Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
05-22-2019, 02:28 PM - 5 Likes   #241
Pentaxian




Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Sydney
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 909
This is my first acceptable attempt. K1 and A50mm 1.4 at f2. I use Microsoft ICE which is free and completely automated (apologies if this has been discussed in detail above). I've only started doing this over the last few days.



05-22-2019, 03:00 PM   #242
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by officiousbystander Quote
This is my first acceptable attempt. K1 and A50mm 1.4 at f2. I use Microsoft ICE which is free and completely automated (apologies if this has been discussed in detail above). I've only started doing this over the last few days.

Good job!
05-23-2019, 12:30 AM   #243
Pentaxian
Jonathan Mac's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Madrid, Spain
Posts: 10,843
QuoteOriginally posted by officiousbystander Quote
This is my first acceptable attempt. K1 and A50mm 1.4 at f2. I use Microsoft ICE which is free and completely automated (apologies if this has been discussed in detail above). I've only started doing this over the last few days.

Looks pretty good but I'd recommend using the lens wide open. Don't worry about loss of reesolution, when it's all stitched together you won't see it as the total resolution will be large enough to hide it.
06-03-2019, 07:04 AM - 2 Likes   #244
Senior Member
DeKay's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2018
Photos: Albums
Posts: 208
This is my my 3rd attempt at this method and I’m pretty happy with the results.
I used a KP with a DA 35mm f2.4 AL. I got in nice and close, took 57 photos in RAW.
I processed one image in Raw Therapee and then copied the processing into all the others so that everything was identical.
Initially I tried stitching with Photoshop and was not happy with the results, so I loaded them into Affinity Photo on my iPad Pro, and not only did it stitch the photos faster than my computer, it produced a better stitch. (I think I’ll look at buying the desktop version and do away with Photoshop)
This is the result....Tell me what you think.


Last edited by DeKay; 10-01-2019 at 03:32 AM.
06-04-2019, 02:25 PM - 2 Likes   #245
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by DeKay Quote
This is my my 3rd attempt at this method and I’m pretty happy with the results.
I used a KP with a DA 35mm f2.4 AL. I got in nice and close, took 57 photos in RAW.
I processed one image in Raw Therapee and then copied the processing into all the others so that everything was identical.
Initially I tried stitching with Photoshop and was not happy with the results, so I loaded them into Affinity Photo on my iPad Pro, and not only did it stitch the photos faster than my computer, it produced a better stitch. (I think I’ll look at buying the desktop version and do away with Photoshop)
This is the result....Tell me what you think.
I think you did great for what are difficult conditions for a successful brenizer;

1) A live subject that could move
2) A kid nonetheless!
3) Only a DA 35, which is a little on the wider focal length, typically around 50-85 using wide apertures (so around 1.8-f2) is best.

The shot itself doesn't scream 'brenizer' but it's there, but for the effort of 57 shots you hope you would drive that effect more. If you have a look back you can see some brenizer vibes popping from just 9-12 shots being stitched, and then my lazy (but poorer) 2-3 stitch shots

Where the photo suffers is nothing to do with brenizer itself but just the shot in general. You've taken a portrait shot on a full bright blue sky day with no flash fill to help reduce the shadow on the subject. These shooting conditions (bright blue sky day, no clouds/diffusion) are incredibly difficult shooting conditions to work with. Failing flash fill, setting up a diffuser to soften the harsh bright light and gain a better overall exposure would have produced more flattering exposure options and rendered the subject better. The DA 35/2.4 is a fine lens as is, and you might find focusing some attention to this area of photography will make you (and your subjects) happier from the outcome.

What I'm saying is, as a photographer the first thing I do before leaving the house is check the kind of lighting conditions I am going to be subjected to. Indoor or outdoor, it makes no difference, light is light, and I need to know what I am faced with so that I can prepare before hand and bring the right gear along.
The people in the UK are 'blessed' with overcast days. Believe it or not this is actually great portraiture conditions, you can get away with some fantastic shots with absolutely no flash or diffusers required at all, because the clouds are doing all the diffusion for you (like a large softbox in the sky). Couple that with the amazing dynamic range that Pentax gives and you can drive overcast shots in many directions for artistic interpretation superbly.

For others like us (Aussies and Americans) we get more dynamic conditions to shoot with. So in this instance (if this was me) I would be taking some small portable lighting or diffusion panel to assist with the shot, because we must first and foremost give the photo every opportunity to shine under reasonable effort (ie not transporting a full studio up a mountain lol).

This shot below was taken with a speedlight, small modifier and umbrella, pretty portable rucksack solution, I shot straight into the sun with this shot (non brenizer);

The lighting equipment;



The Shots (single non brenizer)







And a 3 stitched brenizer using the same flash here;



So what I'm hinting at is, under the lighting conditions that you faced that day I would not have been thinking 'brenizer' but instead 'flash'.

Sorry, I know you are just submitting a first brenizer attempt and here I am coming along talking about off camera flash and submitting my own work (some of which isn't even brenizer!), I sincerely don't mean to be taking this as an excuse to showcase my work, I really am trying to help. It's a learning curve I am still on. I did some event photography on Saturday night (a beer festival) held indoors in some 'hanger like' venue, very high ceilings (they literally had a Ferris Wheel inside). I had to decide on lighting for my running and gunning/portraiture shots and I really try and avoid the umbrella thing where possible and just make do with a flash on top of the camera, but I knew there was no way the light was going to bounce off any ceiling so I really had no choice (that is if I was going to do the job some service), so the same setup as pictured above followed me to this event as well. You plan ahead, think about the job/hike and take what you need to do the best shots. When I see your shot I can't help thinking how much better the overall image would have been if you did the same job on a cloudier more overcast day, I just struggle to move past the high dynamic contrast element that my head says 'should be tackled with first'.

In regards to stitching, I try different applications. I have had Microsofts ICE work better than PS and then times PS would do far better than ICE or Hugins. I would say that don't take one successful stitch from one program to meaning it is better at the task in general, it might be that it just did better that one time, I think you need a few more stitching attempts before coming out with an application that seems to (in general) succeed better than the others. For me I do actually get better results in PS, but ICE is far far quicker so I tend to let that have an attempt first.

Also, RAW brenizers, 57 shots will have taken awhile. Don't be afraid to use Jpgs when doing a lot of shots. I tend to have a mode set up for large brenizers in Jpg, so I can fire off 60 odd very quickly and not hit the buffer and need to wait. You just need to make sure you're not using Auto WB and have exposures working in the right place. Again with a bright (dynamic) day that can be difficult as you pan around you might start sucking in frames that are drastically over over exposed and highlights are getting blown easily (or getting super dark black shadows). Smaller brenizers (9-12 shots) I think can be handled in RAW far better. Don't be afraid to practice the smaller brenizer shots, done right they can punch home that vibe superbly and take less effort to process.

Good luck!
06-04-2019, 10:23 PM - 1 Like   #246
Senior Member
DeKay's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2018
Photos: Albums
Posts: 208
Thanks for your comments BruceBanner.
I agree with you about the lighting, but as we were “mountain” climbing I was travelling very light. It was the middle of a bright sunny day (second day of winter, 25dC and not a cloud in sight). All spare space was reserved for water. I did have 2 kids a wife and dog in tow, so lugging a heap of gear wasn’t a priority and I kept getting the old “can you hurry up we are not here to take photos” from the wife. The use of the 35mm was only because that’s all I took with me and I wasn’t planning on doing a Brenzier, I was just going to take snaps of the kids and scenery. But once at the top, I thought I would take some Brenzier shots just for the stitching practice.

As far as the stitching goes, I have done many panoramic stitches and used many app over my time, but I must say that the iOS version of Affinity Photo is nothing but outstanding. So much so, that I go to it first before I try anything else.

The 57 photos taken in RAW were not stitched as RAW as this would just kill the iPAD. What I did was process them in RawTheapee and reduced the output JPEGs to 15% original size, so each JPEG was only about 600kb. Then stitched them.

Next time I attempt this technique I will most defiantly use my 50mm f2.
06-04-2019, 10:52 PM   #247
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by DeKay Quote
Thanks for your comments BruceBanner.
I agree with you about the lighting, but as we were “mountain” climbing I was travelling very light. It was the middle of a bright sunny day (second day of winter, 25dC and not a cloud in sight). All spare space was reserved for water. I did have 2 kids a wife and dog in tow, so lugging a heap of gear wasn’t a priority and I kept getting the old “can you hurry up we are not here to take photos” from the wife. The use of the 35mm was only because that’s all I took with me and I wasn’t planning on doing a Brenzier, I was just going to take snaps of the kids and scenery. But once at the top, I thought I would take some Brenzier shots just for the stitching practice.

As far as the stitching goes, I have done many panoramic stitches and used many app over my time, but I must say that the iOS version of Affinity Photo is nothing but outstanding. So much so, that I go to it first before I try anything else.

The 57 photos taken in RAW were not stitched as RAW as this would just kill the iPAD. What I did was process them in RawTheapee and reduced the output JPEGs to 15% original size, so each JPEG was only about 600kb. Then stitched them.

Next time I attempt this technique I will most defiantly use my 50mm f2.
I understand, all good. Personally I have not found anything produce as favourable soft lighting on a subject for HSS than that lighting combo I show above. What's quite nice about it is the set up is very light, One speedlight, one umbrella, one handle, one magmod bounce (and maggrip). There's not much thinking required either, set the flash to full power (you'd need it on a day like you had) and then have a reasonably close distance lens attached so you can get reasonably close to the subject (such as the FA43 or DA35 like what you had). Using a FA77 and the distance becomes a little too much for very bright conditions for the soft light to reach. But yeah, it's quite easy even if you're new to flash as you don't have to worry so much about specific settings etc.

I am yet to jump on the ipad/android tablet editing roundabout yet, I feel things are not quite yet there for how I approach editing. For example, my bought and paid for LR Plugins and Presets will only work under Lightroom Classic currently. I did have a go of Affinity on the PC and was impressed, yet it lacked some features so i stayed with Adobe.

Affinity for iOS, I'm guessing it can't utilise any of the Topaz Plugins yet (like how it can on it's desktop version)?

06-05-2019, 12:33 AM   #248
Senior Member
DeKay's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2018
Photos: Albums
Posts: 208
QuoteOriginally posted by BruceBanner Quote
Affinity for iOS, I'm guessing it can't utilise any of the Topaz Plugins yet (like how it can on it's desktop version)?
No plugins on iPAD unfortunately. But it is only about $30 so cant complain too much.
06-09-2019, 07:10 AM - 1 Like   #249
Veteran Member
Sluggo's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Ames, Iowa
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 774
A few 50mm handhelds (SMC 50 1:1.2) from a botanical garden visit.



06-09-2019, 07:22 PM   #250
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by Sluggo Quote
A few 50mm handhelds (SMC 50 1:1.2) from a botanical garden visit.


Love the scarecrow one, the subject matter (a seemingly jumping animated scarecrow) shot in this style further makes the fella jump out at you! Really nice work.
06-10-2019, 06:19 AM - 4 Likes   #251
Pentaxian
Jonathan Mac's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Madrid, Spain
Posts: 10,843
Here are a couple from a recent trip to the coast. As usual, shot with the K-3 and M 85mm f/2 wide open.


Beach Brenizer 1
by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


Beach Brenizer 2
by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
06-10-2019, 08:31 PM   #252
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
Here are a couple from a recent trip to the coast. As usual, shot with the K-3 and M 85mm f/2 wide open.


Beach Brenizer 1
by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr


Beach Brenizer 2
by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Excellent. With the second one you can start to see the vignette patterns in the sky from the stitching. Some stitchers (like Photoshop) have a box you can tick that tries to remove vignetting between frames, I don't know if you tried that here and it didn't work very well but that's something to keep your eye out for.
It's a common issue with brenizer because a the shots are being taken fairly wide open and a lot of lenses vignette badly wide open (like the FA Ltds), so yeah tackling that before hand can help.

What else you can do is take them to LR or Raw Therapee and apply lens correction, that will also aid in the vignette removal, and then stitch the shots.

Good stuff regardless!
06-11-2019, 10:43 PM   #253
Pentaxian
Jonathan Mac's Avatar

Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Madrid, Spain
Posts: 10,843
QuoteOriginally posted by BruceBanner Quote
Excellent. With the second one you can start to see the vignette patterns in the sky from the stitching. Some stitchers (like Photoshop) have a box you can tick that tries to remove vignetting between frames, I don't know if you tried that here and it didn't work very well but that's something to keep your eye out for.
It's a common issue with brenizer because a the shots are being taken fairly wide open and a lot of lenses vignette badly wide open (like the FA Ltds), so yeah tackling that before hand can help.

What else you can do is take them to LR or Raw Therapee and apply lens correction, that will also aid in the vignette removal, and then stitch the shots.

Good stuff regardless!
Yes, it's the first time I've seen this problem when doing a Brenizer but the number of frames involved does not make me want to spend the necessary time manually PPing each one to get rid of the vignetting. I usually just use the out of camera jpegs for Brenizers as it's too much work otherwise.
06-11-2019, 10:55 PM   #254
Unoriginal Poster
Loyal Site Supporter
iheiramo's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Espoo
Photos: Albums
Posts: 3,175
QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
Yes, it's the first time I've seen this problem when doing a Brenizer but the number of frames involved does not make me want to spend the necessary time manually PPing each one to get rid of the vignetting. I usually just use the out of camera jpegs for Brenizers as it's too much work otherwise.
I choose one frame which best represent light conditions and edit that in PP. Then simply copy that edit to all other shots needed for stitch or focus stack. It's a matter of seconds no matter how many shots I have to stitch.
06-14-2019, 03:27 PM   #255
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
QuoteOriginally posted by Jonathan Mac Quote
Yes, it's the first time I've seen this problem when doing a Brenizer but the number of frames involved does not make me want to spend the necessary time manually PPing each one to get rid of the vignetting. I usually just use the out of camera jpegs for Brenizers as it's too much work otherwise.
Yeah it shouldn't take any more time than a single checking a box (such as what PS offers when doing Photomerge etc). What applications do you currently use for editing? It might be that we can help you find that setting that will help that fix if you do more brenizers with blue sky etc. I do understand however that sentiment of not wanting to spend too long in PP.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
background, brenizer, brenizer method, distance, idea, look, method, play, results, shot, shots, subject
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Landscape Playing with the Brenizer method VaughnA Post Your Photos! 8 01-30-2011 07:04 PM
Brenizer for Impatient people!!! dlacouture Photographic Technique 6 01-21-2011 01:57 PM
Diagonal Method Sparkle General Talk 9 01-05-2011 09:22 PM
Your most basic PP method? KierraElizabeth Digital Processing, Software, and Printing 31 08-03-2009 11:21 PM
Archiving Your Photos: What's Your Method? vinzer Photographic Technique 17 01-09-2009 11:36 AM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:18 AM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top