A Stitch In Time...

Photo: © Stan Banos

Switching to digital in the last few years (more on that soon) has come with a variety of advantages. From the same image I can switch from color to B&W (even if the latter can be sketchy in certain conditions, ie- direct sunlight), or change formats in camera on a second's notice from 2:3 to 3:4 to 1:1; and then, there's the ability to stitch together panoramics- something I thought I would take tremendous advantage of, but have yet to really embrace, at all... until now. 

This pandemic shelter in place scenario has forced me to see things more intensely, very simply, because there's less to see out there- and I've literally noticed things I've unknowingly bypassed throughout the years. And as previously mentioned, there's less to photograph since there are less people out and about... making fewer potential photo ops. And I can most definitely forget the annual weenie fest this year for sure! Sooo... I finally got to thinking, if not now- When?

Not having lots of people about in the city is ideal for stitching shots together since it eliminates the problems of decapitations, random limbs and run on ghosts so typical of stitching together populated city street scenes. And they're rather fun to do, once you accept the fact that you're never quite guaranteed what you end up with- particularly if you don't use a tripod. So a few random tips, which I myself would profit from adhering to more closely...

First, shoot vertically- non negotiable. Shoot more frames in a tighter sequence than you'd think necessary- stitching software is indeed remarkable, but not miraculous! I was just polishing off the last few remaining edits on one photo (not pictured) after a couple of hours when egads- one window had a particularly wonky fun house slant to it! Nuff said. Also, I don't usually crop after I take photos- but this is... different. You are basically capturing the general view, the raw material for your finished image when scanning your horizon. You'll crop the shot to your specific composition upon viewing the stitched together 'first draft.' Which also means that you should take a step or two back when shooting (counter intuitive to the photo taking norm) to account for the distortion of perspective, slight handheld misalignments, etc inherent in these types of panoramics. And then have some fun... 

I'm not anticipating a slew of these to be honest. But when beset with a long stretch of limited opportunities- one more shot, is one more shot!

Photo: © Stan Banos