Fisheye Pano and A Little Video

Hobart Bay Pano with Northern Song bookends

An early morning fisheye pano I shot recently.  I liked the effect I was getting with the boat framing the vertical edge of the image but the only way to bookend was with a pano.  With the 15mm FE on my 5D Mk II, I was able to get the effect with only two shots.  I knew from previous efforts though I would have a problem trying to stitch just two fisheye images together with Photoshop.  In order to make the stitching process go a little simpler (or go at all) I shot an additional frame for a total of three.

I stacked all three shots, expanded my canvas, and moved each into position manually.  If you ever need to do this the trick is to switch the Layer Blend Mode of the layer you are moving to Difference.  This will give you a weird ghosted effect but you can easily see where to position.  After everything was in place I selected all layers and clicked Edit-Auto Blend.  With the Auto layout selected Photoshop did the rest. 

In the end the image was just under 10K pixels wide so I almost reached a 2:1 ratio for the pano.  More importantly, I got the effect I wanted.  I think the main lesson is pixels are free.  If you have an idea shoot away and see what can be accomplished in post.  If it works, great.  If not, find another way. 

The video below is the final from our last trip ashore.  I posted the other two already so I figured I might as well finish it.  As you can see my lens is still wet and I was not microphoned up.  Hopefully, it captures some of the flavor.

Send Off from AK from Hal Schmitt on Vimeo.

The "sushi" bar comment in the video is when the fish rush ashore and the eagles stand in or near the water.  They reach down with their beaks and snatch the fish up; just like a sushi-go-round restaurant. 

A single eagle at the "sushi bar" with one on deck.
Notice the fish jumping out of the water in the foreground.

The final shot below is the yacht I reference in the video.  I will admit it was kind of small in the frame so here is a closer view.

Fiat Lux!