Pics from This weekend Mar 2010 - Badger Flat

[shuly]

It's been a while since I have posted anything. However, this weekend I went just the dogs and I to the Inyo Mountains. I'll post some more when I have some time. It was a great trip! I didn't see another soul after leaving the pavement! Badger Flat is at 8700 foot or so...so it was colder than all #@$*! Though with the truckbedz and the dogs in the truck it was rather comfortable!

<img src="http://t4r.shulyphotography.com/badgerflat-march2010/badgerflat01.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

<img src="http://t4r.shulyphotography.com/badgerflat-march2010/badgerflat02.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

The run up Mazorka would be a great run for those with 2WD T4Rs. Right now you would regret it, but in about a month it should be no issue for the 2WDs.

 

[810moto]

Sounds like a good road trip to me and my 2WD. Where is it at?

 

[shuly]

Another Pic

I hiked up a hill a bit. The views of the Owens Valley and the Sierras were great from the top. This is a view looking back towards my campsite. If you look close you can see my T4R. The dogs took a break under the tree so I figured it was a great time to photograph the flat.

<img src="http://t4r.shulyphotography.com/badgerflat-march2010/badgerflat03.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

 

[shuly]

Sounds like a good road trip to me and my 2WD. Where is it at?

This is off the road to Mazourka Canyon. It is mentioned in many 4wd books. If you take the 395 North from LA and just as you approach Independence you turn right and head East into the Mtns on Mazourka Canyon Road. The road passes through the old site of Kearsarge (old Narrow Gauge Station) and then heads North into the Mtns. Lots of great stuff to see along this path. There are old mines ... plenty of open holes though be careful!

If you wanted to go that way now you could get up to Santa Rita Flat w/o 4wd! There are some great views and nice places to camp up there. If you want to do that you stay on the Mazourka Rd 13S05 and turn left (it is signed) at 13S05A.

You can get to Mazourka Peak if you want to but I'll warn you if you have street tires...take it easy there are sharp rocks up there. From Badger Flat you can get to Papoose Flat or so many other places. Papoose from Badger might be interesting in 2WD. You can make it if you are a skilled driver but it won't be a simple as 4WD. You can get into Papoose Flat from the other side of the mtn w/o the help of 4WD.

 

[shuly]

Another one...The dogs were having fun in the snow

The dogs kept playing in the snow every chance they could. It was a great view climbing this mtn...you can even see the now dry owens lake and the alabama hills.

<img src="http://t4r.shulyphotography.com/badgerflat-march2010/badgerflat04.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

 

[shuly]

360 View From Top

Here is the 360 view from the Top of the Mtn. Mazourka Peak is left of center with the antennas on top. You can drive to Mazourka Peak with your T4R.

<img src="http://t4r.shulyphotography.com/badgerflat-march2010/badgerflat05.jpg" border="0" alt="" /> <br />

 

[Uneek]

Great pictures! What kind of camera?

 

[shuly]

Great pictures! What kind of camera?

I shoot with Nikon equipment. That was taken with a D80. The 360 pano was put together with 16 separate images.

 

[Uneek]

I shoot with Nikon equipment. That was taken with a D80. The 360 pano was put together with 16 separate images.

Did you stitch it manually, Photoshop's photo merge or a plug-in?

The panoramic is awesome. I've taken one in the past that worked out fairly well with PS's photo merge. I'll have to get out there and retry again with some new tips (most were about settings and keeping them on manaul, rather than auto) I just read about.

 

[shuly]

Did you stitch it manually, Photoshop's photo merge or a plug-in?

The panoramic is awesome. I've taken one in the past that worked out fairly well with PS's photo merge. I'll have to get out there and retry again with some new tips (most were about settings and keeping them on manual, rather than auto) I just read about.

Thank you for the kind words. That particular image was troublesome. I don't do very many 360 images but this one for several reasons was difficult. I use photomerge in Adobe Photoshop. This was not automatic or manual. It was a mix. PS kept picking images at the end (behind me) and making those the center. Because it is a 360 there is nothing technically wrong with that...but it was annoying. I am still not sure why PS was doing that. The image PS wanted in the middle were the ones shot first and last....Anyway.

What I like to do is shoot with a tripod and align things best as I can. For this shot I didn't carry the beast up the mtn. And the dogs were milling around so that also took some editing. Half of a dog in one picture doesn't mix with no dog in another. One reason only one of the dogs is in the shot. Anyway...I stitched half of them together using cylindrical. I prefer that mode for most of my images. Then I stitched the remaining images together using cylindrical again. Then I took the two PS files and did a manual stitch to bring them together the way I wanted....looking West!

If you are going to do a bunch of panos...some advice. Use a tripod whenever you can. If you are really serious buy a pano head that will correct for the parallax. I still don't have one...they are rather expensive for a nice one. It's on my list of things to eventually get. Along with so many other expensive toys. Make sure that you do EVERYTHING in manual. Take your meter reading and focus the shot. Then switch the AF to Manual and don't touch anything. Overlap by 10-30% of the images. Another hint...if you plan on stitching more than a few together (something very long) Take the shots in the vertical. It gives you more room to crop the top and bottom. It requires more photos for the image but will give you more flexibility.

My largest stitched image was made from 34 or so stills. It took me about 15 minutes to get all the shots, but it worked out very well. It will take you more time to capture something like that where you over lap say 3 rows (not just columns) to get as much detail as possible. I'm not sure if this is clear or not...but if you want a higher resolution image make sure you are using a tripod and cable release/or timer....set your zoom at its maximum range (narrowest field of view). Then take your images. You will end up with a lot more of them to stitch but a tremendous amount of detail in the image. Of course this takes very precise shooting, patience and plenty of computing power...but the results are great when it works!

Panos are easy enough to practice at home if you just want to experiment and don't really care about the image itself. A few last thoughts...(it doesn't always apply but 99.99% of the time it will) ... shoot with your smallest aperture F16-32..etc. This will give you the maximum depth of field for your shots. This will require slower shutter speeds (or higher ASA values...haha I just realized I'm old saying ASA whoops...I meant ISO values)...so a tripod is essential. Level the shot when you reframe each image. Don't just rotate the tripod. Also remember to turn off the autofocus. The slightest difference in focus can shift the focal length of the lens. This is not noticeable in one shot, but if you are stitching it can and probably will make you crazy!

Hope that helps....best of luck!
Shuly

 

[Uneek]

Thank you for the tips shuly!