Panoramic photographs



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I have been taking panoramic photographs since 2003; this page shows my favorites. Some of the panoramic images are very large, so the full-resolution photos may load slowly if you have a slow web connection. If your browser supports zooming (<Ctrl>+<mouse wheel> in Firefox, for example), you can adjust the image size to fill your browser window vertically and then use the bottom scroll bar to scroll horizontally.

A lot can go wrong in a panorama. Most obviously, exposure must be consistent across the separate frames, so you must guess where you want the exposure to be "correct" before you start. Adjacent frames must align well both horizontally and vertically, so distinct horizontal and vertical elements help. Frame stitching works much better if you use a tripod, but I usually do not carry a tripod when I travel. I find I can get decent results handheld with sufficient care. Anything moving from frame to frame within the image creates a problem, especially if captured crossing a frame boundary. For example, moving water always look bad, as in the Venice Beach picture, where the ocean waves in adjacent frames misalign. Now that I've been doing these for years, I'm pleasantly surprised when the result is at all satisfactory. Often, there are many disappointments along the way.

The Bleeker Street picture is an experiment, not very successful. Normally, you take a panorama from a fixed position, panning the camera between frames. This produces a consistent point of view, but the results are unsatisfying when reproducing a planar surface, like building storefronts along a street. For the Bleeker Street pano, I moved down the street between successive frames instead; the storefronts look better as a result, but of course 3-dimensional elements out of the storefront plane (building awnings, for example) do not align correctly.

I wrote an animated panoramas page (requires Java!) for panorama viewing in 2003, because at that time many browsers did not support panning and zooming in images (but did support Java). I keep that page around as an interesting artifact, but I no longer maintain it, since modern browsers generally handle large images well.


panoramas/p030918_pan1la.jpg
SF Bay & SF from Mt. Tamalpais
Marin Headlands CA, 09/18/03
panoramas/p061022_pan01sa.jpg
SF & Mount Diablo at dawn
San Francisco, 10/22/06
panoramas/p031208_pan9sa.jpg
Bay Bridge and Oakland from Coit Tower
San Francisco, 12/08/03
panoramas/p031208_pan8sa.jpg
Marin & Mount Tam from Coit Tower
San Francisco, 12/08/03
panoramas/p031012_pan2b.jpg
Golden Gate Bridge & SF from Pac Heights
San Francisco, 10/12/03
panoramas/p031208_pan5sa.jpg
Golden Gate Bridge to Mt. Diablo from Twin Peaks
San Francisco, 12/08/03
panoramas/p031009b_pan6a.jpg
Golden Gate Bridge from Marin Headlands
Marin Headlands CA, 10/09/03
panoramas/p031009b_pan1b.jpg
Downtown SF from Corona Heights
San Francisco, 10/09/03
panoramas/p100327_pan2a.jpg
Dolores Park crowd on sunny afternoon
San Francisco, 03/27/10
panoramas/p031016e_pan1la.jpg
Seven Sisters from Alamo Square
San Francisco, 10/16/03
panoramas/p060523_pan3sa.jpg
AT&T Park
San Francisco, 05/23/06
panoramas/p031207_pan12sa.jpg
Farallones sunset from Grand View Park
San Francisco, 12/17/03
panoramas/p040105_pan3la.jpg
Downtown SF & Bay Bridge from Dolores Park
San Francisco, 01/05/04
panoramas/p031215_pan2sa.jpg
Golden Gate Bridge
San Francisco, 12/15/03
panoramas/p110109_pan1.jpg
Carquinez Strait
Crockett CA, 01/09/11
panoramas/p090721_pan7a.jpg
Eastern Sierra near Bodie
Bodie NV, 07/21/09
panoramas/p040701_pan2sa.jpg
Los Angeles from Getty Museum
Los Angeles CA, 07/01/04
panoramas/p031201_pan1ld.jpg
Mendocino (looking east & south)
Mendocino CA, 12/01/03
panoramas/p070909_pan04sa.jpg
Mendocino (looking north)
Mendocino CA, 09/09/07
panoramas/p090721_pan5a.jpg
Mono Lake tufa towers
Mono Lake CA, 07/21/09
panoramas/p110824b_pan6.jpg
Monterey Bay from Aquarium
Monterey CA, 08/24/11
panoramas/p070430_pan2sa.jpg
San Jose Giants baseball game
San Jose CA, 04/30/07
panoramas/p090715_pan1a.jpg
Venice Beach from Venice Pier
Venice CA, 07/15/09
panoramas/p130126_pan4.jpg
Panoramas
, //
panoramas/p040214_pan2sa.jpg
Haleakala overlook
Maui HI, 02/14/04
panoramas/p040214_pan5sa.jpg
Haleakala crater
Maui HI, 02/14/04
panoramas/p040219_pan3sa.jpg
Molokini
Maui HI, 02/19/04
panoramas/p080324_pan3.jpg
Hanalei Valley
Kauai HI, 03/24/08
panoramas/p080324_pan2.jpg
Kilauea Lighthouse
Kauai HI, 03/24/08
panoramas/p080325_pan1a.jpg
Waimea Canyon
Kauai HI, 03/25/08
panoramas/p080326_pan2.jpg
Wailua Falls
Kauai HI, 03/26/08
panoramas/p050225_pan9sa.jpg
Christo's Gates at Central Park
New York NY, 02/25/05
panoramas/p070508_pan1sa.jpg
Bleeker Street
New York NY, 05/08/07
panoramas/p080708_pan06a.jpg
Colorado National Monument
Grand Junction CO, 07/08/08
panoramas/p080708_pan10a.jpg
Colorado National Monument
Grand Junction CO, 07/08/08
panoramas/p080709_pan14.jpg
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Montrose CO, 07/09/08
panoramas/p080710_pan1a.jpg
Collegiate Peaks
Buena Vista CO, 07/10/08
panoramas/p050317_pan1sa.jpg
Jaipur from above Suraj Pol
Jaipur IND, 03/17/05
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Great Gate at Taj Mahal
Agra IND, 03/21/05
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Taj Mahal
Agra IND, 03/20/05
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Athens from Acropolis
Athens GR, 07/08/07
panoramas/p070710_pan3sa.jpg
Ancient theater at Epidaurus
Epidaurus GR, 07/10/07
panoramas/p070710_pan6sa.jpg
Nafplio & Argolic Gulf from Palamidi
Nafplio GR, 07/10/07
panoramas/p070717_pan2sa.jpg
Vikos Gorge & Zagori mountains
Mikro Papingo GR, 07/17/07
panoramas/p070720_pan3sa.jpg
Temple of Apollo at Delfi
Delfi GR, 07/20/07
panoramas/p081223_pan2a.jpg
Pyramid of the Moon
Teotihuacan MX, 12/23/08

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