Piers Blackett
January 2025 - Sunset-Pano at Lake Hefner
About the Image(s)
I was shooting late in the afternoon at a nearby lake and at the conclusion was confronted with an impressive sunset. I had an R5 with in-body stabilization and a 100-500 lens and shot the sunset as a pano using a compilation of five portrait views spread at approximately 15 degrees from each other at 100mm (hand-held). The settings were f/10, 1/320 sec, ISO 160. DXO PR was used to denoise. The five frames were bracketed in Bridge for opening as a pano in Photoshop. For post-editing the horizon was set to the lower third line and I used minimal tonal adjustments and a Photoshop color pop preset to bring out the colors slightly.
9 comments posted
I like the essence of what you're doing with the Panorama/stitching and the use of software Piers, but I can't help but see two completely different images in this overall frame - the left side as a nature-oriented reflective sunset, complete with a bird on-the-wing; the right side is a nice reflective sunset with birds in the water, but muted signs of civilization. It's a contrast in themes. Posted: 01/03/2025 20:07:35
Thanks for your impression. My thought was that the sky would have a unifying effect, but perhaps not. In general I find the concept of capturing a sunset to be problematic without it being a background to a point of interest. Posted: 01/04/2025 03:15:43
When I first looked at this image I thought WOW this would look great when framed and put on the wall ... and then I read Jim's comment. I agree with Jim in that the human habitation element probably detracts from the image. But I love the panoranic effect.
My suggestion would be to clone out the houses and retain the panorama or completely remove the right hand side of the image. The point of focus would remain as the brightest part of the image (the sun) and the flying bird almost falls on the intersection of two of the "third" lines.
I still like the panorama! Posted: 01/11/2025 04:14:57
My suggestion would be to clone out the houses and retain the panorama or completely remove the right hand side of the image. The point of focus would remain as the brightest part of the image (the sun) and the flying bird almost falls on the intersection of two of the "third" lines.
I still like the panorama! Posted: 01/11/2025 04:14:57
Thanks for a perfect solution. I possibly became over-influenced by the technology and what it could include rather than exclude. Posted: 01/11/2025 15:54:08
Wow, Piers, I think your original is lovely and I'm not too bothered by the house on the right. After viewing the Pano, your edit of just the left side almost feels cut-off. Maybe try AI in PS and get rid of the buildings for more trees. I love the coloring of the sky across the entire pano. Great capture! Posted: 01/12/2025 18:13:25
I agree. Generative fill works well and I added some cloning to remove all manmade structures - then cropped the flat part to a third of the total. I also agree with Martin and both images have more than enough pixels to print. Thanks. Posted: 01/13/2025 17:57:32
Perfect…love it! I would print it big! Posted: 01/13/2025 18:01:57
The colors are outstanding, and to catch that one bird in the sky is an added bonus. Of course, since you're doing AI, did you try a couple more birds with it? At first I thought I would leave the structures, but I like the cleaned up effect! Very welcoming and perhaps some local restaurant would like this print on their wall!
Posted: 01/16/2025 02:42:20
Posted: 01/16/2025 02:42:20
The same bird was repeated within each frame and during that time it had moved relative to the scene. To my surprise the AI interpreted as one bird - there were no other visible ones just spots which were deleted. Thanks for the suggestion that it be displayed somewhere! The minimalism with warm colors could promote the right mood and induce appetite. Posted: 01/17/2025 23:42:40