Midtown Manhattan Skyline from Hamilton Park, Weehawken, NJ: This was taken just after a storm. Hamilton Park is high up on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River, about equal latitude...

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This was taken just after a storm. Hamilton Park is high up on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River, about equal latitude with 44th St in Manhattan. Just to the left of center at the water's edge you can see the WW II Aicraft Carrier Intrepid, now a floating museum.

I used a D800, Sigma 100-300 F4, ISO 100, 1.3 sec @ F5, 6 exposures with about 50% overlap. Merged in Lr, processed lightly, then finished using On1, mostly for contrast enhancement. Pretty standard pano stitch. The city light hitting the low clouds and haze was unusual and visually interesting for me, and I happened to have my 100-300 with me.

(Download)

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Well you never know what you’ll need until you leave it at home.

This is another very nice panorama. You mentioned a 50% overlap. A lot of the tutorials recommend 30%—or perhaps that’s just the minimum? Is there a point of diminishing returns? In other words, how much overlap is to much?

Thanks

Rongnongno Loc: FL

LoneRangeFinder wrote:

Well you never know what you’ll need until you leave it at home.

This is another very nice panorama. You mentioned a 50% overlap. A lot of the tutorials recommend 30%—or perhaps that’s just the minimum? Is there a point of diminishing returns? In other words, how much overlap is to much?

Thanks

I hope we will be able to make a comparison on overlaps soon as it is a sticking point when doing panoramas.

The way I look at it, personally is the the longer the lens the less overlap you need as there is less distortion from the lens. That is me thought.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Rongnongno wrote:

I hope we will be able to make a comparison on overlaps soon as it is a sticking point when doing panoramas.

The way I look at it, personally is the the longer the lens the less overlap you need as there is less distortion from the lens. That is me thought.

I use 50% overlap simply because it is easy to do when hand holding. Just move whatever is in the center of the frame to the edge of the frame. Repeat as needed. An indexed pano mount helps to cut that down when using a tripod and will reduce the image count. Some

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Gene51 wrote:

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What I find most impressive of all is the light reflected in the clouds.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Rongnongno wrote:

I hope we will be able to make a comparison on overlaps soon as it is a sticking point when doing panoramas.

The way I look at it, personally is the the longer the lens the less overlap you need as there is less distortion from the lens. That is me thought.

You're probably right. I once got bit because I was doing a hand-held pano, and one of the shots had too little overlap, and the image couldn't stitch correctly.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Rongnongno wrote:

I hope we will be able to make a comparison on overlaps soon as it is a sticking point when doing panoramas.

The way I look at it, personally is the the longer the lens the less overlap you need as there is less distortion from the lens. That is me thought.

That makes sense. Most of my glass is wide angle to moderate telephoto.

When I first became interested in this aspect of photography, I read all about nodal points, pano heads, etc. Now I am seeing some say, it’s not necessary. I certainly doubt if the iPhone panos on here were done with the nodal point in mind!

Anyway I’m on the bottom of the learning curve, so that’s what I’m here for.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Rongnongno wrote:

What I find most impressive of all is the light reflected in the clouds.

That is exactly what caught my eye. I've seen the skyline from that point before, but never so soon after a storm with such low cloud layer, and all that mist and haze. The distance to the nearest buildings on 12th Ave. is about a mile.

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Thanks for the comprehensive discussion. As a newbie, this is what I hope to get out of this section. Thanks again Rongnongno.

VTMatwood Loc: Displaced Vermonta in Central New Hampsha

Nice image! Interestingly, I had a very nice conversation about this location yesterday while out shooting. A gentleman named Phil (from Weehawken) who seemed quite knowledgable about photography saw me shooting with a film camera and striked up a conversation with me, amazed that I was using film lol

He recommended that I make the trip to Weehawken and shoot Manhattan from that very park. Kind of eerie if you ask me that i had that conversation yesterday and today am looking at an image from there. You don't go by the name Phil when traveling do you? :)

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

VTMatwood wrote:

Nice image! Interestingly, I had a very nice conve... (show quote)

Thanks! But no, I am not Phil.

The other great place to get water-level shots of the NY Financial District skyline is at J Owen Grundy Park in Jersey City.

(Download)

clickety

Both this and the Grundy Park image fascinate me. When all the important elements in a scene are so far away what do you focus on? Do you set to infinity, hyperfocal distance or are you picking a specific item to focus on? I'm never sure what to do. I would appreciate any advice, thanks.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

clickety wrote:

Both this and the Grundy Park image fascinate me. When all the important elements in a scene are so far away what do you focus on? Do you set to infinity, hyperfocal distance or are you picking a specific item to focus on? I'm never sure what to do. I would appreciate any advice, thanks.

I generally focus on what is important and prominent, and rely on depth of field to do the rest. I rarely focus on infinity.

clickety

I am becoming interested in panoramas and have a lot to learn. Photos like yours are an inspiration. Thank you for responding.

Thanks!