Panorama Exercise

This assignment will be extra credit for the photoshop Unit.

PART 1- STITCHED PANORAMA

Create a “stitched panorama” using the photographs in the gallery attached.  For this exercise you will need to use the selection tools to help you assemble the panels.  Some useful tools will be the Selection Tools (Marquee, lasso) and Transform Tools (Scale, Rotate, Skew, Flip).

PART 2-PHOTO CORRECTION 

Once you have created a stitched panorama, do a “Save As” and rename it panorama_part_2.  You may also download and correct the attached photograph.

Do the following:

1. Use Levels to open histogram. Analyze image for DYNAMIC RANGE and HIGHLIGHTS

-Is the image within the dynamic range? Are any of the highlights or shadows clipped?

Remember that the histogram graph displays the tonal distribution of the image.  It displays values based on levels of brightness, on x axis from dark to light.  The far left of the graph on the x axis represents absolute black- 0, while the far right of the x axis represents absolute white- 255.

2. Use Variations to take a quick look at the color balance.  Use Levels, Curves or Hue/Saturation to COLOR CORRECT the image.

Remember the color wheel when adjusting colors of the image.  Red is opposite of cyan; green is opposite of magenta; and blue is the opposite of yellow.  The Variations interface allows you to modify the color of the shadows, highlights or midtones separately.  However, you will have more accuracy with Curves.

3. ADJUST BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST

HISTORY OF THE PANORAMA

The Oxford English dictionary defines Panorama as, “an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer.”

Although the first panoramic paintings date to the late 18^th century, they were obscure and sequestered in wealthy households and parlors.  By the 19^th century, panoramic paintings and models became a popular form of entertainment for middle class spectators.  However, by the mid 1800s, this multi-view perspective was eventually democratized where panoramic photography began to displace painting.

Perhaps fueled by rapaciousness for spectacle and new perspectives, panoramic photography was born into a climate of groundbreaking innovations including the hot air balloon, the transcontinental railroad and the daguerreotype.

In 1851 Martin Behrman made one of the first panorama views of San Francisco with five daguerreotype plates.  In 1877 Eadweard Muybridge put together a series of wet-plate photographs to produce his first 360 degree view of city.  A more detailed history of panoramic photography can be found here. By the 1980s, artists like David Avison, Kenneth Snelson and Jim Ailinder began using the panorama in their work.

More to come…

Links

Library of Congress

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/panoramic_photo/pnhist1.html

University of Washington collection

http://www.360cities.net/

Discussion Questions

Coming soon…