I thought I'd try some black & white today.

I've decided that I tend to visualise images in black & white and then wonder why the colour version I end up with isn't actually what I wanted. So today I thought I'd try the bokeh panorama technique to get something with an old plate camera look, in black and white.



I realise it isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea, in fact in some ways there's something slightly disturbing about the image. This is intentional




This is from a composite of 93 overlapping shots on the 85mm @ f/1.4 with one extension tube, fixed focus at about 2 feet. The composite image FOV is about 119 degrees horizontally but I've cropped it down quite a bit for composition, so now similar to a 10mm lens.

Yes, I know the blurring can be done in Photoshop, but I like to build up the image this way...

The grave by the way is one of the Polish soldiers who were stationed in my area, this one stayed and died a few years after the war.

Just found a bit of history - the cemetery is associated with this camp. I've lived here about 20 years and didn't know this stuff - there's no other trace of it now.

Sorry - back to our usual programmes...

Karma', I like this and you have a nice range of tones amongst all those leaves. It doesn't matter to me how you achieved the blur 'cos it's the end result what matters, and not how you got there.

We need to see more images that would back this single image up and tell more of a story about this place, if possible.

This is a great image. I admire your dedication to put together 93 images! I'm not sure I'd have the patience.

I have literally no experience with composite images, but would it be possible you could acheive a similar result with a much wider lens using a much smaller set of focus bracketed images, as the out of focus areas generally fall in fairly well defined areas of the shot? I'm not questioning the way you did it, just thinking out loud about methods for lazier persons like myself.

Well it certainly is "my cup of tea."

It is all software - whether that's a boon or a bane I can't say. The 93 shots (which do have to be taken in a way that overlaps correctly) are interpreted by a program (Autostitch in this case) that finds all the common points and bends the image to suit the very wide view required. So it isn't exactly onerous. I previewed it using the Sigma 10-20 at 10mm to get an idea of the viewpoint, then fired off all the shots from the same position. It takes a few minutes on the PC to build the final image, plus tweaks of course. Even using small images the final version is over 150 meg, with the detail that goes with that in the sharp bits. The 800-pixel version is a bit of a poor substitute.

Focus stacking might do it, in the opposite sense of usual where you try to combine different focus planes to get more in focus. I'm not sure that a defocussed wide-angle has bokeh like a naturally out-of-focus longish lens though. I might try it.

Regarding paulyrichard's comments, I do intend to find out a bit more of the history. The camp itself is now, inevitably, a new housing estate.

It's definitely my cup of tea. Excellent image!!

Could it be done with a narrow DOF one pic? I dunno.

If I was PPing that pic I'd use the adjustment brush in lightroom with added contrast to sweep a diagonal band from top-left to bottom-right

I would love to see this printed full size

It seems like a lot of work unless you really needed a huge file though. No denying that you've ended up with a great image though.

Nice image karma,

I like the diagonal plane of focus as it goes along thae sort of ridge and the detail visible in each of those in focus leaves around the plaque. As said would look good as a BIG print I think.

without wishing to take anything away from KM's efforts, it does look very similar to the sort of effect that you get when using a lens baby. That said I dont think you would end up with such a polished final image as the example shown here.

Regards
PaulM

Excellent. I like it very much indeed. Excellent mono conversion too.

K.

For some reason I've never been keen on Lens Babies. Perhaps the original junk lens concept did appeal, but the evolution into the expensive versions didn't. Perhaps I'm just stingy

The image of the grave relies initially on the plane of sharp focus being very small, about an inch. The effect of this sharp plane is lost to some extent in the final small version, and any version that can show it is too large to view the image in its entirety. The general out of focus effect takes over.

Here's a piece of the original version which shows the depth of field. The composite image would be about a metre across.




Regarding Gareth's comment - yes it is satisfying achieving something using the craft, expecially if that moves the outcome in the direction of the art.