Fauxtoto
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Quebec, Canada
Posts: 440
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Fauxtoto on Jul 24, 2019 21:24:44 GMT
live.staticflickr.com/65535/48368020217_0f8cd22c5e_b.jpg Ottawa River Valley, from Belvédère Champlain in Gatineau Park. In Elements 14. Autopanorama, from 8 landscape format pictures, hand held; batch processed in ACR. As psd: soft light blending mode at 35% opacity, for contrast; adjusted shadows/highlights with mask for the sky; unsharp mask. Saved directly in jpg, without saving the psd file... (which is fine considering that this is an exercise).
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Post by Bailey on Jul 25, 2019 9:59:28 GMT
Very nice panorama Fauxtoto. Thank you for sharing. I create a lot of panoramas. I find PSE does a very good to excellent job in stitching images. I have never used the auto panorama setting where PSE chooses which stitching option to use. On most occasions I use the "Cylindrical" option. If that doesn't produce the output I expect then the "Spherical" setting usually does. Just a minor point - to me on my screen the sky looks a little too washed out for my taste. As long as it looks ok on your screen that is all that matters. TFS  |
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Post by fotofrank on Jul 26, 2019 0:51:46 GMT
Maurice,
Great job on your Panorama!!!
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Fauxtoto
Established Forum Member
Quebec, Canada
Posts: 440
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Fauxtoto on Jul 26, 2019 13:29:18 GMT
Bailey , fotofrank , thank you for the good words. I went with no plans from one step to the other. I must admit I like the result too. I also find that the sky, even if naturally milky, looks too washed. However, after the stitching was done pushing the “Darken Hihglights” slider further was going too far on the artificial side. Dealing with dynamic range and haze at the same time is already difficult when working with one single image. Keeping the constancy between multiple stitched images adds to the challenge. Once the images were stitched, I tried the Haze Removal tool, but I did not like it. Among other things, it was accentuating the dynamic rage problem. Most probably, the best solution would be to deal as much as possible with the dynamic range and haze issues individually for each image before stitching. Interestingly enough, with RAW files, this can be done in different ways either all through Elements in PSD format or by previously using as much as possible Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom. I am writing all of this in two different chapters of my complicated life: the “Maybe to do things” and the “Remember this next time” ones.
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Post by Bailey on Jul 27, 2019 2:16:26 GMT
... Most probably, the best solution would be to deal as much as possible with the dynamic range and haze issues individually for each image before stitching. Interestingly enough, with RAW files, this can be done in different ways either all through Elements in PSD format or by previously using as much as possible Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom. ... Hi again Fauxtoto, Editing images individually before stitching might result in uneven blending of the stitching. I would edit images individually only as a very, very last resort. I'm not sure how you took the photos but to eliminate or minimise blending issues while stitching, the individual photos should be taken with a constant set of exposure settings - aperture, shutter speed, ISO. If there is a very wide dynamic range in the scene I normally expose towards the brighter elements of the scene. It is much easier to recover shadows than highlights in post processing, as you are aware. Like you, I batch process the raw files applying the same adjustments to all the images. I then open the images in PSE. The only editing I apply to individual images is straightening the images - make sure light poles are vertical etc etc. This is especially important if the images to be stitched were taken hand held. After the images are stitched I apply any tonal adjustments locally where required using layer masks. For bright skies, I find that applying a graduated neutral density filter in PSE most often enhances a sky nicely. Maybe consider trying one on your sky. For anyone interested, this is a very good video on how to create/apply a graduated neutral density filter in Photoshop. 95% of the information can also be applied in PSE
If you end up using a graduated neutral density filter very often, I have created a script in the thread Bailey's PSE Scripts to create one in just your active document or all of the documents in your PSE Photo Bin. |
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Fauxtoto
Established Forum Member
Quebec, Canada
Posts: 440
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by Fauxtoto on Jul 27, 2019 14:29:49 GMT
Hi Bailey . Your apprehension according to which editing images individually before stitching might result in uneven blending makes sense. Also, I now realize that, to address the specific washed sky issue after the stitching was done, I could have used other means in conjunction or instead of the sole Shadow/Highlight tool I have been using, including layer masks. Although enhancing a washed sky is not the main topic here, your reference to the ND filter effect and to your script was relevant and useful. I took the liberty to site it in a new dedicated thread in the Tutorials Board. Thanks. |
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pontiac1940
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Posts: 6,361
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Post by pontiac1940 on Jul 27, 2019 15:32:56 GMT
Hi Fauxfoto
Not sure how far back this feature goes in PSE. PSE 2018, has "haze removal" [Enhance>> Haze removal] and can do a decent job on haze. Sometimes it ups the contrast too much. But it works well .. sometimes.
Like you and Bailey, I really like panos. (Just going to post one.)
Clive
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Post by Sepiana on Jul 27, 2019 23:48:20 GMT
Not sure how far back this feature goes in PSE. PSE 2018, has "haze removal" [Enhance>> Haze removal] and can do a decent job on haze. Sometimes it ups the contrast too much. But it works well .. sometimes. was introduced in PSE 14. I believe that's the version Fauxtoto uses. |
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Post by Bailey on Jul 28, 2019 0:12:57 GMT
Hi Fauxfoto Not sure how far back this feature goes in PSE. PSE 2018, has "haze removal" [Enhance>> Haze removal] and can do a decent job on haze. Sometimes it ups the contrast too much. But it works well .. sometimes. Like you and Bailey, I really like panos. (Just going to post one.) Clive I don't use the Haze Removal Tool very often (Levels Adjustment Layer normally does a good job removing haze for me), but you can also adjust the opacity of the "haze removal layer" to try to get the result you want if playing with the tool's sliders alone doesn't. |
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