Photography preliminary review findings
Click image to enlarge
West of Datil, NM, July 2014
While reviewing my panoramic photography work trends are emerging
..
Trends:
Pro:
- Not unexpectedly the sheer number and quality of panoramas has increased steadily over time. Currently there are over 3000 high-resolution panoramic images in the collection.
- In the past year a promising trend toward experimentation with light and time has begun.
- More effective workflows are being integrated. There is a trend toward setting the light balance for the brightest frame in the panorama and leaving it the same for all other panels. This achieves a smother gradation of light and more natural tones.
- The geographic breadth of the project is increasing.
- There is also a sizeable body of work developing focused on recurring visits to close areas of interest. Doing so emphasizes changes in light, vegetation throughout the day and seasons.
- Urban landscapes are joining the natural landscapes.
- A variety of ecosystems is being sampled.
- A greater range of mood is being achieved.
- An effective nomenclature has evolved for labeling panoramas that identifies location, date, leftmost frame and number of frames included.
- An effective system of backup and consolidation is being maintained.
Near Globe, Az, 2014
Cons:
- No night photography
- Inconsistent setup still a factor
- Limited grasp of deep Photoshop
- Still tough to predictably envision at the site how composition will come together
- Still in experimental stage on many fronts
Technical aspects
- Effective workflows are developing, allowing more consistent results.
- More time is being taken to select prime views at the site
- More time is being spent in setup procedures
- Increasing skill in Photoshop is creating more interesting results.
- A realization has gelled that original component files must be preserved to take advantage of future software capabilities
Twin Arrows trading post
Conclusions:
- There is a great deal more work to do.
- The geographic scale of the work must increase
- GPS data must be consistently inserted into the workflow
- Best habits need to be carefully honed, reviewed.
- Increased experimentation with and study of Photoshop is key to reaching the next level
- Greater study of all aspects of my camera needs to be made
- Night photography should added.
- Nude landscapes should be added