5D Freehand Panoramas Boulder Falls Frozen and Thawed!

I've posted this too in the waterfalls collection, however, this is actually a series of freehand panos I am taking of this favorite spot outside of Boulder Colarado. It's a challenge in the winter because of treacherous ice and a big drop.

Here is the winter pano in color. although the falls appear totally frozen, the water is still rushing through and down the ice. So I guess it's a dynamic process of formation of giant icicles that fuse together in massive formations.


Now the same place in spring, after the ice has melted


There's always a surprise.

I want to point out areas of difficulty in these pictures. The dynamic range is very large and I wasn't organized to take the pictures systematically at several exposures. Rather I bracketed the most dark areas and did a lot of matching by eye. The other issue is the flowing water is not always stitched well in AutoPano Pro. Maybe when one uses a slow shutter speed the silky smooth milky foam effect might stitch easier. However, when one uses a fast shutter to catch the spray in droplets, the surges and pulsations are irregular so stitching has to be finished by hand in layers in Photoshop. So I use AutoPano pro to get the perspectives and yaw and roll corrected but decide myself where seems will be.

There's probably an easier way to do this!

Asher

I'm going to return with my 8x10 camera and see if I can get it in one or two shots. The widest lens I have at the moment is a 150mm Super Symmar XL. I probably need a 120mm version or else the more economical Nikkor.

hi Asher,

great pictures you have here - it's no surprise for me.

The long time exposure would make a silky foam indeed but would that be real?

The pictures are difficult due to the large dynamic problems; could another set would bring some details to the dark areas also?

I'm not good at critique but I'd encourage you to return to that magical place with the large format camera and put it to work.

best regards,

Valentin Arfire said:

..I'm not good at critique but I'd encourage you to return to that magical place with the large format camera and put it to work.

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Hi Asher,

I fully agree with Valentine, this scene begs for an 8x10 camera indeed .

Now I was wondering, why you have chosen to keep the frozen picture in color? Just curious.

I should also add that I like both pictures, but the frozen one is more interesting to look at on screen. The BW one will be more interesting if printed big using the right tonalities.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Cem_Usakligil said:

Now I was wondering why you have chose to keep the frozen picture in color? Just curious.

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Not to be to boring to me! LoooooooooooL!

BTW, a very nice composition and pano technic… with the 1st picture, though, seen on my laptop, I'd like some more details in shadows (trees), but I'm sure they can be saved!

I guess I see what Asher likes in the B&W, but can't post here… a kind of metaphoric illusion…

Cem_Usakligil said:

Hi Asher,

I fully agree with Valentine, this scene begs for an 8x10 camera indeed .

Now I was wondering why you have chose to keep the frozen picture in color? Just curious.

I should also add that I like both pictures, but the frozen one is more interesting to look at on screen. The BW one will be more interesting if printed big using the right tonalities.

Click to expand...

Hi Cem,

I am happy you like my pictures. It turns out that for scenes like this, the 8x10 film camera may really come into it's own. I'll check from the component photos in these stitched images, what the actual total angel of coverage is. Hopefully, I can get it with the 150mm Super Symmar XL, which must correspond to about 22mm based on the ratio of the long axis of the light receiving areas of 35mm and 8x10 systems. If I have to I can get a 120mm Nikkor SW which should be about 18mm!

I think the Super Symmear XL 110 mm will also just cover 8x10 but it's very expensive!

Ice photographs as blue and maybe we need to use a filter. I find the picture look a little better with a slight blue tinge. Spray looks great in B&W!

I just have to make a plan to return to the waterfall when it's frozen. I'll need the spikes on my tripod!

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Ice photographs as blue and maybe we need to use a filter. I find the picture look a little better with a slight blue tinge. Spray looks great in B&W! I just have to make a plan to return to the waterfall when it's frozen. I'll need the spikes on my tripod!

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I love the B & W shot Asher, I can almost feel the rumble of the water, just beautiful, make sure you take of your back when you revisit, spikes on your boots as well!