Panorama Picnic

My smart alec tech-savvy son sent me this link with the header, “So are you doing THIS in your class?”  Well….?

It looks like we will have at least 7, if not 9, panorama heads to work with in the class. They are all different and will give you a good idea of the range of possibilities.  We’ll have some high-end ones from Manfrotto, 360Precision, and Nodal Ninja.  As noted in an earlier post, we will have the robotic gigapixel one, as well as a “ring” head that can go on a pole (A pole cam allows you to get the camera up high or into tight places).  Some of the heads are light-weight and easy to use, others are rock solid and can do multi-row work.  If you were thinking of purchasing a head for this class, I would suggest that you just wait and try them all out.  15 years ago I would have died for this opportunity to test drive all these styles, weights, and complexities.

Today I finally got around to processing an image I shot on Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day. You can see my image on their gallery here. I used the cameras I intend to bring to Penland, a 5 qt paint can with 6 pinholes. It will take 8×10 B&W photo paper. Here is an image I made today using that same camera.

Just playing around with my iPhone again. 5 pictures across in 4 rows.

I haven’t had much time to post here yet but seeing Dan with his infrared D-70 makes me want to show off my new panorama camera and images. For this I used my iPhone with three separate apps, ProHDR, AutoStitch, and PhotoShop Mobil. I even built my own panorama grip head to mount my phone to my tripod. I hear ATT doesn’t get good reception up at Penland but who needs a phone when your have such a good time.

The old under utilized Nikon D-70 just got back from Life Pixel. The company converted it into a infrared-only camera.  I took it for a try-out this weekend at St. Marys Historic City in Maryland.  I learned two things: 1) a converted infrared digital camera is a breeze to use compared to the olden days and 2) when someone creates a ladder like that, its hard to take a bad picture of it.

Usually walking around in the full sun at high noon is a lousy time for taking pictures, but with infrared its perfect.  Metering, composing, reviewing the images is all done normally.  You can hand hold the camera and use any variety of shutter speeds and apertures.

I took a few panoramas and again it was very easy.  I got one that I am happy with.  I’ll bring the camera to Penland for the class and anyone can try it.  It gets you out of your comfort zone.

When Sara Bailey licked cancer in the early 1990s her line was “The rest is gravy along the way.”  This is a photo mosaic portrait of her weed-whacking along one of the ways of her many flower gardens.

Though the technique of arranging many still photos to create a larger image has a long, varied, and rich history in photography, David Hockney in the 1980s brought the technique to the forefront.  He used Polaroids primarily to create exquisite portraits and still lives.  You can find some great examples of his work on-line.  Here are some on his own website.

We will look at his photo collages, along with other photographers, during the class and students may want to work in this tradition.  Creating these types of panoramas is a very different process than stitching together images to create a seamless image from one place.  In working with photo mosaics, the photographer usually moves around in the scene, discovering details.  It’s a very active process of seeing and recording.