I have one shot to get this picture right. Need advice!
Aug 23, 2019 21:17:28 #
I am getting a one-time, probably 10-minute access to standing in the 4th turn at the most famous race track on earth. I need a panoramic shot. I plan to take many photos from a tripod with the camera on its side and panning from left to right, using a timer delay for each shot to avoid movement. I have a Nikon D7500 with 3 lenses: Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G, Nikkor 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 G, & Nikkor 70-300mm 4.5-6.3G. I'm really wishing I had a wide angle lens right now.
My goal is to get a great photo of this track, including its famous scoring column, which will be about 5/8 mi. away from me. I will PhotoShop out the infield area and replace it with a softball field. I will put home plate and a batter's box onto the asphalt in front of me, onto which I will also place the softball players from my daughter's team (cut out from green screen photo shoots). The resulting photo will be used for their team banner for the upcoming season. (Our team has a special connection to this famous track.)
What should I do to guarantee excellent photos that I can stitch together?
1. I assume that I want the aperture to remain constant. What f-stop do you suggest?
2. How far out should I make my focal point? I would like the track in front of me to be in focus because the players will be placed there. I could always take a separate photo of the distant scoring column and place it if I needed to.
3. Do I keep my ISO constant and make my only variable be the shutter speed?
4. Should I attempt to take HDR photos and stitch them together?
5. What other advice do you have for me?
Thank you SOOO much for your help!!! I have attached last year's banner to get your attention.
My goal is to get a great photo of this track, including its famous scoring column, which will be about 5/8 mi. away from me. I will PhotoShop out the infield area and replace it with a softball field. I will put home plate and a batter's box onto the asphalt in front of me, onto which I will also place the softball players from my daughter's team (cut out from green screen photo shoots). The resulting photo will be used for their team banner for the upcoming season. (Our team has a special connection to this famous track.)
What should I do to guarantee excellent photos that I can stitch together?
1. I assume that I want the aperture to remain constant. What f-stop do you suggest?
2. How far out should I make my focal point? I would like the track in front of me to be in focus because the players will be placed there. I could always take a separate photo of the distant scoring column and place it if I needed to.
3. Do I keep my ISO constant and make my only variable be the shutter speed?
4. Should I attempt to take HDR photos and stitch them together?
5. What other advice do you have for me?
Thank you SOOO much for your help!!! I have attached last year's banner to get your attention.
Aug 23, 2019 21:54:48 #
late_show wrote:
I am getting a one-time, probably 10-minute access... (show quote)
1) whatever settings you use on shot 1, use it on the rest. Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. You will absolutely have to do a few test shots to confirm the settings. I cannot really advise what settings to use, as I am not there to see the light and conditions. As a start, put the camera on "P" and see what the in-camera light meter suggests and go from there. DIfferent exposure settings on individual images will make it impossible to get a good stack without excessive post-production work.
2) Make sure there is no CPL on your lens.
3) Do not just use the in-camera horizon for level, use a hot shoe att spirit level for both axes.
4) HRD would further complicate your 10-minute window. Just adjust exposure, etc in Lightroom for the first image and synch with the rest of the series, then merge.
5) Have a minimum of 40% overlap between images.
Now, how far are you going to be from your main subject? This will decide what lens you use. I would think the 18-35 would be best, but not at an extreme wide-angle.
Aug 24, 2019 07:45:27 #
I agree, HDR will slow things down a lot. Do several test shots, find what works best and leave the settings alone. One of the worst things I see Photographers do is mess with settings while everything is going on in front of them and they miss what they were there for. Good Luck!
Aug 24, 2019 07:50:04 #
rgrenaderphoto has already given excellent advice on how to photograph the scene. I just have something to add. If you're using a wide angle lens and pointing the camera up at an angle, watch out for keystoning (converging verticals). There's also barrel distortion and volume deformation with wide angle lenses. I purchased DxO PhotoLab 2 and ViewPoint 3 software. ViewPoint 3 does a great job with correcting these deformations. I took this photo of the state capital in Richmond, VA with my lens set to 16mm. It has keystoning, barrel distortion, and volume deformation. The volume deformation caused the small buildings on both sides of the main building to be stretched horizontally. Be careful if people are close the the sides of your photo and you're using a wide angle lens. I see from last year's banner that there were people close to the sides of the photo. They could be stretched horizontally. I made a diptych of the before and after photos in Photoshop. The original is the top photo.
Aug 24, 2019 08:09:12 #
You’ll be fine. You’ll get good results. Say “Hello” to Indianapolis for me! I lived there for 30 years and have been to many of their races. Very exciting!
Aug 24, 2019 08:21:59 #
Use the sharper lens, 35 or 18-55. Set focus, ISO, WB to manual and use hyperfocal distance. Use a good tripod and a lens hood but no filters. Good luck!
Aug 24, 2019 08:48:27 #
What are you going to do about the heavy ‘catch fence’ that protects lower seats from flying debis?
Aug 24, 2019 09:12:10 #
rehess wrote:
What are you going to do about the heavy ‘catch fence’ that protects lower seats from flying debis?
I am going to be on the track itself, so the fence will be behind me and on the sides. I plan to leave it in the shots, as it will be like the netting at a ball field.
A bigger concern that I have is what height to take the picture at. I want to take the green screen photos of each of the players from a height of 3-4 feet to make them look a bit bigger. However, the turns on the track are steeply sloped down from where I will be standing. I assume I should put the camera low enough so that the spot where I want to place the players will be 3-4 feet below the camera?
Thanks for the help, everyone!
Aug 24, 2019 09:14:24 #
ClarkG wrote:
You’ll be fine. You’ll get good results. Say “Hello” to Indianapolis for me! I lived there for 30 years and have been to many of their races. Very exciting!
I have been here over two decades, and I thoroughly enjoy it here. That's not to say that I don't desperately want to be somewhere else from January through March, though. :)
Aug 24, 2019 09:20:27 #
rgrenaderphoto wrote:
1) whatever settings you use on shot 1, use it on ... (show quote)
Wow! This was a lot of great advice! Thank you!
I have heard that 25% overlap is the goal. Will more overlap make the auto-stitching better?
Since I am taking an enormous range of scenery, where is the best place to take my light readings? Where on the spectrum of the darkest part of the scene and the lightest part of the scene would be my best bet?
Thank you again SOOO much! I am very grateful for all of the help!
Aug 24, 2019 09:33:16 #
late_show wrote:
I have been here over two decades, and I thoroughly enjoy it here. That's not to say that I don't desperately want to be somewhere else from January through March, though. :)
January through March is much nicer in Indianapolis than it is up here in the "snow belt".
Aug 24, 2019 09:35:33 #
late_show wrote:
A bigger concern that I have is what height to take the picture at. I want to take the green screen photos of each of the players from a height of 3-4 feet to make them look a bit bigger. However, the turns on the track are steeply sloped down from where I will be standing. I assume I should put the camera low enough so that the spot where I want to place the players will be 3-4 feet below the camera?
Assuming you can take the other photos later, you want to take them at roughly the same angle as you took corresponding photos at the track - the human brain will notice a serious mis-match.
Aug 24, 2019 10:23:32 #
The most famous race track in the world? Which would that be? Le Mans? Spa? Hockenheim? Or the streets of Monaco? (Americans are So myopic)
Aug 24, 2019 10:42:14 #
newvy wrote:
The most famous race track in the world? Which would that be? Le Mans? Spa? Hockenheim? Or the streets of Monaco? (Americans are So myopic)
In this case they/we are right.
The Indy racetrack dates back to 1909 - before people were thinking in those terms - and pioneered many concepts in racing before the four F-1 'tracks' you mentioned were even made.
Aug 24, 2019 10:56:19 #
Perhaps consider renting a wide-angle lens for the day.
You can then focus on just getting one good shot that you can then crop down to panoramic.
You can then focus on just getting one good shot that you can then crop down to panoramic.
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