Desert Pano - two treatments

[James Clark]

From my last trip to Ghost Ranch/Abiquiu, NM.  3 shot pano taken with my Cambo/IQ160/Rodie 40 setup.  The B&W loses a little in the jpeg compression, but it's killer on a big monitor and I'm going to run a 48" or so test print hopefully tomorrow...

[bill t.]

Color one, definitely.  Nice work, very natural treatment.  Would kinda like to see more drama in those monochrome clouds, it's the tradition for Ghost Ranch shots.     Have to get up there one of these days, it's so close to me!

So which way did you have that IQ160 rotated, and how many panels?  Any software issues with pano technology at those file sizes?  48" is an OK size, but for that many pixels all in one place it's still sort of in the wallet-sized category.

[James Clark]

Thanks!  48" may be wallet sized, but I'm working on a 24" wide roll of paper at the moment  It'll be enough for a proof then I'll dig out a big roll.

The shot is a 4 panel, each horizontal but with some pretty heavy overlap.  No problem crunching it (Photoshop CS6, Mac mini server w/ 16gb RAM), but there is some banding in the sky that may be a Photoshop issue...  not sure yet.  Will give it a try with PTGui on the next go-round.

I assume you're local?  If so, you have got to get out that way - it's well worth the drive!

[bill t.]

Live in Albuquerque.  One of the most effective banded-sky options in PTGui is to specify Smartblend as the blender, it's a free download.  Uncanny blending of difficult, even non-aligned subjects.  Another good option is to have PTGui output the pano as a layered stack of full-frame images, allowing you add a curves layer on top of each panel for balancing before the blending step.  PS also allows that by first tossing the zig-zag masks that come out of its blending, but it's extra work.

[Tony Jay]

Very nice James, I see that you haven't lost your touch.
Both renditions are good treatments.
I do like the colour personally though.

I will keep a weather eye out for more of your posts.

Tony Jay