Panoramas from Ruth Mt. (July)

I finally got around to stitching some panoramas from a trip to Ruth in July.

Start of hike:

Below Hannigan Pass looking up valley to Ruth

Wide view from ridge above Hannigan Pass:

Traversing to Ruth:

Ragged Ridge - Baker:

Beautiful. Those pictures make my feet itch. I'm going to have to learn how to stitch together panoramas some day.

OK, I'm convinced that this stitching thing is worth investigating.

I've tried taking several shots into Photoshop and combining them.  First thing you learn is to turn off automatic settings so the color is consistent shot to shot.  But if the camera is not on the exact same height, or not perfectly vertical, or a bunch of other things, it does not come out right.

So, what is the secret?  How are you doing your far superior stiches? Camera settings? Software?

Tim, Lowell, and other photo nuts,

I've been working on (studying equipment, software, and technique) panoramas for a few years now with varying levels of success, but now seem to have it down pretty well. There are many software packages that can stitch, some free (comes with many cameras), some $$$, and some just part of a larger program like Photoshop. Since I already had Photoshop that is what I tried first, but the auto stitching function in CS2 was sorely lacking. I persevered and often did it manually spending way too much time fiddling at my computer. CS3 is a huge improvement and many expert stitchers say it is as good or better than some of the expensive stand alone software, so I highly recommend the upgrade if you are a Photoshop user. It is almost like magic and works well most of the time if your original shots are good.

Like Tim pointed out shoot on manual so all the exposures are the same. Also make sure white balance is the same. These Ruth shots were all done with a Canon Digital Rebel XT using RAW format so I could process them all the same in my computer.

When you are into it you shoot a lot (like all photography) and toss out the bad ones, or don't even process em when you can see they will fail. I don't share those!

Mine also have the jagged edges, but I crop that off before posting. I try to frame with extra sky and ground knowing that will happen (especially if hand held). I often shoot these wide panos with the camera held vertically (portrait) to get a wider angle up and down, and make a higher resolution final stitch. Tripod mounting will minimize the cropping.

Get out there and shoot more of them guys, I love looking at them.

PS Charles was and is an inspiration to me with his great panos he's shared on this site.

Here is one I got in Gothic Basin at sunrise a couple weeks ago. I carried my big tripod up and it was worth it.

I've been pretty happy using a free program called Autostitch:

www.cs.ubc.ca/~mbrown/autostitch/autostitch.html


Here is a 3 photo panorama I took up at Baker at the end of this past season that I stitched together with Autostitch.

Good shot Larry, when are you going to post the 360s?