Hi all, for several years now, I've been specializing in photo stitching technique (often in conjonction with HDR...).

 

I just wrote a blog post introducing this technique :

http://1x.com/member/miseaupoint/blog

 

Feel free to comment or ask questions... I will publish soon a more detailed tutorial...

Cheers

 

Hi Patrick, I wrote on your blog as I am interested in this technique, looking forward for your tutorial !

Gianni

I would think the most powerful benefit would be the cultivation of patience...getting everything to line properly. When you are done with a large stitch job - it is my understanding that you can apply for sainthood. :)

 

I do love looking at them!!

So please carry on....

Phyllis

Posting on the web a low resolution image and telling people there are 50 or 100 stitched pictures doesn't really help understanding how detailed the image can be... so here are 2 examples :

- panoramic view from Jura mountain where you will see Mont Blanc and Alps chain, Geneva lake (and its jet stream) and "Pays de Gex" area :

http://www.panos-gessiens.net/mtb/zmf_mtb.html

 

There are 106 stitched pictures : 1.3 gigapixels - 280mm - f/16 - 1/400s

I did a 5 meters long print that shows in some exhibitions

 

- panoramic view of Geneva city shooted from Salève mountain... 7km away

http://www.panos-gessiens.net/geneva/geneva_HD.html

 

More than 20 stitched pictures : around 300 megapixels - 280mm - f/16 - 1/640s

 

I'm using Autopano giga as stitching tool

 

Those links use flash... so won't show up on Apple devices

I just discovered the groups on here - and quickly scanned your article, it looks well written.

 

I do have a question however:

For your HDR panorama, do you have a single tool or tediously create them in a two step process?

 

I recently created one - or rather finally processed the files (from April this year) to create one. I went:

3 exposures -> hdr file for each set

Photoshop -> merge HDR files -> save hdr

open in HDR software again to tonemap a bit (bright sunlight at one end not present at the other)

-> save a final image as a 16bit tif

-> do some final tweaks in Lightroom

 

So: Did you do something similar (individual HDRs first then panorama or the other way round) or do you have a tool that allows you to create an HDR panorama in one step?

Detlev, thanks for your comments.

In fact my processing workflow is relying on several tools. 70 to 80% of the time, my workflow is the following :

- build hdr files using Photomatix Pro

- stitch hdr files with autopano giga

- finalize with PS6

 

Autopano is also able to detect bracketed shots and build hdr pano in one step.

 

From time to time I also ask autopano to build the pano and to output into a psd file containing one layer per bracket. This gives a lot of flexibility too.

 

Thanks for the reply Patrick.

 

It seems your workflow (as in actual steps, not software) is similar to what I used in my last image.

 

Having said that, the autopano software sounds interesting - in fact, I had read about the motorized heads they make in the past.

I might need to think about getting it at some point (the software rather than the head).

 

And obviously, flexibility is what one wants.

 

Many thanks.

My goal in stitching exposures together is to get big images hanging on the wall and I want to get artistic outlook as well. Every one who have made big stitched images, knows how difficult it's to get stitched image look like single edited frame...

 

http://1x.com/photo/638921/group:156:all

 

This is one of the most realistic images of mine with stitching technique.

Patrick, I think I have a similar workflow and tool set as you. Most of my stitched panoramas have been done from the air, so very few of them are HDR. But when I do make HDR panoramas I also use Photomatix to process them. I hadn't thought of having Autopano output a PSD with a different exposure on each layer. I need to try that!

 

This is one of the aerial panoramas I've made:

 

http://www.1x.com/photo/445589/all:user:455227

 

It was made using a camera suspended from a kite line and was stitched using Autopano Pro. In this case it was made using a consistent exposure setting rather than as an HDR.

 

Your 5m print tops anything I've ever done, but I did have this one printed 4m wide on canvas at one point. Unfortunately that print is still rolled up in storage. The customer who printed it didn't have the wall space to display it, so it was never stretched onto a frame. Some day...

 

Tom

Hi,

 

Photo stitching allows us to capture wide scenes with very high resolution.

It is also a mandatory technique when you cannot step back !

 

Here is a good example

http://1x.com/photo/650189/group:156:all

 

37 stitched HDR shots for this one

 

Some great examples and I have enjoyed looking at them.