panorama Archives - Page 4 of 5

November 14, 2016November 14, 2016

Amsterdam Centraal

The main train station is known as Amsterdam Centraal, and it was one of the first places I walked to when I arrived from Florida. I was here for the opening of the BTP exhibition and this is where I caught the train to Harderwijk the next day. But as I was still on North American time, I was up late into the night walking around the central district with my camera and tripod.

Daily Image

I wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised by how many people were out that night walking around the city, to my foreign eyes it was magical, everything I hoped it would be and more.

Here I stood on a bridge and captured the train station over the still water of the canal. This is a long exposure three image panorama. As I was taking this I had several people come by and comment on the picture showing on the display at the back of my camera.

night gallery

Actually there were great sights all around me and I was a little like a kid in a candy shop. I’d walk around the canal shooting images in every direction. Finally around two in the morning the long flight started to catchup to me so I headed back. However, even as I walked away rest of Amsterdam showed no signs of slowing down.

October 27, 2016

Sea and Sky

The Sunshine Skyway is almost ten miles long and as you drive across you have great views of the sea and sky. When you are in your car it looks like you are driving into the sky. Maybe that’s where it got its name, (that’s just a guess on my part).

Daily Image

Skyway Clouds — Sea and Sky from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

On this morning I came to a little island on the northern stretch to take pictures.    In the summer the clouds form large columns that tower miles into the sky. When the sun is low on the horizon the light hits these columns at different angles depending on the elevation. What I notice is that the lower section of the cloud columns have warmer colors whereas those higher up tend to appear white. My guess is there are more particles in the lower atmosphere.

In Florida, when you see thunderclouds in the afternoon the variation in colors is hard to miss. In this image the clouds are about fifteen miles in the distance but you can still see the variation in colors.

cloudscapes in the gallery

This is another long exposure panorama. It’s a thirty-second exposure that I took one morning just after dawn. I stitched two images to create the panorama. This vantage point is about ten minutes from home so it’s an easy spot to get to. I had to cross the bridge to get here and then again to get back. I suppose that means I had my head in the clouds at least twice before breakfast. Not an unusual thing for me I suppose.

October 26, 2016

Lights Reflecting in Sarasota Bay

Lights reflecting in Sarasota Bay on a recent evening. I’ve taken similar images but of course each one is a little different. This is a long exposure panorama of three separate images; the exposure is about ten-seconds and it makes the water look smooth. Panoramas over the water work well only if the water is smooth. Otherwise there are noticeable lines where the wave patterns are stitched together. That’s because the waves from each picture are in different positions and don’t match when combined. A little tip for the day.

Daily Image

I’m addicted to long exposure photography, I love how it transforms a scene, making it seem almost serene. I’m also addicted to night or low light photography, I like how the mood shifts when the bright light of day fades. When I get to combine the two I’m in my happy place. It’s a lot of fun and I never quite know what I’ll end up with. The main thing is to keep experimenting and, of course, having fun.

panoramas from the gallery

Anyway, now that the weather here in Florida is finally cooling a bit from the long hot summer, an evening outdoors can be refreshing. A cool dry breeze is something I haven’t felt around here in about six months, so now that thats starting I think its time to get out and enjoy the weather. Not that I need an excuse but for me that means doing more long exposure panoramas. Stay tuned, more images to come.

October 7, 2016October 7, 2016

Sarasota Bay Mooring Field

This is the Sarasota Bay Mooring Field. If your anything like me you can be forgiven for not knowing there was a such thing as a mooring field. I just thought it was a bunch of sailboats docked in the bay. Well, well well, …not so. This is a reservation only mooring by the day, week or longer. I took this photo last weekend. Its is a three image panoramic view by the way, but…, I digress.

Daily Photo

After processing this image I went to Google Earth to look at it from the sky (so to speak). And much to my surprise this jumble of boats were actually lined up in neat little rows. That got me wondering and then I found they have a web site. And all this time I just thought it was just a random collection of boats.

sarasota gallery

As I stood at the waters edge I could here people talking and music playing music. In a way it’s no different then a campsite on water. There is a little beach where they can park their rowboats and go ashore to get supplies. Not far from here are all kinds of nice restaurants and even a Whole Foods market. With so much choice it seems like a very nice form of camping.

Now that I know all this is I feel smarter. All this time I was in the dark. People have been camping and having fun all this time and I thought you had to go to the mountains to camp. All it takes is a sailboat, a rowboat, a reservation at the mooring field and a bag of marshmallows.

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016

Saturday Afternoon in Stanley Park

This is a Saturday afternoon in Stanley Park. I was here not too long ago after returning from Alaska. I could have flown straight from Anchorage to Florida, but being so close to Vancouver I couldn’t resist a quick weekend stopover. This is a panorama of four images that I stitched together to get a wide perspective. Sometimes I use a wide angle lens, but in other cases I find it works better when I take four vertical images and combine them. For one, the resolution is much higher. That makes it easier to produce large prints. As well, I like to zoom into photos and explore all of the little details.

Daily Image

This is the second time I’ve take an image from this perspective. The first time was several years ago using a wide angle lens. I don’t mind repeating myself because as an artist my approach and inclinations change over time. Its fun to go back and play old songs, I hear new things as I grow and evolve. Same goes for photography.

favorites gallery

Actually I’ve been redoing a lot of iconic locations lately. Iconic locations resonate in a way that invites new interpretations, new angles, different light. And besides, they are typically fun places to go. So if you see me repeating some old locations, you’ll know I’m seeing something different as well as having a good time.

August 7, 2016August 7, 2016

Sunset Over the Twin Dolphins Marina in Bradenton Florida

This is sunset over the Twin Dolphins Marina in Bradenton Florida. I took this the other night from a bridge that crosses the Manatee River into Bradenton. The river meets the Gulf of Mexico just a few miles beyond and in it’s waters are dolphins, manatees and all manner of fish. At this point it’s not a river in the traditional sense, more an estuary where the water flows in and out with the tide.

The bridge overlooks the Twin Dolphins Marina where folks have pleasure boats. However a number of people live here on their boats full time. There is a restaurant straight ahead called Pier 22 that we frequent on account of the outdoor patio and food which is very good.

Manatee County Gallery

This is one of those places that I pass when running errands in Bradenton. When I’m driving the bridge I don’t get a chance to enjoy the view so much. But today I parked my car and walked across the bridge at sunset. Not surprising, there were a lot of other people walking across for exercise the scenery. Sometimes it pays to just take it slow and enjoy the sights in my own backyard.

July 31, 2016

Acorn of Time

This is a panorama of Vancouver’s Coal Harbour. I took this from Stanley Park one night and I wasn’t alone. Not only is this a popular spot for photography, Vancouver has a lot of photographers. There were several other photographers out with their tripods composing their shots of this great city.

In this case I used three vertical eight-second exposures that I stitched together. I enjoy making panoramas with a full frame camera because of the amount of detail in the image. Whenever I print these I marvel at the smallest details.

Vancouver from the gallery

One reason photography is so fun for me is because I get to go back and look at a scene in quiet contemplation. At the time there may be a lot going on and it’s easy to miss things. But I tend to see more things later when looking at images. I’m like a chipmunk gathering acorns of time, holding them and then enjoying them later.

Anyway, I almost didn’t take this photo because it’s been done so many times before. But I’m glad I did, if for no other reason than I get to go back and enjoy the scene now.

July 28, 2016

Skyway Rainbow

A couple of weeks ago after some afternoon rain I drove up to Fort DeSoto Park to take photos. As I looked back I noticed this rainbow over the bridge. From where I stood it appeared to span about 8 miles from one side of the Sunshine Skyway to the other. To get this photo I took four vertical images, from left to right and stitched them together to form a panorama.

I have mixed feelings about this image. On the one hand the placement of the rainbow over the bridge is nice and if you look close there’s even a double rainbow. If I didn’t know better I might think it was photoshopped. On the other hand the scene lacks drama. That aside I decided to keep it as is, an image of a rainbow over the bridge without much drama.

other skyway photos from the gallery

With some images I take a lot of pains to simplify them in post production. I feel it’s important to not have distractions in an image. This one however needed none of that, just water, sky, bridge and a rainbow. Sometimes images like this just demand to left alone because they have a voice all their own. In this case I suppose I have to agree with that.

July 24, 2016July 24, 2016

Pokemon Scene

This scene is a panorama from four images I shot handheld in Bradenton last night. Because I’d been away in Alaska it’s been a few weeks since I was here. So camera in one hand and dog leash in the other I proceeded down the riverwalk just before dusk. What I wasn’t expecting was the number of people out milling around, there were hundreds, much more than usual. In two words, Pokemon Go.

It was an unusual sight, I’ve never seen anything like it. I felt like I was in some sci-fi flick were everyone was connect to a central brain and I was watching from the outside. But, as I observed, people were talking, walking from place to place, and generally having fun. I thought to myself that these people would otherwise be at home watching TV yet they are out on the riverwalk in the evening.

 More night photography

When I stopped to take this picture, several others noticed what I was doing and turned around to take similar photos. They couldn’t have done that sitting at home. Maybe because of the game a bunch of folks got outside, mingled, and had a chance to see some things they don’t normally see. If it takes a game to do that then hey, why not?

June 30, 2016June 30, 2016

Waterway Panorama

Lately I’ve been taking panoramas of places near home. This is from the bridge to Anna Maria Island and is four images taken side-by-side and then stitched together. Actually I took six images but the full length is too long for social media.

The images are taken in portrait mode meaning I held the camera on its side. The result is that there is a lot of detail, so much that you can zoom in to see a little things you wouldn’t normally see in a photo. The main reason for doing this is because the print resolution is so good.

I love looking at panoramas displayed on walls. It invites you to get right up close and experience the image in a more personal way. But it is a physical medium, not necessarily a good fit for social media.

full gallery

All that aside, as you can see this was near sunset on a cloudy day and all kinds of strange things happened with the light and how it played out on the water. Funny thing is, had it not been a panorama I might not have even noticed all that detail.