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* James *
{K:20200} 8/1/2006
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a different perspective of hong kong here. not your typical shot from the peak. nicely done. best wishes. james
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 6/16/2006
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cheers João!
thank you very much!
j
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João F * Photography
{K:41945} 6/15/2006
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Joel great city photograph my dear friend well done !!
regards
jo
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 6/8/2006
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Thanks again Paul!
I think this is the first time 'grok' has been used here on UF! ;)
cheers buddy!
-joel
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Paul Lara
{K:88111} 6/8/2006
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so many people fail to realize how even a simple narrative of the moment can add to our viewing pleasure. I'm thrilled you grok its power.
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 6/6/2006
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Howdy Jude.
Yes... takin the train w/ the company i'm working with here in HK. We're going to Canton. All I can think about is if I have enough battery to last :)
This place is always here waiting for ya!
cheers,
-Joel
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jude .
{K:14625} 6/5/2006
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Joel, you're going into the Mainland? Damn. I'm jealous...
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jude .
{K:14625} 6/5/2006
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Michael, great Autostitch info here. I've copied it and hope to use it while taking summer fotos in the Cascades and San Juan Islands. Thanks!
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Roberto Arcari Farinetti
{K:209486} 6/1/2006
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great city and island corner.. with mnay pollution..
it seem a shangay-play..on skyscraper silhouette..
have all the best my friend..
ciao
roby
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Michael Kanemoto
{K:22115} 6/1/2006
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Joel:
Blackberry. Hope you have a Nextel/Sprint phone. If not, GRRRRRR... (chuckle)
___________
I believe "Battering ram" to be technially referred to as "Workhorse" in photographic company. (chuckle)
___________
I can stitch the photos if you are away from the computational power necessary. I have the means now, but have to assume at the same time that you have adeqate methods and means to get it done.
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 6/1/2006
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*brilliant* ! Hugo.... I am going to go there, and and least... get a photo of a matchbook for you ;)
...but then again, I may try and get a picture of the mens room, in the interest of art.
thanks again!
J
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Hugo de Wolf
{K:185110} 5/31/2006
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Hi Joel, The Felix bar on the top floor of the Peninsula Hotel has a magnificent view on HK island, but you can't get a decent shot from there, unless it's an interior photo of the bar.
But the bar itself is already an experience. Probably the most luxurious place I know - look for the elevator with the two buttons (ground floor - felix bar, the only way to get there) the details in the bar, the view (extremely nice, but almost impossible to shoot) and the repeating details when you order a scotch (around $16, if I remember correctly). Also make sure you visit the mens' room. The fanciest john's I've ever been to...:)
Cheers,
Hugo
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/31/2006
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I agree Hugo. Thanks... i honestly had zero time to run around and take pictures...even though I packed my entire rig for the trip. Have more pictures thru my hotel window than I do from the peak. The peak was nice, but with a typhoon in town... no chance of a good shot. I had a 45min window of sunshine, and even then...only one building was there for me against a blue sky.
I am going back this weekend, and I am arming myself with a 17mm 2.8L, instead of that 'less than enough' 15mm superwide. I may not take the 70-200/2.8L, as I found myself always dropping back to the 24-70/2.8L battering ram of a lens. Still on the fence about a tripod. Michael has me itchin to take pano's... so that may be my Sunday.
I loved HK. The people that I'm working with took me to the *best* sashimi place in happy valley. i was only there for 4 days...not long enough. I stayed at the Shangi-la Kowloon, and taxi'd to the island every day. ...traffic!!!!!
Should I hit the Peninsula hotel for a top floor view? i'm staying at the Island Shangi-la this time.
I can't wait to go back. On tuesday, I get to head into Canton for a day. I am beyond excited to see the main land! ...oh.... the pictures i will get... please let there be sun.
thanks again Hugo. I agree... this image s*cks... but it's a great memory of standing on the roof of a 60 floor building in a typhoon. Should I post my images of looking straight down?
cheers,
-Joel
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/31/2006
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Thank you Juan!!
J
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/31/2006
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Michael... dood!
thank you so much! (yes... autostitch... a wee old ILM app from our old digimatte department. John Knoll even wrote something *very* cool when the camera to have was a Nikon CP950 w/ a fisheye lens... amazing way to have a 360 pano from 2 images!)
So glad you took the time to write about this. ..and glad I got the responses on my blackberry...so when i return to china next week, i have your notes! thank you SO much!
I'm bringing a tripod...and less clothes... packing light. learned my lesson this last time!
well written Michael!
cheers my friend!
-Joel
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Hugo de Wolf
{K:185110} 5/30/2006
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Hi Joel,
So how'd you like HK? Even with the rainy weather you managed to get some gooduns. In all fairness, I think this is the least of the lot, so far. Focus seems a bit soft, and as you mention a few blown out areas.
Nice view, though, not the classic angle from the peak, or the skyline on HK island.
Fantastic city, full of contrasts - the old houses and sweat shops, the glamour of the skyscrapers, the suffocating, humid climate in summer, the glamourous lights and so on.... Did you by any chance go to the Felix bar on the top floor of the Peninsula hotel?
Cheers,
Hugo
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Juan Gonzalo Marcano Prieto
{K:14254} 5/30/2006
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wow!!! nice shot very nice, excellent
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Michael Kanemoto
{K:22115} 5/30/2006
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Joel:
Continued...
- Use a grid system. My viewfinder projects a grid with lines on the quarter and one half as vertical lines and horizontal lines. I look at the cross-hatches where the lines intersect. For example, if I see that there is a tree at the intersection in the middle of my viewfinder, I remember that tree and then put it at the 1/4 intersection when I move the camera over. This makes sure that the perspective is forced to consistency as you turn the camera and everything will join smoothly. If you do not have grid lines you can use your autofoucs "dots" or eyeball it.
- Force everything manual. I look like an idiot by moving my camera around the whole scene, metering F-Stop and Exposure across the scene, and then choose the average and force the same: F-Stop, Exposure, White Balance, sharpening, etc across all the photos. This also means you have a lot less latitude to getting a really nice shot - in bright days the deep shadows and bright sky vary across the landscape. Sorry. Like most photos, the first and last hours of daylight are best. I do allow the autofocus to work, but with landscapes remember to use hyperfocal distance. Google "hyperfocal" if that just whizzed on by you. It just means using F-stop with where you focus to make sure everything winds up in focus. High depth of field (DOF).
- Lose the filters. Grad filters and polarizers will change the image as you move. IR, UV, ND, and other filters that are consistent are OK.
- Lastly, when you shoot leave room for cropping. Stitching programs love to stretch images, and you may find little blank spaces and gaps. The only way is to give a little buffer to your subjects and crop down later on. This is counter to the normal mode of cropping to the image you want in camera.
Have fun. You never know what will pop out until you are done stitching. I've noticed stitches of 20 images and discover that one of them was out of focus messing up the whole thing. Others that I thought would be boring wind up being absolutely great.
Another benefit is that if the image does not look a panorama, the end result is that you can get 18 - 24 megapixel images from a 6 megapixel camera. This means that you can get away with a wonderful 20" x 30" 150 dpi print for your wall.
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Michael Kanemoto
{K:22115} 5/30/2006
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Joel:
Google on "Autostitch", it is a free program and is small. It just needs some RAM to go and runs on a PC. You open the preferences, set to 100% scale, 100 JPEG quality, and then open the files. It uses pattern recognition to match the shots, stretch, and blend. I've tried some other programs as well.
I recall that Autostitch is licensed by ILM. Wink, wink.
To take a great stitch:
- Shoot digital. It's about matching pixels, and digital will get you the most consistent results (sharpness, tones, etc.)
- Use a tripod if you can. You want to match up on the nodal point (where the light flip flops internally in the lens) to get a perfect perspective match as you rotate. However, I find it easier just to use a normal tripod head and move across the image plane (your sensor in your camera or film) along the same fulcrum. This means if you have a mounting point in line with that senor or film the tripod will force you to swivel right down the middle if you shoot in landscape mode. The "flatter" your photo from perspective the less this will matter.
- Remember that wider is not better. No tripod? It's OK. Perspective is a problem with shooting stitches, the more shifting of near ground elements due to a wide angle means you will have to overlap more. The "flatter" your images, the more two dimensional they are, the less "stretching" the software will have to do, or you will have to do using something like PT lens later on, to flatten the image for merging. When I shoot, I at most go to 28 mm at the widest, and in those cases I will do at least 50% overlap. At 70 mm and beyond, 1/4 overlap is the way to go.
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/30/2006
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Thank you jeanette!
I stayed up there til my card was full!
it's not that bad, because the building surrounding are so tall... you feel like you're in it, rather than looking down on it.
cheers,
-Joel
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Jeanette Hägglund
{K:59855} 5/30/2006
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Oh mamma mia - i´m impressed, how can you stay up there? I feel dizzy...
Jeanette
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/30/2006
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Thank you very much Mohammad.
I *so* wish that there was something wider than the 15mm fisheye that I took with me! I think next time (just for you!) I will take several images from the roof, and stitch them together for a SUPER wide pano!
thanks for the honest comments!
cheers,
-joel
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Mohammad Porooshani
{K:20765} 5/30/2006
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Great Shot Joel,
I like the wide view and looks like a city in a bowl! I need more wide effect on tis work and could be much better I think,
anyway Perfect,
very well done to you,
My bests,
Mohammad
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Joel Aron
{K:14920} 5/30/2006
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Thank for the comments Rasiahn.
I have to agree with you. Having almost every day there be overcast, I had to at least go for the picture no matter how dull the day. Sadly, this is all the city has to offer with color. At night, the city lights up, however, every night was fogged in. Looking fwd to returning next week.... and hope for at least a blue sky.
Softness.... Hong Kong is not :)
thanks for the honest comments!
cheers,
-Joel
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Raihan Khan
{K:243} 5/30/2006
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Composition and angle are fantastic but it suffers from softness and lack of color.
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