Test shots are a good place to start. If your in Springdale, Utah at the entrance to Zions main canyon you can see a great panoramic of Las Vegas at the Bit and Spur restuarant in the game room that was given to Alex Paltan one of the owners. The logo for the NBC T.V. series is also a nice panoramic,you may want to check that out to see if it was done in a format that will work for your needs.

Walt Byrnes