The Road to the Kalahari

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey everyone!

This is a 4-image panorama created during our trip to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in September.
We had some spectacular clouds during our trip and on this particular day I took more landscape shots than wildlife/avian shots :)

This was taken from the vehicle window (not allowed to get out). The scene is the dry Auob riverbed, along which you drive to look for game. Stitched in CS3 and basic PP applied. Obviously the web posting size doesn't do the more than 6000px wide image justice. My wife has ordered me to have it canvassed and hung A0 size in our living room.

Your comments much appreciated...

Techs:
Canon 1000D with 18-55mm IS @ 18mm
f16 @ 1/200 SS @ ISO-200

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Morkel,
Very interesting! I like the way you balanced the 2 right trees with the road and trees on the left. I also like the curve of the ground (natural or otherwise) as it adds to the images appeal. The sky and clouds are fantastic.....great shape and flow. Now I do realize you had to knock this down a ton so keep that in mind as I offer some suggestions on the web presentation....The left FG road and grasses as well as the tree on the RH side of the road....seem a bit off tonally/darker that the right. Could it be polariser differences? In any case brightening that to match the other tones a bit closer would work for me. I was going to recommend warming the FG a bit too....but I feel that the grass color is probably appropriate to the area and time of day....so I'd leave it as is! Nicely stitched and it does convey the sense of the park very well!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Morkel, Compositionally the image is handled very well. I like how you used the trees on the rt and the road on the left. As stated the sky adds a huge amount to the image. I realise you couldn't shoot this scene when you wanted but warmer lighting would have given the image a significant impact which is lacking...

[Dennis "Curly" Buchner]

I agree on warming the foreground on a great comp.

[David Thomasson]

Very nice as posted, Mork. I just wanted to play around with color and details a little. Two selective color layers, one for the sky (increased black levels in the cyan and blue channels) and one for the ground (increased blacks in the reds and yellows). Also tried a touch of Topaz Detail on the ground and trees to bring out finer details a little more. (Top is your version.)

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9558/mork.jpg

[Harold Davis]

i like the comp. the repost is sweet!! i like the darker sky. really shines. the density in the foreground seems to give it more depth too. nice job on both parts!!

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks so much Harold & David...

David - appreciate you taking the time to work on it! Love the way you made it pop even more. Is Topaz detail a plug-in I should purchase?

[David Thomasson]

Is Topaz detail a plug-in I should purchase?

You can try it for 30 days free (http://www.topazlabs.com/detail/) with no restrictions on use. I've been trying it and plan to buy it. Very nice for enhancing fine details. It's only $40US.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks for the info David! $40 = R280 with current exchange rate...:)

[Paul Marcellini]

I like your first version posted better, the repost looks too punchy for me. Also, regarding Roman's comment on the trees, looks like they are just covered in dust form the road. The only additional comments is I might try to bring out a touch of red in the distant hill, to make it a stronger element and pull the eye into the image.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Paul! will definitely try that...

[Nick Palmieri]

All has been said..Both versions are very nice.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Nick!