Ottawa Winter Panorama - Warning BIG File

[Round Tuit]

The reappearance of Manfred's panorama prompted me to take a second look at a panorama that I took almost exactly two years ago when I first became interested in photography. The photo is very big(12923px by 4296px). I am posting it as it was then.



I will see how I can improve it with the PP skills that I have aquired since then.
C & C welcomed.

André

P.S. View full size for best effect

[Manfred M]

Andre - the biggest problem that I see with this image is the light. It is quite harsh and the dark shadows, especially along the right hand side (Parliament Hill and the Parliament Buildings) are dark and heavily shaded. While you should be able to recover some of this detail by dodging, you are still going to be stuck with the harsh lighting.

Given the time of year (now), I wonder if your time might not be better spent doing a re-shoot at evening golden hour to get better light, rather than spending time in PP?

[Shadowman]

To me it just needs a crop of the foliage on the left, just my opinion but it is a bit distracting especially with the empty whiteness at the bottom of the frame.

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely composed. As Manfred said the lighting is never going to be perfect. But poking around with it in PP could be instructive in multiple ways. If you do so please post results for us to see. I also highly encourage a re-shoot under different/better conditions.

[madcrow]

Light not perfect but it's a very nice image. Great pano.

[Wavelength]

Even though light is a bit harsh and some areas appear a bit dark, i really liked the image when looked at full stretch

[Round Tuit]

Manfred,

Check the clock on the Peace Tower; the photo was shot at the "perfect Timex time". Does anything else matter? Seriously, I agree that softer lighting would improve the image and that a re-shoot at the golden hour is the way to achieve this. That might not help with the parliament hill though because the sun would have to set at least two hours later that it does now to get it out of the shade. That won't happen until late April.

John,

I have cropped out the foliage and put it back in several times trying to make up my mind. I finally decided to leave it in because it provides a bit of a foreground element. Ideally, it should be in better focus and paired with another foreground element at the right side but even on its own, I think it has a positive effect on the composition. The empty whiteness at the bottom shows a surprising amount of texture when viewed fully expanded. It would show even more with better lighting.

Dan,

I am glad that you like the composition. As I mentioned to John, I think that it could benefit from some foreground elements to provide a better sense of depth but I don't quite know how to do it. A re-shoot is definitely in the works. I might also try to do a four season series. As for PP, I will play with it as a learning experience. I will post the results if I can manage to improve the image significantly.

Maurice,

I think so too!

Nandakumar,

Exploring the details in such a large file( if printed at 100 pixel per inch, it would be 3 ft 6 in tall by 10 ft 9 in long) can be a lot of fun. I have discovered a hidden little treasure in the dark cliff below the parliamentary library. If you look there , you will find a birch tree that somehow caught a few rays from the sun.


Thank you all for your inputs. They are appreciated.

André

[Manfred M]

Manfred,

. That might not help with the parliament hill though because the sun would have to set at least two hours later that it does now to get it out of the shade. That won't happen until late April.

Well yes and no. I agree that this will be more the case later in the year, but when I look at the light direction from the Photographer's Ephermeris, the light does hit the back of the building around sunset at this time of year, and being more diffuse, you will certainly get a better light distribution that at the time for a shot. Add a bit of cloud cover to the west and that will help a bit more. As you get towards the middle of March (and there should still be plenty of ice and snow on the ground), things get even better. It will certainly be a bit better than when you shot.

Here is a screen shot of TPE for today, with the darker orange line showing the direction of light of the setting sun.