Panoramic Viewpoint Essay

[Panofan]

Good article with some inspirational panoramic images, especially the pack of wolves, that's quite a catch. Were they alive or stuffed?

I just returned from leading a workshop in Costa Rica where most photographers shoot macros and closeups of animals, but we managed to get there also a number of interesting nature panoramas. In the next few days, I will go through my images and select one of the CR panoramas, and then post it here.

[LesPalenik]

Thank you, Peter.
Well, some of  those wolves may be stuffed by now, but when I shot them, they were very much alive. Fortunately, not too hungry. Real Canadian timber wolves.
Actually, in this case, capturing the whole scene in one wide shot was easier than it would be by stitching it from multiple shots since the animals were moving.

Looking forward to see your Costa Rica Panorama.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

A very informative essay with great illustrations.

[LesPalenik]

Thank you kindly, Eric
Yes, I try to do both, my photography and my writing in illustrative mode. To support an essay by several photographs and to capture a story in one photograph.

[Panofan]

Here is the first promised pano from my workshop in Costa Rica. The original image was taken as 4 rows, 10 images per row with Nikon Z7 camera and 24-70 lens at 50mm. The combined uncropped image was just below 3GB. The final image after cropping was about 700+ MB (40,000 x 15,000 pixels).

This is the highest waterfall in Costa Rica and it took 480 steep steps to get to the shooting location. It was much easier to go down than to return back - with the heavy backpack, camera, VR Drive and a medium heavy tripod. The climb up took about 40 minutes, and then we needed a full hour for recovery. I should have planned this trip 40 years ago, when I was in a much better condition (also more photogenic).

Attached is a reduced pano, 1000 pixels wide (about 2.5% of the actual size), and one 100% crop to show the detail and the quality of the photographed panorama.  These two images were not sharpened yet, they came out this way straight from Nikon Z7 jpg files and PTGui. Depending on the desired printed size, the final image could be slightly sharpened or not.

Next week, I'll post another Costa Rica panorama, consisting of 3 rows, 19 images per row.

[Panofan]

This is the second panorama from Costa Rica. It is a long pano of Arenal Volcano in Northern part of Costa Rica.

Full size pano is over 60,000 pxls long and it is all about the detail. This time,  I used Fujifilm X-T3 with a 50mm lens - equivalent to 75mm FF.  Some of the workshop attendees were using even longer lenses. The resolution and quality of Fujifilm camera and lens is visible in the detail crop bellow.

My personal observation comparing Fujifilm X-T3 and Nikon Z7 - in practical use, where the size of final image is limited, is negligible. Being a Fujifilm dealer, I just might be a little biased. 

[LesPalenik]

That's an interesting view of the Arenal volcano surroundings. In most other Arenal photos I've seen, you see only the volcano or they were taken from a different place.
60,000 pixels would translate into a really long print. I can see that shooting from this spot one could use even an 85mm or 105mm lens.