GT2 - Nice car, bad stiching.

[ryandood]

I'm having troubles with my photo stitching matching up. Here is an example of four pictures stitched together using ZoomBrowser. You can easily tell where the seams are along the bottom of the car and along the wing and taillight as well. This particular shot was taken free hand but I have taken many shots with the use of a tripod with the same result. This particular shot used plenty of overlap (approximately 40%) but in the past I've used less (approximately 20%) and have gotten the same results.

The tones don't really match along the seems. I'm not sure why because they were all shot in full M.

Can someone please tell me what I'm doing wrong with my stitched images?

[PhotosGuy]

I'd guess it might be because you're shooting with a wide angle at a close distance & the software can't handle it. If you used 3 shots for that, maybe try 6 shots & see what happens.
Just to test the software, try using a longer focal length from a greater distance & see how that works, too.

[ryandood]

I don't really understand why the wide angle and the proximity to the subject would matter but I'll give it a shot anyway, Thanks.

I wanted to get really close to the car to get an effect as if the rear taillight was really popping out towards me. Might as well try a longer focal length, not like I'm burning through film. Thanks for the insight PhotosGuy.

[breadandbutter]

Perhaps you had AWB?

[PhotosGuy]

Might as well try a longer focal length

As I said, that's just to to test the software. If you get the same result, then the wide angle close up isn't the problem.

[ryandood]

Originally Posted by breadandbutter

Perhaps you had AWB?

Auto White Balance? If that's what it means then the answer is yes.

[PhotosGuy]

Auto White Balance? If that's what it means then the answer is yes.

Not a good idea. Use Custom, or a pre-set when you do the tests.

[tedder42]

You need to use some software that can handle exposure matching and correction. In addition, lenses usually falloff near the edges (natural illumination falloff, specifically).

A good bet would be to try some better panorama software, like Panorama Factory. Just try the free trial, see if it helps.

[Jim G]

Were you using a polariser? That may also be the culprit here as that'll do different things to the light as you turn.

[ryandood]

I'll have to look into different Pano software, thanks. No polarisers were used to make this photo. I am going to try the AWB thing to see if that works because that won't require me to buy anything else for the time being. I think I've read about that on here before as well so I'm hoping that will resolve my issue.

[PhotosGuy]

I am going to try the AWB thing to see if that works

AWB is like shooting on Auto. Every time you move the cam a bit it will recalculate & might be the cause of your problem as Kevin is thinking.
And it's terrible indoors. Notice that the very last exposure in the 2nd group of tests was of a gray card, & it's way off.
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...ad.php?t=54281

[neilwood32]

Originally Posted by ryandood

I don't really understand why the wide angle and the proximity to the subject would matter but I'll give it a shot anyway, Thanks.

I wanted to get really close to the car to get an effect as if the rear taillight was really popping out towards me. Might as well try a longer focal length, not like I'm burning through film. Thanks for the insight PhotosGuy.

It would make a difference due to parallax errors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax

The effect is magnified by the close distance.

Also using a wide angle lens will introduce some element of distortion due to the lens (possibly pincushion distortion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pincushion_Distortion )

Hence the need to shoot from further away with a longer focal length (it will minimise the effects of these)

[Scottes]

Wide angle lens at a close distance without a pano head = parallax errors (unless you're superhuman).

AWB without adjustments in PP, and/or without good software = visible seams.

Good software will seriously reduce, and maybe eliminate, these issues. I recommend Hugin (free), PTAssembler (fairly cheap), or PTGui (not cheap). Good hardware - a pano head - also will eliminate many issues. Reading a tutorial on "how to shoot a pano" is also highly recommended.