Night time Panorama of Rotterdam Skyline from the Euromast

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi folks,

Of course I should give credit to where credit is due. In this case, the workflow I have explained above has largely been based on the know-how and experience of Bart van der Wolf who has selflessly helped me understand and apply these techniques properly in the past few years. As far as I am concerned, he is the man! Thanks a lot Bart.

The basic point that triggered Asher's question is also answered: vertical lens shifting alone doesn't change the fore/aft position of the entrance pupil, but it must be compensated for in the stitcher (otherwise it will find a sub-optimal set of stitching parameters).

Currently there are a few stitchers that allow to address the additional degrees of freedom added by lens shifts (e.g. PTAssembler and PTGUI). It also allows to compensate for slight decentering of regular lenses, thus improving the overall quality of stitching. The next version of Autopano will also introduce that capability, at last. We'll have to see how well that works.

Yes indeed, the question of Asher has thus been answered. Thanks for the info re. the Autpano introducing the lens shifting compensation BTW. I am curious how it will work.

Cheers,

 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

As far as I am concerned, he is the man! Thanks a lot Bart.

Blush... You're welcome.

Cheers,
Bart

 

[Asher Kelman]

Blush... You're welcome.

Cheers,
Bart

Both you guys are so generous n sharing your ideas and experience. Frankly, I must admit to not using any shift with the 24mm TSE II in multirow panos, but I have used it for single row once and it seemed OK.

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Revisiting the Euromast

For the past 4 days, we have been having a spell of extreme cold weather here in the Netherlands. On Friday, we have had a lot of snowfall and the night temperature was -22.8 degrees Centigrade making it the coldest in the past 56 years. The next morning there was a lot of mist and I happened to be visiting Rotterdam briefly. I have decided to go up the Euromast for shooting another pano; one showing the extreme winter conditions. I was kind of expecting to run into some other photographers up there, considering the unique weather conditions. However, I was the only one except for a couple of tourists. Go figure.

Anyway, I have had the camera with me but not my tripod. However, the far away distances meant that parallax would not be a problem in stitching. This one was taken with the TSE 24mm, lens shifted down to include more of the foreground in the pano. In total 10 frames in portrait stand with some 50% overlap. Your C&C is welcome as usual.

​

 

[Asher Kelman]

For the past 4 days, we have been having a spell of extreme cold weather here in the Netherlands. On Friday, we have had a lot of snowfall and the night temperature was -22.8 degrees Centigrade making it the coldest in the past 56 years. The next morning there was a lot of mist and I happened to be visiting Rotterdam briefly. I have decided to go up the Euromast for shooting another pano; one showing the extreme winter conditions. I was kind of expecting to run into some other photographers up there, considering the unique weather conditions. However, I was the only one except for a couple of tourists. Go figure.

Anyway, I have had the camera with me but not my tripod. However, the far away distances meant that parallax would not be a problem in stitching. This one was taken with the TSE 24mm, lens shifted down to include more of the foreground in the pano. In total 10 frames in portrait stand with some 50% overlap. Your C&C is welcome as usual.

Cem,

This is so important, returning to favorite places under entirely different circumstances to look again. The scene has significant differences. There's a softening with the snow and the moisture in the air and then a remarkable outline of ridges in a field on the lower left near a building. I'd love to see a crop of this magnificent pano starting just to the left of the building that stands over the sculpted lines in the field and then include the rest of the pano, but at about 900 pixels wide, or else a 100% crop of this interesting region which the snow has made so distinctive.

With the area to the left of the building I mentioned removed, the lines all promote one's eyes to invest more and more in the center and towards the Euromast. This is not meant as a needed change but rather a different way of seeing what's there.

Asher

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Asher,

....I'd love to see a crop of this magnificent pano starting just to the left of the building that stands over the sculpted lines in the field and then include the rest of the pano, but at about 900 pixels wide, or else a 100% crop of this interesting region which the snow has made so distinctive.

With the area to the left of the building I mentioned removed, the lines all promote one's eyes to invest more and more in the center and towards the Euromast. This is not meant as a needed change but rather a different way of seeing what's there.

I am not sure that I understand what precisely do you mean with the crop? Perhaps you can show me by cropping yourself? The composition as presented is based on a certain thought process and cropping the left side would leave this particular composition unbalanced in my opinion. But I am willing to try.

BTW, I have some taken some other panos showing other parts of the city/harbour. Also, I have some nice detail shots too.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

For the past 4 days, we have been having a spell of extreme cold weather here in the Netherlands. On Friday, we have had a lot of snowfall and the night temperature was -22.8 degrees Centigrade making it the coldest in the past 56 years. The next morning there was a lot of mist and I happened to be visiting Rotterdam briefly. I have decided to go up the Euromast for shooting another pano; one showing the extreme winter conditions. I was kind of expecting to run into some other photographers up there, considering the unique weather conditions. However, I was the only one except for a couple of tourists. Go figure.

Anyway, I have had the camera with me but not my tripod. However, the far away distances meant that parallax would not be a problem in stitching. This one was taken with the TSE 24mm, lens shifted down to include more of the foreground in the pano. In total 10 frames in portrait stand with some 50% overlap. Your C&C is welcome as usual.

​

Cem, this is a magnificent piece of work. Really very, very lovely. I am actually vey happy with your current field of view and agree that cutting anything from the left edge, without reviewing the other side and top/bottom of the frame would lead to a less balanced image.

Your processing, to retain some of the softeness from the mist is wonderful and give a lovely light impression.

I look forward to seeing a nice print of this. Excellent

Mike

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem, this is a magnificent piece of work. Really very, very lovely. I am actually vey happy with your current field of view and agree that cutting anything from the left edge, without reviewing the other side and top/bottom of the frame would lead to a less balanced image.

Your processing, to retain some of the softeness from the mist is wonderful and give a lovely light impression.

I look forward to seeing a nice print of this. Excellent

Mike

Cheers Mike, you know my modus operandi all too well so your comments are spot on as usual.
I would love to get you a print of this, I think we should shake the dust off of our print exchange program!
If there is anybody out there who might be interested in this exchange, please PM Mike or me.

 

[Mike Shimwell]

I would love to get you a print of this, I think we should shake the dust off of our print exchange program!
If there is anybody out there who might be interested in this exchange, please PM Mike or me.

Hi Cem

Yes, let's do that - anyone else who wants to join in let me or Cem know

Mike

 

[Tracy Lebenzon]

I've enjoyed this thread. Your sense of color is great ……… I've mostly avoided doing city stitches in daylight but this series shows that some pretty great results are there to be captured ….. and the evolution of stitching software in the time frame (oh 7 ‘till now) is remarkable……. and I want to kick myself for not getting into town during our recent snow storm......

 

[fahim mohammed]

Cem, I have stared at this pano many times. While looking at it my thoughts wandered..

Rotterdam. ' Where were you last night ?'. This from Ayesha. ' There was snow on the mountain peak,

got stuck ?'. Explanation from me. Swoosh. A sound. Then no sound. Ayesha takes my ear off.

Back to your excellent work. I imagined only the center. Blocked the river scene on the right, and that

building on left. Looked super; but was missing something. Put the river back in. Looked much better.

Put the building back in. Then removed it again. I felt this was super.

Put the building back in again. It was Rotterdam once agin.

Brilliant work Cem; as usual. Love, just love the center part though..beautifully artistic.

Regards.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Cem, I have stared at this pano many times. While looking at it my thoughts wandered..

Rotterdam. ' Where were you last night ?'. This from Ayesha. ' There was snow on the mountain peak,

got stuck ?'. Explanation from me. Swoosh. A sound. Then no sound. Ayesha takes my ear off.

Back to your excellent work. I imagined only the center. Blocked the river scene on the right, and that

building on left. Looked super; but was missing something. Put the river back in. Looked much better.

Put the building back in. Then removed it again. I felt this was super.

Put the building back in again. It was Rotterdam once agin.

Brilliant work Cem; as usual. Love, just love the center part though..beautifully artistic.

Regards.

Thanks Fahim, you are very kind. I, too, am intrigued by the middle portion, which I intend to process and present in another picture. The question to you is, are you interested in the patterns and the houses in the front or were you referring to the skyline at the back or both?

 

[fahim mohammed]

Thanks Fahim, you are very kind. I, too, am intrigued by the middle portion, which I intend to process and present in another picture. The question to you is, are you interested in the patterns and the houses in the front or were you referring to the skyline at the back or both?

Cem, I was referring to the building on my left side as I look at the image.

The central part of the image extending right out to the back, is of interest.

I might live in the concrete towers behind, but come down here to get away from ita all.

Or I might be lucky to live here..gentle, pleasant and not so crowded.; but my work is there

in the concrete.

To me, the core is the center. How one adds different sections of the landscape would

define, again for me only, the emotions I might have for the image.

But no doubt an ecellent capture in its own right, however one looks at it.

Regards.