Peat's Pano

I got back into Bozeman today, and was greeted by a couple inches of fresh snow! That, and it was about 4 degrees out..burrrrr. I guess that's what happens when there's not a cloud in the sky. 

By the time I got back home and unpacked, it was nearly sunset. I looked outside and saw the orange light coming, so I rushed out to Peat's Hill for some pictures. With the fresh snow on the ground, I figured there would be some epic lighting on the town. 

Sadly though, the light faded too fast :( By the time I got up there, the town was in the shadow and only the mountains were still glowing. However, it does still have sort of a cool look to it. The town is in a cool blue bowl, surrounded by fiery mountains. 

Taking this was pretty stranded panoramic technique. First, compose your shot. I wanted about 60/40 ground to sky ratio, because that is really close to the rule of thirds. Put the horizon on one of the third lines instead of the middle. It makes a more dynamic photo, where either the sky or the ground are put forth as more important. It helps the viewer know what to look at. 

Next, I got my exposure. Looking at my histogram, I made sure to get as bright as image as I could without clipping any highlights. In digital, you can make things brighter, but you can't bring back detail from overblown highlights very well.

Finally, I shot from left to right with about 50% overlap of frames. This helps Ps blend things together nicely. 

Before I made the pano in Ps though, I did some editing in Lr. First, I brightened the ground by about a third of a stop, I just felt it was a little bit too dark. I also increase the contrast and vibrance there just a tad. More drama to it. It's the subject after all. 

Next, I brightened the highlights, shadows, and whites of the whole image. I guess my exposure was a little dark.... when you try to work to fast to catch light that sometimes happens. But it's better than missing the light! That's what's so great about digital, it's very easy to brighten up a slightly underexposed image. 

Next came the pano, which blended beautifully because I shot on a tripod. With a quick crop later, that was all done. 

For a final little tweak, I upped the highlights and clarity just a tad. Just right. 

See you tomorrow!