Friday (19-January-2018) — New Jersey

Backyard Winter Nature in New Jersey: Colorful Clouds at Dawn.

The clouds lit up a bit more this morning. A comparison to two methods for creating a panoramic landscape image. The first is my normal workflow where I take a series of portrait images, overlapping about 1/3 from the previous image. I then process the raw images using Capture One Pro, and create the composite panoramic image using AutoPano Giga Pro. Since I am processing the raw images, I have more control over the colors and saturation. [note – click on the image for a wider view]

Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Composite of 10 images taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated with AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)

The second method uses the in-camera panorama feature of the Fuji XT series cameras. You select the camera mode (landscape or portrait), rotation direction, and range (medium or wide). Set the ISO, white balance, aperture, and shutter speed. Then press the shutter button and start to smoothly rotate, trying to keep the horizon level. When done, the camera processes the images in the cameras as a jpg panorama. Since it is a jpg image, it is important that the camera settings for the exposure and white balance are correct. It is also important to use a fast shutter speed since you are moving the camera as the images are being taken. The colors this example are more saturated (Fuji jpg).

Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. In-camera (jpg) panorama taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
Dawn Morning Clouds. Winter Backyard Nature in New Jersey. In-camera (jpg) panorama taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera and 16 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 200, 16 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)

Three-Years Ago (03-January-2015) — Drake Passage

Gone to See Antarctica 2014/2015. Hurtigruten Christmas Voyage. Day 18: At Sea Crossing the Drake Passage.

This was our last full day on the Hurtigruten MS Fram as we proceeded north toward South America. Food and Final Celebration. A long-range view of Cape Horn, an Albatross in flight, and clouds with colors that reminded me of Patagonia.

Hurtigruten MS Fram Brass Bell. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)
Hurtigruten MS Fram Brass Bell. Image taken with a Leica T camera and 23 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 23 mm, f/16, 1/125 sec). (David J Mathre)



Wednesday (27-December-2017) — Florida

Gone to See Florida 2017/2018 Road Trip. Day 7: Sunrise at Fort De Soto Park.

I began the day early at Fort De Soto park with my brother to watch the sun rise under the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The sky was just starting to show some signs of light when we arrived. There was a line of clouds above the Skyway bridge, and it looked promising for the sun to come up under the clouds. I set up two cameras, one with a 16 mm wide-angle lens, and one with a 500 mm telephoto lens to do  time-lapsed sequences of sunrise.

Cameras set up to photograph the sun rising under the Sunshine Skyway bridge from Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, Florida Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (David J Mathre)
Cameras set up to photograph the sun rising under the Sunshine Skyway bridge from Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County, Florida Image taken with a Leica T camera and 11-23 mm wide-angle zoom lens (David J Mathre)