Joel Rosen's Posts
Panoramic Portraits
Many newer digital cameras have a cool, new feature for creating panoramic images. The software helps with shooting three overlapping pictures and then it automatically 'stitches' the three pictures together to create one seamless 'superwide' picture. It works great for those scenic overlooks which is how most people use it.
Back when digital was 'new', I'd played around with panoramic images (remember Apple QTVR?), lots of trial and error, and manually stitching the images together in Photoshop. When I discovered that my new M753 did panoramas automatically, I was excited to try it out. It really is amazing!
I was just shooting test shots at home and my kids, seeing the camera in my hands, kept jumping into the shots. I was initially focused on how the software joined the images, but I quickly became distracted by the striking impression made by the recurring presence of the same person in a single image.
First attempt with Olivia. (click image to enlarge)
We've all become accustomed to questioning the truthfulness of images. Photographic trickery has existed as long as photography itself. Digital photography has made image alteration completely ubiquitous.
Leah's turn. (click image to enlarge) Shifted position a bit. Note how the chair too close in the foreground is not aligned.
Nonetheless, I was still surprised that seeing the same person appearing three times in a single image made such a striking impression on me, so I started exploring, directing my kids to stand here, smile, now move here, now over there, etc.
Hannah was next. (click image to enlarge) Moved chair out of the foreground. The table edge is still a challenge.
There's a world of possibilities in here. I realized later that the room I was using forced a certain arrangement of the subject being closer (and therefore larger) in the side shots and further away (and therefore smaller) in the center. This help create a sense of depth in the image.
I tried some images the other way, subject further away on the sides and closer in the middle, but didn't like them as much.
Next day, outside (really windy). (click image to enlarge) No problems with the overlaps, but not as much connection with the subject
Remember, this is digital. Experiement, explore, have fun!
