Planning Urban Pano . . . Crop/Framing Feedback?

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this.

I'm in the planning stages for a panorama of downtown Calgary. I snapped a bunch of handheld photos with my APS-C Fuji camera (35mm equivalent lens) in portrait orientation to piece together a quick pano to plan the one I need to drag heavy gear out for.

So, here is the quick "planning pano" that I created (don't worry about the colour/processing weirdness in this one):

If you're doing a pano and stitching shots anyway, can you just shoot the composite shots with a longer lens and simply exclude the portion of the foreground that has the offending items in it?

Also, can you mock up anything approximating what you *would* like to see?

Just a thought … Would it be possible to set up a 8' or 10' ladder and shoot over the power lines and at a slight downward angle?

Snydremark wrote in post #18021034
If you're doing a pano and stitching shots anyway, can you just shoot the composite shots with a longer lens and simply exclude the portion of the foreground that has the offending items in it?

Also, can you mock up anything approximating what you *would* like to see?

Here is all of what I originally shot. It is pretty much a 180° view. I've just been playing with cropping this to get an idea of what I might like:

Patrick_E wrote in post #18021057
Just a thought … Would it be possible to set up a 8' or 10' ladder and shoot over the power lines and at a slight downward angle?

I don't know. My vantage point was a few steps down a hill on public green space. At the top of the hill is a large private parking lot with an attendant. I couldn't set a ladder up on the hill. I don't know if the attendant would just give me the stink-eye or would have security haul me away.

Meh, skyline panos tend to have a pretty abstract aspect ratio; it's just the nature of the beast. I would make use of your 70-200, though, and probably just keep that lower portion where the power lines are out of the original frames. If you're looking for historic documentation, you might want to look at keeping a bit of the un-built up horizon out on the right in the final result, too. That ought to get you to a point where you still have some of the greenery in the foreground while showcasing the skyline.

Snydremark wrote in post #18021116
If you're looking for historic documentation, you might want to look at keeping a bit of the un-built up horizon out on the right in the final result, too.

Excellent idea. Calgary and New York City have very close to the same geographic size, but Calgary has 1/10th the population of New York. There has been a real push to curtail urban sprawl and increase urban density over the last few years with Mayor Nenshi. There will probably be huge changes to the skyline over the next few decades.

neacail wrote in post #18021139
... There will probably be huge changes to the skyline over the next few decades.

That was my thought...it seems likely. Good luck!