Quick and Dirty Pano of Rotterdam, Netherlands

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi folks,

You might have noticed that I have been rather absent recently. This was due to being very busy at work and also in my private life.

To make it up a bit , here is a quick and dirty pano of Rotterdam, Netherlands. I took some 22 pictures and used CS3 to create the pano. Due to memory issues, I had to do it in 6 discrete steps (i.e. merge 4-5 images at a time and merge all later). I know that there is much room for improvement, but for once, I'll stop being a perfectionist .

http://www.envisagement.com/opf/shadow_copy/img_39018_0_225300579-XL.jpg

Click HERE (http://56.smugmug.com/photos/225300579-O.jpg) for a larger version.

Cheers,

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

At last, welcome back from real work! This picture is pretty damn nice! Immediately One sees the beautiful reflection in the river. Great that you limited the sky, since I see bo clouds and the water balances the skyline perfec tly.

There is of course a little problem with illumination. Did you use the same settings in manual or does the light change? In AutoPano Pro, the luminence is normalized, color and saturation all seem to be normalized perfectly without doing anything special.

I'd consider examining a version with the buildings at each end left out. This might work better for you, but it's just an idea. As it it is, those building to serve as end stops for eye movement, like vignetting in a protrait to bring attention inwards from both left and right directions. IOW, those end building almost act as a matter in a frame, helping to set apart and present well the center areas of interest.

Is there more foreground?

Thanks for the great arrival back with arms full of this present!

Asher

[Cem_Usakligil]

....There is of course a little problem with illumination. Did you use the same settings in manual or does the light change? In AutoPano Pro, the luminence is normalized, color and saturation all seem to be normalized perfectly without doing anything special.

I'd consider examining a version with the buildings at each end left out. This might work better for you, but it's just an idea. As it it is, those building to serve as end stops for eye movement, like vignetting in a protrait to bring attention inwards from both left and right directions. IOW, those end building almost act as a matter in a frame, helping to set apart and present well the center areas of interest.

Is there more foreground?
...

Hi Asher,

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome, I appreciate it.

The illimunation problem you see is caused by yours truly being stupid. I've gone and done the most basic mistake one can make. I.ow., I'd forgotton to take the d**n circ. polarizer off the lens! And I was paying all the attention to all the details, go figure!

I did not try Auto Pano at all, maybe it's worth giving it a go?

As I wrote, this is a Q&D version, I'll definitely do more with or without the buildings at each end.

What do you mean by "Is there more foreground?"?

Cheers,

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

I was just wondering if you had cropped away water at the lower border of your pano. I like the water so much that if you had more in the pictures you stitched, it might look better to add it back!

Otherwise no big deal!

Asher

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem,

I was just wondering if you had cropped away water at the lower border of your pano. I like the water so much that if you had more in the pictures you stitched, it might look better to add it back!

Otherwise no big deal!

Asher

Unfortunately, there is almost no cropping at all. This was due to the meticulous levelling the tripod and the camera first. I did not want to lose the tops of the cranes and the bridge, so I ended up capturing less of the water using my 70-200 at 70mm. But I have some other pictures showing more water. I'll dig into it later :-).

Cheers,

[Asher Kelman]

Cem,

was the camera mounted in portrait or landscape position on the trpod? Also do you have an L-bracket for rapid switching if needed?

Also remember there's no law preventing you from adjusting down the angle of your camera for a second row! :)

Asher

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Asher,

The camera was mounted in portrait position. I don't have an L-bracket unfortunately. Any recommendations?

I did only one row. I don't know why but doing a second one just did not occur to me.

The final pano is some 33000x4000 pixels BTW.

Cheers,

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Click on the image for a larger version.

Cem, the image is not showing in my IE7. The URL IMG tag nesting probably confuses IE7.

Bart

[Nikolai Sklobovsky]

Great pano, Cem!
Thank you for bringing up good memories!

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem, the image is not showing in my IE7. The URL IMG tag nesting probably confuses IE7.

Bart
Hi Bart,

Thanks for the warning, I have removed the nesting and added an external link to the larger image (http://56.smugmug.com/photos/225300579-O.jpg).

Cheers,

[Cem_Usakligil]

Great pano, Cem!
Thank you for bringing up good memories!
So Nik, when were you there? Did I miss you in recent times or was it a long time ago?

Cheers,

[Ray West]

Hi Cem,

I think I may have been standing more or less in the same place as you, but in July 2006.(I was there for less than a day). I think they love that old transporter bridge as much as 'the swan'. I have a number of shots, more or less from the same point, maybe I'll try a stitch with hugin, which seems to work pretty good, even with hand held random shots.

http://www.yertiz.com/images/bridge1.jpg




I do not think even you will be able to get to the location for this shot though, .......


http://www.yertiz.com/images/bye.jpg


Best wishes,

Ray

[Greg Rogers]

Where can I find the full sized image? <razz>

Another excellent pano, Cem. Oh, and this answers my question about the purple structure at the same time. As Ray pointed out elsewhere, it is a bridge indeed. And white at that. Must be quite an array of purple floodlights.

Cheers,
Greg

[Cem_Usakligil]

...Oh, and this answers my question about the purple structure at the same time. As Ray pointed out elsewhere, it is a bridge indeed. And white at that. Must be quite an array of purple floodlights.

Bingo! Right on both counts :-).

Cheers,

[Cem_Usakligil]

....I do not think even you will be able to get to the location for this shot though, .......

Let me guess, taken from the deck of a cruise ship, eh?

Cheers,

[Ray West]

Hi Cem,

You'd better keep the coconut, then!

Sorry about hijacking your thread, but have you noticed the tarmac over the Erasmus bridge? I think it has flakes of mica or something in it. When the sun catches it, it sparkles like the night sky.

Best wishes,

Ray

[Nikolai Sklobovsky]

So Nik, when were you there? Did I miss you in recent times or was it a long time ago?
Cheers,
It's been a while, actually, almost exactly 11 years ago, October-December 1996.
I was working for a Dutch company with HQ in Rijswijk (between Delpht and Haage) at the time.
I would've give you a buzz if it were more recent times :-)