Bridgers and Gallatin Panoramic - Fall 2010

Bridgers_panoramic_-_september

So here's my latest panoramic attempt - a merge of four portrait shots taken earlier this evening. After attempting to play with HDR on the individual shots, I finally gave up on that and simply merged  separate shots taken at 1/60th of a second. I then tweaked the composite .psd in Lightroom to wind up with this finished product. Is it everything I'd hoped for? Not yet. Not crazy about having the foreground in shadow and the mountain in full sunlight (think I need to be about half an hour earlier to the field to get both in golden hour light) and I'd like to see the Bridgers snowcapped to really make this look like a fall pic. Nevertheless, I think it's getting closer to where I want to be - a shot worthy of a five panel mosaic hanging over the fireplace in my great room. Taken with my Olympus E30 and Zuiko 50-200mm lens.

Filed under  //   Bridgers   Fall   Gallatin   Gallatin River   Panoramic   Photography  
Posted September 29, 2010
 

Montana Sunset from Little Bear Road

I took a photo drive tonight to capture one of the great sunsets we've been having in the Gallatin Valley lately. When you're scouting for a good location, sometimes you just have to take the best spot you can find when the light starts to prime. Tonight, I was driving the Little Bear Road southeast of Gallatin Gateway when I saw this vantage point. I drove another 1/2 mile or so up the road just to ensure nothing better was around the next corner, then returned to this spot. After double-checking the composition, I set up my tripod and waited for the light.

I took several exposures (just short of 100) as the sunset changed over the course of 40 minutes or so. I also walked back up the road to look north toward the Bridgers for the small pano shot you see here.

Pano shot with my 14-54mm; sunset shot with my 50mm prime. Source shots post-processed in Lightroom, then merged in CS4 using the Pano function and layer mask, respectively.

(download)

Filed under  //   Bridgers   Gallatin Valley   Montana   Mountains   Sunsets  
Posted September 23, 2009