Bryce Canyon by André Costantini |
Okay, so maybe the idea isn’t new; let’s take a bunch of images and assemble them together into one singular master scenic panoramic composition. However since Adobe released CS, there is an automated function, called Photomerge that is built into Photoshop to help facilitate arranging multiple images. Simply put, Photomerge takes a group of photos and automatically merges them into one file. During a recent trip to Bryce Canyon, I took a series of photographs intended to try out my newly discovered feature. Just as the sun was setting, I stationed myself at the aptly named Sunset Point with the new Tamron 18-200 lens attached to a Nikon D-70 on a tripod. Instead of using a wide angle lens to take in the entire vista and then cropping the image to a panoramic format, I took 4 images of sections of the scene with a longer focal length (around 50mm) and brought them back to Photoshop. Several days later when I had downloaded the images to my computer, I located the Photomerge function, which is under the File menu and then found under Automate. Photomerge function looks for similarities from the images that you input and then stitches them together. One major advantage to stitching images together is the larger file size that results by adding the images together. By merging 4 images, my 6.1 mega-pixel camera effectively turns into a 24 mega-pixel camera. In comparison to using a wider angle lens and then cropping out some of the image to a panoramic format you would maybe wind up with 4 usable mega-pixels. It’s roughly the difference between a 10 verses a 60 mega-byte file. The stitching technique is especially good for landscapes and interiors. Because you are taking multiple images to create one image, stitching doesn’t do so well with moving things, unless you are looking for something with a real cubist sensibility. My little test left me concluding that the Photomerge function does a reasonable job of putting together images, though in some cases you may still have to do a little retouching in places that don’t quite match up. I found that if you drag your original files as separate layers and place them underneath the Photomerge composition, it is easy to erase sections of the composition to reveal parts of the original files if need be. If nothing else Photomerge gives you a really nice ballpark to start your stitched composition. |
 Bryce Canyon Panoramic - Merged Image |
 Left side of the merged image |
 Middle section of the merged image |
 Middle section of the merged image |
 Right side of the merged image |
 Tamron Lens in Action |