I used to generate massive (gigapixel) stitched panoramas using an arcane piece of software called PTAssembler combined with an even more obtuse tool — the workhorse underneath — Panorama Tools.  This pair of tools is an amazingly flexible powerhouse; but not for the faint of heart.  At HP I had grand visions of creating a huge marketing blitz with an 3×9 meter record-breaking gigapixel print of ths Sistine Chapel ceiling by combining hundreds of carefully captured (using a custom designed jig made fromthe motorized altazimuth mount ripped off of this sacrificial telescope.) individual photos out of a $500 HP camera. Yes, we even had an ‘inside’ connection and a workable plan for gaining permission. The idea was to show off the image quality of HP’s line of low cost consumer cameras. Next life…

Enter PhotoMerge (pdf). Ever since the first beta, I’ve been just short of giddy over this new PhotoShop feature. No more fine tuning obscure parameters in PTAssembler for me! All of my dozens of panoramas stiched with the old tools come out better (and much faster) using PhotoMerge.

This evening, I was home a bit late for ideal conditions but still could not resist. No time for fine-tuning any settings; here (including the above vertical pan) are some of the results shot from the livingroom deck:

Enlarge your browser to full screen for best viewing:

 While I’m on the topic, a couple weeks back I shot a few playful panorama’s. With each frame shot at a different time, one can appear in multiple frames. Look closely:

I may have to add a couple of these to the master collection.

 One tid-bit for the Only in the USA department: this deliciously amusing NYT news story out today.

Now, out for a full-moon kayak cruise.

Filed under: Art, Life, Only in the USA, Photography