Borbin the 🐱

This is the sunset that occurs closest to the Autumn equinox, which is the point in the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator heading southward, marking the transition from summer to fall. This event results in equal lengths of day and night, creating a unique and balanced twilight experience.

But with so many trees around, the experience is limited to a narrow field of view towards the sunset. Nevertheless, the experience remains wonderful.

This panorama is the September 2024 Equinox contribution for the 'September Wrinkle' event of WorldWidePanorama.

Interactive Panorama Equinox-Sunset

The Making

Automated control points aren’t an option here because the individual images are predominantly black:

There are 6 pictures taken every 60°, including Zenit and Nadir (6+Z+N). To establish the control points, the brightness in PTGui was increased by +5EV.

Without precise control points, a 360°x180° panorama can become warped and distorted. It might seem that creating panoramas with large areas of uniform dark color would be easier, but unfortunately, there are no shortcuts in this process. Accurate control points are essential for maintaining the integrity of the image.

Das Snoqualmie Falls Wasserkraftwerk besteht aus zwei Kraftwerken mit einer kombinierten Kapazität von 53,9 MW. Es entnimmt Wasser aus einem Stausee oberhalb der Wasserfälle, um saubere Wasserkraft für etwa 40.000 Haushalte in der Nähe von Seattle zu erzeugen. Zusätzlich hat das Kraftwerk historische Bedeutung und bietet öffentliche Parks und Wanderwege entlang des Snoqualmie River.

Dieses Panorama ist der Beitrag für den 'Future'-Event von WorldWidePanorama.

The Snoqualmie Falls Hydroelectric Plant comprises two powerhouses with a combined capacity of 53.9 MW. It draws water from a reservoir above the falls to produce clean hydropower for approximately 40,000 homes near Seattle. Additionally, the plant holds historical significance and provides public parks and trails along the Snoqualmie River.

This panorama is the contribution for the 'Future' event of WorldWidePanorama.

Interactive Panorama Snoqualmie-Falls

Hinter den Kulissen

Früh morgens waren schon viele Leute unterwegs. Damit mir niemand die Sicht versperrt hat, habe ich bei den einzelnen Bildern immmer auf den richtigen Moment gewartet.

Es war sehr sonnig an diesem Tag, und natürlich sind die Schatten bei hellem Sonnenlicht ausgeprägter. Um den Schatten der Kamera am Geländer zu entfernen, habe ich zusätzliche Bilder von dem Geländer und der Plattform aus größerer Entfernung gemacht.

Diese Bilder wurden dem Projekt als zusätzliche Bilder hinzugefügt, für die Brennweite optimiert und entsprechend maskiert, um die Schatten so gut wie möglich zu ersetzen.

Behind the scenes

While it was early in the morning, there were already a lot of people around. When taking the individual pictures, I waited for time gaps in order to have as few people blocking the view as possible from the railing.

It was very sunny that day, and of course shadows are more pronounced in bright sunlight. To remove the cast from the nodal adapter and the camera on the railing, I took additional pictures of the railing and platform handheld from a larger distance.

Those pictures were added as additional images to the project, optimized for focal length, and masked accordingly to replace the shadows as best as possible.

1/320s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

1/8s f/5,6 ISO 125 f=7,5mm

1/320s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° f=7,5mm

A new construction connecting Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium.
Expected to be open in spring 2025.

1x5 Panorama with equirectangular projection

1/500s f/8,0 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/3,5-6,3 VR f=16mm/24mm

2x5 Panorama, 7 pictures, with equirectangular projection

1/500s f/8,0 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/3,5-6,3 VR f=16mm/24mm

This panorama is also used in PTGui fill hole option.

Creating a panorama can often lead to uncovered areas. For example a panorama created from these pictures (Seattle Waterfront Park Project):

The stitched panorama has uncovered areas. It is not a perfect rectangular area:

Using the fill hole option in the PTGui editor blends in those areas:

This is the cropped panorama without the fill hole option:

And with the option to fill holes, more of the original areas of the image are preserved:

2024 Solstice, the sun at its highest elevation over Lake Washington.

This panorama is the June 2024 solstice contribution for the 'June Wrinkle' event of WorldWidePanorama.

Interactive Panorama Carillon Point Dock 1

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° 7,5mm

Interactive Panorama Carillon Point Dock 3

Have you found the duck?

1/1000s f/5,6 ISO 100/21° 7,5mm

From Lakeview Drive

1/1000s f/4,5 ISO 100/21° 16-50mm f/3,5-6,3 VR f=16mm/24mm

1/400s f/10,0 ISO 125 16-50mm f/3,5-6,3 VR f=16mm/24mm

The Laowa 4mm f/2.8 is a manual focus Circular Fisheye lens for APS-C cameras.

Best setting for 360°x180° Panoramas is at the beginning of the infinity mark and f/5.6. This puts everything from near to infinity in focus:

The 4mm Circular Fisheye lens allows you to capture stunning and unique shots!

And a 360x180° panorama with just two pictures:

1/1000s f/5.6 ISO100/21°

Original pictures used for this panorama: DSC_4706-4707.zip

Interactive Panorama Laowa 4mm

On a sunny day, position yourself so that your shadow falls within the area of overlap (your shadow is perpendicular to the direction you are looking):

The overlap with the lens's 210° field of view at the seam is large enough to cover the shadow. Even for a nodal point adapter with a small footprint.
This is not possible with a 180° Fisheye.

With the lens at a height of 1.6m, the 30° overlap is 1.6m*2*tan(15°)=0.85m (2ft 9").

Shadow covered:

As with all fisheye lenses, the image quality decreases at the edges, but not really an issue if it is only used for web/social media. The ordinary Tiktok brain doesn't recognize this deficiency anyway.
The two images were taken without a tripod, so the stitch doesn't result in everything perfectly vertical and also has some minor misalignments. And with only two images, there is not much to vary. A nodal point adapter is recommended.

As with the panorama, there are internal reflections at the edges with bright sun light:

The crop of the center and the edge, both enlarged by 2 times: