how=lto

CAPTURE THE BIG PICTURE BY STITCHING MULTIPLE TOGETHER

THE HISTORY OF PANORAMIC is lo ng and rotating ca meras with synchronized moving film and very wide­ full of ing nuiry, both in term o f techniques for achi ving a fo rmat, wid e- lens combinati o ns. The most famous was th e wide view and some interesting applica tions of those tech­ gea red Cirkul ca mera, circa 1906. J'vlo re than 75 different pano nique . Simple multiple ex posures from a rotated was camera de ign are o n re o rd, daling back to 1844. the most ba ic and o ldest technique fo r a panorami c view. The e As ea rl y pho tographers often us d very large-formal ca meras, ra rely were seen as continuous, but rather simply what they another technique was to use o nl y a lo ng rectangul ar po rti o n of were-individual views looking around. O f course, they were the more square fo rmat with a slightly wide-angle lens, making mo t li ke ly displ ayed next to each other to create the wide view, for the illu ion o f a very wide view. ameras were even con­ even if bro ken by lhe edge of the frame and so me overl ap. sU1.l cted fo r this purpose with very long a pect rati o , such as the -111 e de ire to build a camera that made Xlremely wide views 12x20-inch Banquet ca mera, introduced in 1914. was in pl ace by the lale 19th century. ari ous implementati o ns A few decades into the 20th century brought bo th medium­ of large-fo rmat pano ra mic ca meras were constructed, some with fo rmat and 5mm ve r io ns o f the rotating ynced film adva nce clilved glass plates and special hand-cranked moving lenses, design. Thi approach b ca me a standard for panoramic work,

64 • PC P hot 0 TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEPHEN JOHNSON

altho ugh the wide-angle lenses coupled with the lo ng- fo rmat (as that was the technique they were premiering), multiple film fra m has stayed with us, such as the Fuji 6x1 7. and scans, assembled together into 360 0 pano ramic fil es. By that time, I had already aba ndo ned film, so it was aUICKTIME VR trange to be suddenl y shooting again with a film camera fo r this Apple Computer stepped into the pano ramic pho tography adva nced test o f digital technology. I soon repl aced the film with worl d in 1995 with its QuickTime VR (virtual reality) soft ware, my Kodak D 460 and moved o n to my own work w hich incl uded a stitcher and viewing archi ­ As it turned o ut. 1995 became a n even mo re interesting tecture within its Q ui ckTime movie software. Its electronic inter­ yea r with the advent o f the BellerLi ght scanning ca mera's acti ve viewing of 360 0 spaces quickl y spurred a resurgence o f pa no ra mic adapter. interest in pa no ramic pho tography. I was hired by Apple in the spring o f 1995 to work with them DIGITAL PANORAMICS o n the develo pment of Q'IV R as it ca me to be kn own. Iy first In 1995, I sent o ut a New Year's ca rd to a bunch of fri ends in fi eld tests were in the o uthwest, and were do ne with film which I to ld peopl e about this scanning ca mera by Michael

M a r ch I Apr i I 2 0 0 7 • 65 Jhow=to Coll ette I was wo rking Wilh. One o f lhe La nder that went to lars in 1976 had a was la ter picked up to refer to VR peopl e who answered was myoid fri end 12-sensor pho todiode camera and pa no ­ pano ramic techno logy. Ilo wa rd Barney, w ho had built the ra mic capability. As far as we've been abl e I wanted to replica te this expe ri ence. BarneyScan (the first des kt o p 5 mm film to discover, there has never been a 3600 Il ewlett -Packard built a tempo ralY di s­ scanne r) a nd o riginally licensed until this. The BetterLi ght pl ily fo r its hCildquarters in Pal o 1\lto. I)ho tosho p fro m Jo hn a nd Tho mas is actua ll y capable o f a 400 0 ro tati o n. Apple commiss io ned a po rtable ve rsio n Kn o ll. Ilowa rd had sold BarneyScan, by in 1998, designed il nd built by my friend then had o pened a machine sho p in BIG PRINTS AND Ro bin Meyers, who later constructed a Po rtl and and just pl ayed with p ro jects he PANORAMIC DISPLAYS 360 0 room fo r my ga ll ery in Pacifi ca. wam ed to d o. Iloward ca ll ed me to say Eventua ll y, Il ewle tt -Packa rd got These walk-in pano ramic rooms a ll ow lhat he knew Mi chael o ll elte fro m his involved , th rough the courtesy of viewers to be surrounded by the C rand work Wilh Dunn Imaging a nd also lhat Mi chael Sto kes, who made us some big Canyon o r whatever prim we manilge to he had a design fo r a pano ra mic head for prints o n III' DesignJ et printers. Back at hang. The big prints continue to amaze. a scanning camera. the Di git al Po nd, my good fri end Pete In many ways, I've been making pho­ Il oward and Mike got back in touch. Il ogg decided to host a little ex periment togrilphs o n the fa ith that I'd so meday be Il o wa rd d esigned a nd ha nd-built a where we took o ne o f the prints and able to o pen the fil es. The very high-res­ pa no ra mic head fo r the 4x5. Basicall y, it glued its top edge to the o utside o f a o lutio n, I-giga byte pa no ril mi cs couldn't was a ro tating stage that could be com ­ huge ro und ca rdboard cu tout, w ith the even be o pened in Photosho p when we puter-com roll ed. Ilis ro tating stage was print facing inward . It was then hung by started to make them in 1995. O n my m o unted o n the tripo d, the ca me ra rope fro m their ceiling. When I stepped second panoramic o uting in late 1995, I m o unted o n top o f that, and the soft ­ inside, it was like a pho tographic trans­ stumbled o nto a w idth limit in wa re contro ll ed to the m otor, instruct­ po rt to ano ther pl ace, the most immer­ Pho tosho p; it wouldn't o pen an imagc in g it how to turn. The BetterLi ght sive pho tographic ex pe ri ence I had ever beyond 30,000 . The new sensor is put dead-o n center o f the lens seen. My usc o f the term "immersive" pano ramics were up to 65,000 pixels

OPENING SPREAD: Dawn at Stonehenge. England , August, 1996; Cen tral Park. New York City, March, 19 97. THIS PAGE : Everglades National Park. Florida, February, 199(SE even more of the scene into your panoramic images. ABOVE . RIGHT: Keep everything aligned when you're shooting and consider investing in a specialty head like the

insteil d o f traveling ilCroS the back of lo ng. I kept making them anywa)', kn ow­ the imaging a reil o f the ca mera, a sweet ing that evemua ll y this problem woul d pl ace to work fro m. Then the w ho le be solved . I couldn't resist these velY ca m era turns. In fact, you get beller deta iled records of a scene. O f course, I qua lity if you ma ke evelY pho togra ph also m il de lower-res, easier-to-deal-with with the pil no ra mic head because the versio ns when I could. In 2003, this limit sensor is dead -o n center o f the opti c so was overcome in Pho toshop and I now the re's no distorti o n, no chro m a ti c ca n o pen these fil es and make good usc aberra ti o n, no no thing o ther tha n the of them in my soft wa re of cho ice. best that o ptic ca n produ c. In ovember 1995, we made the first MULTI-EXPOSURE digita l pa no ra mic w ith PANORAMIC TECHNIQUES li chael's camera. There had been digit il l I)a no ra mic pho tography has been pil no ra mic pho tos befo re; the Viking Pro Optic Super Fish Eye O.25x fro m Adorama grea tl y e nabled by the cil pability to

66 • PC P hot 0 - r -, r -~ ~-? build panoramic views from a s quence ...... _ \.--_L_)....JI~:...-J of exposures. This i done with a eri es of made whi le rota ting th e ca mera between frames. Th se individual PROFESSIONAL fram e are th en joined LOge th er in a Durable, Affordable (h pefully) sea mle s through a process ca lled stitching. There are everal oftware pa kages de ign d LO co mpo ite th ese images together, in luding pple's origi nal QuickTime VR Authoring Tools and Ph o tos hop's built-in panoramic stit h r, PhoLOmerge. Most applica tions and manual- titch­ ing proces es will work bes t when the amera setup is level and the overl ap of images is co nsisten l. A panoramic t p­ ping hea d for your ca n b helpful to aid consistent rotati on and overl ap. About a 25% to 50% overl ap is helpful for blend­ ing th · e image LOgether, but this will vary with the foca l length of the len used. It also ca n be helpful for blending if you hoose a single /shuuer speed Novoflex VR System Camera Mount combination and use it for th entir

SLIK SUPER A.M. T. ALLOY PRO 700DX

SLiK Super A. M. T. alloy uses a mixture of Aluminum, Magnesium and Titanium to form an alloy stronger than regular aluminum yet 196jELOW: Wide-angle lenses and converters like the ProOptic Super Fish Eye O.25x from Adorama can help you squeeze much more light-weight. Novoflex Panorama VR system to ensure the camera perfectly ro tates around the lens nodal point. For professionals, the PRO 700 OX is a sturdy tripod that will hold up to rata t d et. Th i minimizes potential sky pro ess ing software th at supports layer. years of regular use. The PRO 500 OX is a slightly smaller and lighter bien ling issue, which ca n be almo t Iy stitching oftware traditionally has version with the same features. impo sible to eliminate. been Apple's original QuickTime VR For enthusiasts, the PRO 330 OX Ilandheid work eq uen e require Authoring Suite, but it has been left with­ and PRO 340 OX are compact and more ca re and work after th e fact. Do your out update by Apple since 1997. light-weight for easy use and easy bes t to find a marking within the I've since u ed Ileimut Ders h's Pano traveling . viewfinder to line up the horizo n and Tools and lately th e Mac 0 X front-end EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION BY: keep it th ere as you rotate the ca mera . If to his oftware like PT ui, rrrMac and THK PHOTO PRODUCTS, INC. major geometric di LOrtion is present in other . There ar oth I' grea t tools out T okina • HOYA • Kenko • SLIK th e final set, co rrecting individual frames there, including R alViz and VR Worx. 2360 Mira Mar Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90815 with Photos hop's perspective- orrection Many only are avai lab le for th e P run­ Visit our website for more information at ontra ls might improv subsequent stitch­ ning Windows. los t are worth looking www.thkphoto.com ing su e s. inLO, a many are free or sharewa re. Part You an stitch images in any image- of the r aso n for choosing one over For fast ad info and to win prizes go to page 87

M ar c h / Apr i I 2 0 0 7 • 67 JhOW=lto

Learn How to Take Great Images at a Tamron In-The-Field Photography Workshop

Workshop Includes • Friday Evening Photography Seminar • Saturday In-the-Field Workshop • Loaner lenses, and tripods • $20 Gift Card • Exclusive Bonus Rebates • Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner &lor Snacks • Location Admission ,._.... , • Transportation ,_ , • Raffle Prizes & Give-aways

Hosted by Tamron Retail Partners Bennett's Camera & video • Berger Bros. Camera Photograph er Steph en J ohn son in th e Panoramic Room of hi s gall ery. E.change • Camera Land. Inc . • Cord Camera • Dury's • Harold's Photo Centers • Hell. Camera & Video ' Keeble & Shuchat Photography ' Mlke's Camera ' Mike Cnvello's World of Cameras ' Milford Photo • Murphy's Camera • National Camera • anomer depends o n your goals-making an interacti ve Qui ckTime VR for the Web or Nelson Photo Supplies • New York Camera & video • o ther electro nic display or simply assembling multiple exposures into a high-resolu­ North Tampa Photo ' Penn Camera ' Precision Camera • Robi's Camera Center ' Sa my's Camera ti o n image for printing.

Co-sponsored by: ••• bogen To view more of Stepllell /0111150 11 '5 pllOlogmplly, illclllriillg pa rlOrtl mic images, visit his Web­ I m a g in g site at wwW.SjpllOlO.COII I.

20 Locations Untitled ' - PTGui trial version Scheduled for 2007 123 ~

Amityville Apr 13-14 Terry Livingstone Project Assistant Source images Lens settings Panorama Senings Tampa Apr 20-21 Les Voorhis Crop Image Parameters Control POints Optimizer Metairie May 11-12 Don Gale Preview Create Panorama New York/LI Jun 8-9 Judith Pishnery Nashville JU16-7 Judith Pishnery 1. Load Images... ) « Simple } Tacoma Ju113-14 Sandra Nykerk Columbus Ju120-21 Terry Livingstone San Diego Ju127-28 Les Voorhis Milford Aug 3-4 Les Voorhis Southampton Aug 10-11 Don Gale Milwaukee Aug 17-18 Don Gale Palo Alto Aug 24-25 Terry Livingstone Santa Barbara Sep 7-8 Don Gale Sioux Falls Sep 14-15 Les Voorhis Boulder Sep 14-15 Sandra Nykerk Camera ' ,ens parameters Chicago,lL Sep 21-22 Les Voorhis Automatic (use EXIF data from c~mera , if available) Minneapolis Sep 28-29 Don Gale Beltsville Oct 12-13 Don Gale Austin TBA FOCiI le'1g Lexington TBA 44 .4 3 mm Foedl qt m.Jltlpl,

Visit www.tamron.com l 2. Align images... ) to get more Info about the ( Control pOint assistant... " Align panorama .. _ Instructors and field locations or call 1-800-827-8880 x411 3. Create panorama ... )

Software like PTGui can help you quickly assemble images into a Single panoramic. This application can even automatically adjust for the lens you used and read this info from your metadata if you shot digitally. Improve the Quality of Your Photos HOW-TO OVERVIEW visit PRO Learning Center PROCEDURE guid s. The orfection ne d to mat h in 1. , nerally, a semi-wid to ",ride-angle adjoining images. I n i u d for VR fil , but any focal 2. In Adobe Camera RAW, ndll'onize length can b sli tch d. A long len can b processing. Be careful o( your tlings, u ed to a embl a wid view from a very using minimal noise reduction and litlie elected, zoomed-in part o( the scen sharp ning. I( you overproc from RAW 2. Use a u'ipod if at all po sible. and hav to start all ov r, it might force you I-landh ld ts are much more diffi ult to to redo much sub quent work. assemble becau all ax s ar in play. 3. Even out lens vign tling in Camera . I vel the tripod had. 'Ily to ke p RAW, as dark n d dg are mu h harder vertical and horizontal lin s in the imag to bl nd. straight throughout th rotation. h ck 4. Keep in 16-bit if your a sembly variou point of rotati on to confiml the proce wil l upport it. accuracy of your I v ling. Supplem ntal bubble I vel are availabl (or your cam- MANUAL ASSEMBLING ra's n, h mounl. A ci n mati I veling 1. lanuall ass mble in Photo hop head (or your tripod can b helpful. using Lay rs and limited opacity era ers to 4. I( a tripod i n't available, don't blend ov rlaps tog ther. pa up an important photograph. Try 2. Realign and custom distort, a you any"vay. taya I vel and as con istel1l in (e I nece ary. overlap a po ible. 5. Ifnear and farobj ctsar partofth AUTO ASSEMBLY WITH STITCHING c ne, t the nodal point of the len over SOFTWARE th axis o( rotation (u ually n ar th mid­ 1. When a k d for len (0 al I ngth, dle o( th I ns-to-imaging plan di­ chcck your camera EX IF data i( you don't tan e). You an determin th approxi­ remember. I(th cam ra sensor i n't (ull mat nodal point by watching near and (rame, you may also need to know th Pros share their best tips on far object in I' lalion to each oth I' a you magnification factor. lighting, getting the most from rotate the camera and lid the camcra 2. Oeciel if you want to a cmble a nat your lens, shooting weddings, (orward and backward on the tripod image for printing or a curved vi w for an landscape, portraits and much mount. 0 apparent shift in the near/ far interactive VR file. more. Lots of new lessons and I' lationship is thc goal. . Ta l c lile time to custom align images secrets from guest photographers 6. h ot in RAW mode (or maximum at the preview stage of a embly software. are posted monthly. Be sure dynamic range and flexibility in processing. 4. Preserve l.a)'er in sti tdling software, to check out the Photoshop 7. tthe exposure modc to lanual so if possible, for fine-tuning blends. tutorials and the new Top 1000'S that all expo ure will match and adjust to & Don'ts list. hold hi ghlights. PRINTING 8. U c the same exposur (or all imag s. l. Large-fom1at printers from non, 9. v rlap rotat d images 25% to 50%. Epson and II P can make b autiful print 10. K P in mind, you'r nOllimited to of big panorama . horizontal we ps of view, but can also 2. Alternalively, many digital labs can build up r solution of your captures by make huge print and you don't have to making a s t of four or more of your inve t in the equipment yourself. PC desired cene in a quad pall 1"11 .

EDITING 1. Auto-ass mbly o(tware i de­ sign d to corr ct and blend discontinu­ itie b tw en images; however, major mismatches may have to be pre-corr Cl- d. orr ct these major distortions in Photo hop using Tran (orm/Oi tort with rid turned on for a li gnm nt For fast ad info and to win prizes go to page 87 M ar c h / Apr i I 2 0 0 7 • 69