stretched look of sky: Here in Florida we get some great storm clouds and I like to take photo's of them. But sometimes I have to turn my camera on edge ie 90 degrees to try to get a...

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Here in Florida we get some great storm clouds and I like to take photo's of them. But sometimes I have to turn my camera on edge ie 90 degrees to try to get a panorama of the sky but when I do they seem to have this stretched effect. The bottom half of the photo is normal but about midway up, it seems to stretch out the sky and clouds. What causes this and is there a way to combat it? Thanks

ShooterOR

CocoaRoger wrote:

Here in Florida we get some great storm clouds and I like to take photo's of them. But sometimes I have to turn my camera on edge ie 90 degrees to try to get a panorama of the sky but when I do they seem to have this stretched effect. The bottom half of the photo is normal but about midway up, it seems to stretch out the sky and clouds. What causes this and is there a way to combat it? Thanks

Lens?

I would guess you are using a zoom at the wide angle end. Extreme wide angle lenses tend to distort in the way you have described

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

18-55 mm lens. And yes wide angle

Clicker2014 Loc: Canada

ShooterOR wrote:

quote=CocoaRoger Here in Florida we get some grea... (show quote)

Yes! Dito.. I have an 18 - 250 and it does it too. You just need to edit it i.e. "Image, Transform, Skew". Or Image, Transform - perspective". It works very well. Cheers!

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Clicker2014 wrote:

quote=ShooterOR quote=CocoaRoger Here in Florida... (show quote)

What program is that?

Clicker2014 Loc: Canada

What program is that?[/quote]
Elements 9

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Clicker2014 wrote:

What program is that?

Elements 9[/quote]

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks

ShooterOR

CocoaRoger wrote:

Clicker2014 wrote:

What program is that?

Elements 9

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks[/quote]

Well, you won't get as much of the sky, but try shooting in the mid-range.

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

ShooterOR wrote:

CocoaRoger wrote:

Clicker2014 wrote:

What program is that?

Elements 9

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks

Well, you won't get as much of the sky, but try shooting in the mid-range.[/quote]

Yeah I know. I just like to have the whole image to see it all.

RVDigitalBoy Loc: Clermont, Florida

Personally, I preferred that stretched look of a wide angle lens. I use a Nikkor 10-24mm zoom -almost always at 10mm. I usually shoot horizontally, especially the skies.

Does your version of Photoshop have a "Photomerge Panorama" feature? If so, you can hold the camera vertically, pan it across the scene making exposures as you go. Be sure to overlap each shot with the previous one. Oh and you can do the same for "vertiramas" (hold the camera horizontal and pan up taking overlapping shots).

I have Photoshop Elements 10. I find the panorama button be clicking "New." I don't know about PS.

Anyway, you can see examples at my site: http://www.flikr.com/exhibit_images

marcomarks Loc: Ft. Myers, FL

CocoaRoger wrote:

ShooterOR wrote:

CocoaRoger wrote:

Clicker2014 wrote:

What program is that?

Elements 9

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks

Well, you won't get as much of the sky, but try shooting in the mid-range.

Yeah I know. I just like to have the whole image to see it all.[/quote]

Use a tripod and mount your camera up on its side, set your lens to mid-way and take a series of shots (fairly quickly as you pan across the horizon so the clouds don't have time to move much). Stitch them together into a panorama. This will make your field of view MUCH wider and taller.

If you can't master stitching manually in PhotoShop 7 (although you likely will if you have time to tinker around), look on the Internet and you'll likely find cheap or free stitcher programs available.

There's also a YouTube video available about how to make a homemade "pano head" out of a couple pieces of wood and bubble levels.

Might be fun... give it a try and see!

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

ShooterOR wrote:

CocoaRoger wrote:

Clicker2014 wrote:

What program is that?

Elements 9

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks

Well, you won't get as much of the sky, but try shooting in the mid-range.[/quote]

I just got Photoshop 7 from a guy at my camera club and am trying to figure out how to use it. Do you use a book you can recommend? I find it confusing...it does so much more than Picasa.

glojo Loc: South Devon, England

CocoaRoger wrote:

ok, unfortunately due to financial issues the latest PP software I have is Photoshop 7. I looked for something like that but now that I know what you call it I'll look again. thanks

Why not have a go at doing a Panorama with your lens in mid-range? The sky looks spectacular and three or four portrait images stitched together might show the 'full picture' :thumbup: :)

Good luck and best wishes
John

Lucian Loc: From Wales, living in Ohio

If you use your camera in the landscape position, just up after you took the shot with the ground in it. Take another shot as you tilt the camera up into the sky but overlap by 20%, no more than that or you confuse the software when stitching the images together. I doubt if you will need any more than three images to get the sky shots you are after. Your PS7 should be fine for doing stitching. I may be under File > Automate> Photomerge.

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

CocoaRoger wrote:

Here in Florida we get some great storm clouds and I like to take photo's of them. But sometimes I have to turn my camera on edge ie 90 degrees to try to get a panorama of the sky but when I do they seem to have this stretched effect. The bottom half of the photo is normal but about midway up, it seems to stretch out the sky and clouds. What causes this and is there a way to combat it? Thanks

if your camera is parallel to the sky - you'll be ok. When you lean back and your camera is at an angle to the sky it will distort a bit - not to worry 9 of 10 would not see it anyway.