Photoshop’s Limitations with Panoramic Stitching: Use Hugin!

by Miserere

  

On September 15th, 2009 I went to see the Boston Red Sox play the Los Angeles Angels in Fenway Park, Boston. I knew the game would start shortly after sunset and that my seat would look out towards the West, so I planned to take a panoramic photo of the stadium even if I did nothing else that day. The weather cooperated and even provided some clouds to increase the dramatic effect of the sky at sunset. I also snapped the photos when the sky’s brightness was similar to that of the field; this is a short window of opportunity that cannot be missed!

While I had processed the many photos I took during the game, including the 4 individual photos that I wanted to stitch, I hadn’t actually got around to creating the panorama. I tried doing that this evening using Photoshop’s Photomerge function, but it kept complaining about not being able to align one of the images. This had happened to me on a number of occasions with less important panoramas, and I had simply given up, but I was determined to get this panorama to work. Where can I find a good, free panorama stitching tool? I need look no further than this very blog! Peter Zack keeps a list of freeware image editing tools and software that I recommend everyone bookmark. It was there that I found Hugin, a piece of software that serves as a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to the industry standard panorama creating algorithm Panorama Tools, written by German mathematician Prof. Dr. H. Dersch .

I downloaded the latest version, which installed quickly on my Windows XP laptop, and in very little time I had my panorama. And no, it didn’t complain about any images not being aligned. I wasted a lot of time playing around with different perspectives and other parameters, but in the end the default and automatic settings gave the best result by far. Next time I know not to touch anything and simply press GO. Actually…next time (tomorrow) I will redo this panorama using TIFFs instead of JPEGs. I’m sure it will take longer due to the larger file sizes and bit depth, but the end result will be of higher quality.

But even with JPEGs, the panorama looks pretty damn good to me. Please, judge for yourselves (click for larger version). And if you have any favourite panorama tools, let me know in the comments section!

Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox

Street Photography in Boston

by Miserere

 

Bookended by kisses—no words, just pictures. Taken in and around Boston yesterday, Saturday October 10th, 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photographer Stereotypes LOL

by Miserere

  

It’s no coincidence that when I started this blog and created the list of blogs on the sidebar, one of the first to be added was Gordon Lewis’s Shutterfinger. The guy is smart, direct, and a great photographer. From a few e-mails I’ve crossed with him, I know he’s also a nice bloke. What I didn’t know is that he’s funny too.

What type of photographer you are can be determined by the lenses you use. Are you a Purist, a Prime Fetishist? Maybe some other type? Find out which one in Gordon’s article.

Yashica EZ F521 Available for Preorder

by Miserere

  

Indeed, the Yashica EZ F521 is available for preorder from Japan Exposures, a reputable online store/magazine/blog/review site run by Dirk Rösler. Even if you don’t buy anything, I recommend you take a look around and read some of the articles there. If you like classic Japanese cameras, there’s a lot to enjoy.

But back to my new street camera, you can preorder it for US $111, €76 or £70. Dirk will ship anywhere in the World (and his shipping costs are very reasonable), and payment can be made by credit card through PayPal.

I have no affiliation with Japan Exposures and know them only by reputation. This will be my first purchase from them.

It starts shipping in late October, so I hope to receive mine in early November. Stay tuned!

100,000 Hits

by Miserere

  

Yesterday we passed the 100,000 hits mark here at EtL. Or rather, I should say you, dear readers, passed that mark.

I know there are blogs out there that receive this amount of traffic each day, while EtL has waited almost 10 months to achieve it, but to me, it’s important and worth celebrating.

So, dear readers, thank you for your visits, your comments, and the occasional e-mail of encouragement. I will continue to publish as time permits, and hopefully we will reach 200,000 sooner rather than later.

Good light,

  

  –Miserere

  

My New Street Camera: The Yashica EZ F521

by Miserere

  

At least it will be by November! Yashica, known back in the 60s and 70s for their 35mm SLR and rangefinder cameras, have announced what to many looks like a toy camera: The EZ F521.

At about the same size as an iPod (but 5 times thicker), this is a small camera; and with a weight of around 160gr (with 3 AAA batteries), you might not realise it’s in your pocket. The specs might appear unimpressive to those obsessed with numbers, but there is so much more to a camera that cannot be measured. Click on the photo for full specs, but here are the basics:

• 5MP 1/2.5″ CMOS sensor
• 42.5mm-equiv f/3 lens (plastic and glass elements)
• Range: Normal shooting: 1.5m ~ ∞ / Macro: 20 ~ 40cm
• Optical viewfinder
• 2.4 inch LCD
• Shutter speed: 0.5 – 1/2000s
• Metering modes: National (thank you Google Translator!), multisegment, spot
• Exposure compensation: ± 2.0 EV in 1/3 EV steps
• Auto ISO (no info on ISO range available)
• Video capture at 640 x 480 pixels and 30fps
• SD/SDHC up to 8GB
• Menu languages: Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch

The manual focus is interesting. It is not exactly manual as it won’t have progressive focusing judging from the “range” entry in the specs and the icons next to the lens: a mountain and a flower, which generally stand for “landscape” (another way of saying “hyperfocal”) and “macro”, respectively. What I gather is there will be only two focusing ranges: In “normal shooting” the lens will be set to hyperfocal; in fact, the hyperfocal distance for a lens/sensor combo of these characteristics is a smidgen over 3m, so the in-focus area will stretch from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity, in line with the specs of 1.5m to infinity. In “macro” the depth-of-field will be 0.2 – 0.4m.

There is no information about the shooting modes available, so it’s entirely possible that exposure will be completely automatic, although I would appreciate having a manual mode so I can adjust shutter speed and ISO to taste. Given there is exposure compensation and selectable metering modes and white balance, I hold out hope for Tv and M modes.

What about that 5MP sensor? I love it! I bet it’s really cheap to manufacture a 5MP chip these days, and given the optics we’re dealing with, a higher resolution chip doesn’t make sense. Plus, with such a small sensor, keeping pixels this “large” might even give the camera some decent ISO range (i.e., it won’t suck above ISO 160).

The fact that it features a dinky little optical viewfinder in the corner made me happy. C’mon, it has to! If nothing else, it will save energy and make those batteries last longer (as long as there is an option to keep the LCD turned off). Did you guys notice the flash? That made me smile too. Look at it, all cute’n'little, sitting there on top of the lens optical axis,perfectly located to create the meanest red-eye you’ve ever seen.

What will this beauty cost? ¥8,000 in Japan, a whopping $90, £57 or €61 (at today’s exchange rate). Given the amount of fun I can imagine having with one of these on the streets and at parties (where nobody will take you seriously holding this camera), that’s a bargain. This is recession-approved photography, my friends!

I believe the Yashica EZ F521 is intended for the Japanese market only, but I’m sure some bright spark will figure a way to sell them to the rest of the World through eBay. I can’t wait to get my order in. I’ll be sure to let you guys know what I think of it.

How Hard Is It to Photograph a Wedding?

by Miserere

  

I mean, really!

The BBC has the answer.