Visit MPB Visit MPB Visit MPB

Bokeh panorama: My first attempt!

stopher
Posted 15/04/2011 - 11:39 Link
Read about this technique a while back, but only just inspired to have a try after having seen 'Karma Mechanic's excellent recent efforts (plus I just recently managed to pick up a mint Sigma 105mm F2.8 lens!)

Had a short drive out last weekend and parked up...chose my viewpoint and fired off 58 low-res (2mpixel) shots with the K-5 and 105mm lens (1/1600sec @ F:2.8 + daylight wb). Stitched the shots in 'Autostitch'. First time I've ever stitched shots too...it coped quite admirably!

The result gives an interesting 'tilt-shift' appearance, but I feel it makes the car pop out of the scene!

Comment Image
PaulEvans
Posted 15/04/2011 - 11:53 Link
Wow - really interesting. Good effort! I must read up more on this....

Paul
K3ii, DA16-85, DA35mm Limited, FA77mm Limited, 55mm f1.8 K, 135mm f3.5 M, DA300, DA 1.4 HD TC,
DA16-45, Sigma 15mm f2.8. Cosina 100mm f3.5 macro
Tyr
Posted 15/04/2011 - 14:23 Link
I think it is great for static subjects, good job.
snappychappy
Posted 15/04/2011 - 14:36 Link
Seems a lot of effort for the shot, couldn't you just shoot it at f2.8 with a 24mm lens?
stopher
Posted 15/04/2011 - 14:51 Link
snappychappy wrote:
Seems a lot of effort for the shot, couldn't you just shoot it at f2.8 with a 24mm lens?

True, but assuming that the FOV I've created is 24mm, which is about right from where I was stood, by a rough calculation, I'd have had to have taken it with a 24mm lens at F0.7 to achieve the same DOF!

That's the principle behind the bokeh panorama. As long as you take the frames at a low resolution, the PP time was only a matter of 3 minutes to create this result.
snappychappy
Posted 15/04/2011 - 16:17 Link
I see, it does work then. 58 shot's at 2meg a shot, what was the final file size then? 116meg !
Don
Posted 15/04/2011 - 16:27 Link
it may work... but... the time involved vs shooting at 24 mm, making a quick mask.. the applying a gradient blur.. me thinks too much trouble... until... you need to shoot it for a billboard, then going back to the Bokeh Panorama technique with high res files actually looks appealing if you cannot rent a meduim or large format camera... with fast wide angle lens...

there's nothing wrong with experiment just for learning and fun... but I see limited uses for this, in the real world.

still a nice shot though.
Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.
Smeggypants
Posted 16/04/2011 - 01:47 Link
snappychappy wrote:
Seems a lot of effort for the shot, couldn't you just shoot it at f2.8 with a 24mm lens?

I don't think you'd get the shallow DOF using that method. I've never seen such a shallow DOF from my DA 14mm f2.8.


one day I might try it with my 50/1.2
[i]Bodies: 1x K-5IIs, 2x K-5, Sony TX-5, Nokia 808
Lenses: Pentax DA 10-17mm ED(IF) Fish Eye, Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8, Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4, Pentax-A 50mm f/1.7, Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, Sigma 135-400mm APO DG, and more ..
Flash: AF-540FGZ, Vivitar 283
Jonathan-Mac
Posted 16/04/2011 - 08:15 Link
I´d say that looks extremely well done. The car definitely pops out. I´ve been meaning to try this technique for a while (with either my 85/2 or 50/1.4) but I haven´t gotten around to it yet. Must do it soon (but need to find some free stitching software).

I´ve never seen an example done at "just" f/2.8 before, they´re usually faster lenses used, but your results are very good. What will your next subject be?
Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses
Jonathan-Mac
Posted 16/04/2011 - 08:57 Link
Did you use a tripod by the way?
Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X and Panasonic L digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses
stopher
Posted 16/04/2011 - 10:16 Link
Thanks for all the comments.
I agree with Don that it has limited uses, although I would try it again and am on the lookout!

@Jonathan
I believe it works best on any fast lens within the 50-150mm range. The 105mm is the fastest I've got. I also did them hand-held from the same spot with plenty of overlaps.
'Autostitch' is a free program and can be found here
Edited by stopher: 16/04/2011 - 10:16
karma mechanic
Posted 19/04/2011 - 14:04 Link
Excellent shot(s) !

I'm glad my efforts gave you some inspiration. My own inspiration came from some of these but I think I need more practice

Regarding tripods, the outdoor ones don't necessarily need it if you are careful to rotate and tilt the camera around the centre of the lens (rather than twisting your body as if panning). For close subjects a correctly-adjusted panorama head is much better - I've got the old version of the Panosaurus head and that's perfect once set for the lens. It takes just a minute or so to hoover up the individual images once you get a routine going.

Regarding the comment about static subjects, it still works with people as long as they can keep still for the few pictures that cover them, so a technique that starts with the person(s) with some very fast overlapping shots and then covers the rest of the picture in overlapping rows works, you can then discard any of the general ones that pick up the person who might have moved by then.
My own website is www.richardgaddphotography.com

Also on 500px
stopher
Posted 19/04/2011 - 19:21 Link
Thanks for that Karma...
Must confess, whilst it is easy to start with the central 'static' subject and taking the shots in a (sort of) spiral fashion, it did get a bit haphazard towards the outer edges and found that there were big missing gaps! ...I had to clone a bit of sky back in to get the crop I wanted!
xbow
Posted 20/04/2011 - 16:53 Link
I clicked on the link and admit I'm completely underwhelmed ... The longleat shot looks like a really bad case of front focus!

Vic.
K5, LightRoom 5
Sigma 8-16 Pentax DA 16-45 Pentax DA 55-300 Pentax 18-55WR Tamron 90 Di Macro Metz 44 AF-1

Add Comment

To leave a comment - Log in to Pentax User or create a new account.