Another Amphitheater, Drakensberg, South Africa

[Douglas Bolt]

This image was created from 14 individual portrait oriented pics (24 in the full 360) taken with a Canon 1DM2 and a Tamron 17-35 @ 28mm, f10, 1/30, ISO 100 on a tripod. Splicing was with Photomerge in Auto mode. I removed the corner of the cabin on the left and the bench on the right, as suggested from comments on the previous pano. Cloning is a bit rough, but I'll work on that before printing.

I like the extra space at the top and bottom of each image that was provided by the portrait orientation and the 1.3 "crop factor" of the 1DM2, compared to 1.6 of the 10D. However, these pics were taken at 28mm, so the grass in the foreground is still a bit cramped.

The light and clouds in this image project a very different feeling. The rapidly changing appearance of the landscape was one of the highlights of our stay there.

A 1600px version of this image can be viewed here - http://boltassociates.com/South-Africa-Scenes/Amphi_port_Pano1-1600.jpg

As always, CC most welcome.

[Robert Amoruso]

Douglas,

I like the feel of this version better then the previous post. I agree that the FG grasses are still a bit cramped.

[Douglas Bolt]

Thanks Robert.

I'm wondering about the blown out clouds on the left side. They are not quite 255, but they look too bright to me.

Also, there seems to be a lot of dull green filling up most of the image. I did boost the saturation on the yellows, but I'm looking for some way to draw more attention to the distant mountains and less on the green grass.

[Robert Amoruso]

Douglas,

I agree that the clouds need adjustment in tonality. For some ideas, see this thread where I talk about using a curves adjustment and gradient masks.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15771

As far as the grass goes; to me the real interest is the mountains and short of moving to a different location that eliminates the FG, your other option is to use a longer lens to pull the mountains in and eliminate the grass. The expanse of what looks like mowed lawn in the FG draws they eye first and that is not what you want.

[David Kennedy]

I think Robert has made some very good points here. I think that without room for the grasses to have some "buffer" from the bottom edge, it makes the image feel too cramped. Of course, I'm probably going to sound like an old Pontiac commercial (Wider is Better.....not true for cars, definitely true for framing stitched panos). The clouds on the left are also somewhat distracting because they are approaching the white point, even if they aren't technically "blown out."

[Douglas Bolt]

Thanks for your suggestions, Robert and David.

I'm thinking about cropping off a bit from the left side, which will eliminate the problem with the blown clouds and maybe focus attention more towards the right side of the image. I'm thinking the crop may actually take advantage of the grassy area on the left and lead one's eye to the right.