How To Photograph The Whole Cathedral In One Photo
The idea to put the whole cathedral arch into one shot comes to many photographers. There is a way out: a panorama! And today we'll tell you how to do it.
I. Shooting Process
1. Find the center. If you want to get a perfect photo you should stand just in the center. The entire image clearness depends on that.
2. No flash .
It's better not to use flash; try to shoot with your hands instead. You
may also try to use a tripod, but in some cathedrals you won't be
allowed to take pictures at all.
4. Exposure Compensation. Usually it's rather dark in cathedrals, so don't forget to make corresponding exposure bias value in -1,5 eV.
5. Measuring Exposure. Measure the exposure on the darkest part of the future shot.
6. ISO. Set the ISO value which allows to shoot without the movement blur. Usually it is ISO 800.
You can measure it quite easily: shutter speed should be not less than
1, divided by the focal length value. For example, if you use a 17mm
lens, your shutter speed in that case should be 1/20.
7. RAW. It is recommended to shoot in the RAW format.
8. Shooting Technique.
When you stand in the center of the cathedral, take some time until you
have a clear frame and take a shot. You can start from the upper point
first, making a series of photos while you lower your camera to catch all of the elements. Try to shoot so as your next shot lays over a part of the previous one. Don't shift the camera aside, because you will have distortions when you combine your shots into one. As a rule, you need 5-7 shots for the series.
9. Check it.
Always check the results right after the shooting - so that you have
time to adjust the settings or shoot anew in case something went wrong.
II. Post Processing
1. Use any RAW-converter which is available. Use the setting you prefer but mind that the brightness should be almost the same for all shots. In order to get the maximum color quality, you may save your shots in TIFF 16 bit.
2. If you decide to combine your images into one, you may try using PTGui (Graphical
User Interface for Panorama Tools). Of course, you can also do this in Photoshop, but the result may be different. So, let's load your TIFF into PTGui. Apply Automatic Stitching for image combination.
3. It's important to select the center of the image, so that it would be even and symmetrical. Check the results thoroughly
to identify if there are any areas in the image, which have not been
combined correctly. If you've found such areas, apply control points in the manual mode.
4. Save the 16 bit PSD file in the maximum quality.
5. Open Photoshop, find the center of the image (View -> Rulers) and put vertical guide in there (View -> New Guide). You can move your guide with Move Tool. With the help of Skew and Warp tools (Edit -> Transform -> Skew, Warp) you will get the exact central position. Then you have to level the image, searching for the maximum symmetry. The same is done with the horizontal lines (you could have avoided this if you used a tripod).
6. Colors and Light. Tone Mapping plugin from Photomatix
will help you with that, and here you need to select 16 bit format. But
don't "play" too much here, otherwise you'll receive a bad similarity
of HDR .
Which means, that we should not make the illumination being smooth and
even on the whole image, but make it brighter - where it is bright, and
leave it dark - where it is dark.
7. Dodge and Burn
tools can help you greatly, highlighting light and shadow in the image.
And remember, that it is better to use them with the minimum flow.
8. You may find it interesting to darken the angles and lightening the center of the shot, creating difference in the illumination.
Here the viewer's attention goes deep into the center, and the image is
not perceived as being flat anymore. But of course, there are far too
many nuances, which depend on each certain situation.
9. You may need to reduce the noise that appears due to high ISO and post processing.
10. Curves, colors, levels and frames should be performed according to your needs. And in the end increase sharpness. It can be managed by Unsharp Mask (Filter -> Sharpen -> Unsharp Mask).
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