More from Alfred
My first real non P365 blog entry since I started it :) But more photos! These are a few more panoramas from the Alfred Nicholas Gardens yesterday which I stitched today.
First, here’s a link to another interactive spherical panorama, but this one is different in an important way. This is the first “high dynamic range” (HDR) panorama I’ve tried. 30 second HDR tutorial: Cameras cannot capture detail in the whole range of brightness levels in a scene, and as a result highlights and shadows get ‘blown out’. One way to get around this problem is to take a series shots (3 in this case) exposed correctly for highlights, midtones and shadows, and then merge them to get the best of each. This is tricky when panoramas need 6 shots anyway, so a HDR pano takes 18 photos, all which need to be stitched and merged.
The result, however, is worth the effort I think. When you have a look, notice how you can see a reasonable amount of detail in both the darkest and lightest areas:
Here’s three more “flat” panoramas. Make sure you click on the images below to see them properly!
Great photos Neil. You continue to inspire me to get out and try new things.
Thank you very much Michael! I try to be imaginative with my photography, and sharing what I learn brings me happiness. I would love for you to share the “new things” you try! Send me a link to the photos, and maybe I can share them with the blog readers!
I have been interested in panoramics for a long time, and have dabbled, but never really got anywhere due to the problems of publishing them.
How do you get the above display system working?
also, I use Hugin to map them, what do you use?
Thingomy: I understand what you mean. Until recently, Quicktime was the best option, but it was far from ideal. With recent versions of Flash, new features have been added which allow for interactive panoramas. I used Pano2VR to prepare the panorama into a flash file, which I have displayed in the blog via an IFrame.
I use the excellent PTGui for stitching and blending my panoramas.