Panorama

Camera:  Olympus e-5 with the 14-45mm lens 

For a long time I wanted to shoot a panorama shot. Read up about it quite a bit, and the same message came from all the sites:

• Take a test shot
• Record the correct exposure
• Switch to manual mode
• Dial in the pre-tested aperture and shutter speed - this means the exposure won't change during the shoot
• Use a tripod
• Shoot in portrait orientation - this didn't work for me as the little device I used to turn the camera wouldn't work with the camera in portrait orientation (it is fitted between the camera and the tripod)
• The first shot must include a finger - so that you know when downloading the photos this is where the pano shots start - BEST ADVICE EVER!
• The last shot must include two fingers - to show the end of the pano shots - again, the BEST ADVICE EVER!
• Shoot to the right
• Overlap by at least 25% - easy with the little pano device I used, it automatically overlaps with 30%
• Set White Balance on daylight or auto
• Use continuous auto focus
• For the Olympus the best shutter speed is 1/80 sec and aperture F/9.0, ISO 200
• For some good reading, I recommend:
  http://www.olympusamerica.com/crm/oneoffpages/crm_panorama_jaydickman.asp 
http://dpexperience.com/2010/02/08/shooting-for-a-panorama/ http://www.manfrotto.com/Service/How+To+Lessons/Shooting+Coastal+Panoramas/Shooting+Coastal+Panoramas/3670816 http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using7-1.html http://www.panoguide.com/howto/

Parades

With the Xmas parade coming up in Wellington, I did my research on parades and found wonderful tips - and managed to break most :(

Camera:  Olympus e-5 with the 14-45mm lens

• Go early, walk the route and find the best position
  Done
• Shade is better than sun
  Found a position in the bright sunshine :( But to my defence, those in the shade were not good as you wouldn't be able to see the parade properly
• Better to find a position close to an object you can lean against or lean the camera on, so that 'shaking' the camera when someone bumps against you won't be a problem
  Done, positioned myself against the traffic lights pole - perfect. It also meant no-one could stand behind me
• Be in front, be in a position where you can sit and shoot 'up' to the parade and floats
  Done................but felt sorry for the three little kids who arrived a bit late and were standing behind the crowd and couldn't see more than our backsides - and told them to come and stand in front of me. Therefore couldn't shoot up to the floats but the dad's thank you afterwards felt much better than the need to get good photos
• Shoot up, therefore not including the crowds as the background, but the blue sky
  Yeah, right...........:(
• Position yourself not to shoot in the direction of the sun
  Sure, just a shame the organisers didn't think about it and that is exactly the direction the parade moved - the sun behind them and me shooting into the sun
• Use a telephoto lens and focus on 'parts' of the parade - the detail on a costume, things others won't necessarily notice
  Nope :( Clever me decided I knew better and took one of my kit-set lenses
• Take an extra battery and memory card
  Done........but left the camera bag in the car with all these extra little things. Thank goodness I didn't need it
• Control the camera by shooting manual or in aperture-mode
  Me? I used auto after a few test-shots and not feeling 100% happy with them :(

Important settings:

• To get the person/object in front to stand out and in focus and the background a bit blurry - f/2.8, f/3.5 or f/4
• To get the entire group in focus - f/14
• ISO200 on a sunny day and ISO800 if overcast - the higher the ISO, the more shutter speed to stop the movement
• Aperture:
  Small f-stop numbers (f/2.8, f/3.5, f/4) = small depth-of-field = large lens openings
  Large f-stop numbers (f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22) = larger depth-of-field = smaller lens openings

City Lights

The first technique I wanted to get right was to capture the city lights. The kids went on holiday and I was allowed to house-sit their flat. Their flat is on the Oriental Parade in Wellington, with the most amazing view over the city - the perfect place for city lights.

Camera:  Olympus e-500 with the 70-300mm lens

I googled and found this information (I am disappointed to say I cannot remember the URL of the site, and can therefore not acknowledge the photographer who shared this on the Internet), but it is excellent:

                                                                                          ISO100                              ISO400

• Neon lights filling frame                                        1/8 sec; f8                          1/15 sec; f11
• Brightly lit theatre district with neon lights           1/4 sec; f8                          1/8 sec; f11
• Bright street scenes                                                1/2 sec; f8                          1/4 sec; f11
• Floodlit buildings and monuments                        2 sec; f5.6                          1/2 sec; f5.6
• Distant skyline of offices, streets, etc                    4 sec; f2.8                          4 sec; f5.6

I set the camera up quite early, on the tripod and took the first test shot at f/8; 2 sec

 Second shot at f/4; 1/125

Shot a lovely sunset with f/4.5 and 1/125

And then it became darker and the lights turned on!

F/3.6; 4 sec

f/8; 2 sec

f/5.6; 4 sec

f/5.6; 4 sec