Casas Reales, a photo from Distrito Nacional, East

Photographer's Note

Click here or on the image to see the large version.

This imposing building that now houses the Museo de las Casas Reales (Museum of the Royal Houses) was built between 1503 and 1520 and served as the siege of the government of the colony. It is located some 200 meters/yards North of the Cathedral.

I am not sure if I would post it if its preparation hadn't been so hard. I had to show you the result of all that work that is also my first panorama with buildings.

I made more than 20 shots, moving twice along an imaginary line parallel to the building. There were many things that clearly would render things much more complicated than the common stitch: I hadn't a tripod with me (I was too lazy to carry it), I couldn't shoot too far away from the fa鏰de because there was a wall behind me, so I had to use a upwards POV that made the verticals converge much, the sun kept appearing and disappearing and I couldn't shoot perpendicularly the right end because the street was even narrower on that side.

I used 9 shots to make the stitch. In all of them I corrected the best I could the distortions resulting from the lenses (barrel) and the low POV (perspective). In some of them, notably the last two of the right, the corrections were particularly tricky because besides the "vertical" distortion, there was also an "horizontal" one. Correcting the perspective isn't an easy task in a "stand alone" photo (at least for me), but the fact that one can leave the "vertical" lines on the sides a little convergent without compromising the natural appearance makes things easier. In a stitch, such minor flaws are disastrous, resulting in what you see: some doors and windows appear as rectangles inclined to one side, others as straight trapezoids, and so on. The exposure and colour balance was also a nightmare. Finally, I had to make several tries to find a reasonable compromise between the compression level and the total number of pixels that fitted the TE limits.

Compared to this one, the landscape panoramas I did so far were a piece of cake.

Location (latitude, longitude): 18.4758,-69.883

zeca, Clementi, bostankorkulugu, Ulishna, riclopes, japiey, feather, Charo, Silvio1953, lucasgalodoido, Bluejeans, Docarmo, siolaw, jhm, xuaxo, leonorkuhn, Wanda1, cobbydale, robertosalguero, ChrisJ, adores, Emile, andante, Didi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

zeca (19762) 2007-09-13 20:21

Muito bom trabalho, Jos�! Arquitetura, cores, texturas, tudo muito interessante, assim como a sua nota. Parab閚s!
Abra鏾,
Zeca

sothy81 (9646) 2007-09-13 20:37

THis is a very nice architecture. I love how details it is. Very nice exposure and light. GOod colors too. Well done. Sothy

UnTrained (0) 2007-09-13 22:37

Ol� Jos�,
a first view doesn't show those minor flaws, a more accurate second does (especially after reading your note - and you had no chance to not detect it as you had several accurate views I assume). Despite this the technical quality is very high, we have a large bag of details to watch. Trying to follow your description of the circumstances about the shooting your work and PP is to be valued a lot (and I do so).
I would like to have some depth (I can't tell you how) as with one step back I must state for me that it is a large, mainly flat fassade. Therefore I am a bit in two minds about this. My idea at the moment is to say that I really like the small version and a really great one (like a large wallpaper for a wall) would also fit. The large version is in this case necessary to show that the quality is more than sufficient for that.
I will never expect that you won't give me something to think of :-)
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

Graal (103040) 2007-09-14 0:33

Hi Jose,
interesting informations about this unusual of the building. Fine panoramic view, well quality in large version also.
Gr., Aleksander

Ulishna (2268) 2007-09-14 1:11

Ciao Jose,
thanks for interesting note and very good photo of this building.
Julia

riclopes (35577) 2007-09-14 1:47

Bom dia Jos�, isto � pura arquitectura - Nem o computador com os mestres dos 3D fariam um trabalho t鉶 bom. � um al鏰do espectacular e at� fico cansado de ler o trabalho que te deu, mas acho que valeu bem a pena. Est� um pouco apertado em baixo e tamb閙 gostava de ver mais daquele c閡 bonito, mas n鉶 se pode ter tudo. Gosto bastante.
Um abra鏾,
ricardo

mikeo (12129) 2007-09-14 1:50

Hi Jose,
Great photo! I know its not easy to take such one to stich especially w/o tripod...I know its not comfortable to carry it but its worth really - I know it already from my experience when was many times so angry I was not able to take a good photo;) Now I always take any, even the simpliest one.

Greetings
A.

Clementi (52514) 2007-09-14 5:57

Ciao Jose ,
bellissimo e imponente edificio con una bella architettura , molto interessante il tuo POV ,
foto ricca di dettagli e con una buona nitidezza.
Giorgio

japiey (10163) 2007-09-14 6:01

Hi Jose.

An interesting image, well done and made perfect in details.
Good lights and tones.
9 shots in this stitch !! a good work, dear friend.
Salutes.

jean paul

feather (51130) 2007-09-14 6:37

Hats off to you Jose!! 9 images stitched manually in changing light conditions! You are a master PPer. Any flaws are minor and not detectable unless you are looking for them. Definitely landscape stitches are easier than architecture as you can hide any flaws more easily. Just a thought but maybe the colour matching would have been easier without the polariser. The detail in the LP is excellent. How many hours work was this? A big well done.
Kath
Were the ones you took moving along easier to stitch than standing in one place?

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2007-09-14 12:45

Ol� Jos�!
Ficou boa essa panor鈓ica, sei como � dificil encaixar as fotos perfeitamente, principalmente por causa da distor玢o, por閙 o PhotoShop ajuda muito nosso trabalho nesse tipo de imagem!
Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

[2]

Bluejeans (64251) 2007-09-14 15:00

Oi amigo
5 estrelas esta tua foto , muito interessante este edificio de tamanho gigante ,gostei das paredes da para ver as fazes de constru玢o , a colagem ficou muito boa , as cores ficaram muito bonitas , bom trabalho !!!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo
Bom fim de semana

Docarmo (9767) 2007-09-14 20:49

Ol� Jos�,
Muito trabalho! O resultado ficou impressionante! Perfeito!
Hats off, como disse a Kath.
Abra鏾,
Maria do Carmo

siolaw (38294) 2007-09-14 21:38

Hi Jose,
A good tight framing around the building in a panoramic format fitting it nicely.. superb textures on the wall, light and colors are good quality too
Cheers
Laurent

Stepan (27210) 2007-09-14 23:48

It's straight, it's minimalist but it's OK. The thin pano frame was the best choice to focus and enjoy on the building.
And I like the thin blue "frame" too.
St閜hane

guillaumejm (0) 2007-09-15 0:18

Bonjour jos�,
Le resultat est remarquable est la version large est extra. C'est une excellenete id閑 que ce cadrage tr鑣 s閞r� extr阭ement focalis� sur la maison.
La lumi鑢e est tr鑣 belle sur la pierre.
Amicalement
JMarc

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2007-09-15 0:19

i like the tight framing here jose... and the bit of that blue sky on top... it is just a pic of a building but it is not boring at all... may be i should try different things like this one, really cool... congrats my friend...

cheers

korkut

jhm (211738) 2007-09-15 1:32

Hello Jose,

My compliments for your stitching work, nine picture together bring is a very great project, but you did very well.
This is a very nice architecture, and certainly your LV, very well done.
Thanks for sharing.
Yes the summers are in Belgium not as in Portugal!

Have a nice weekend,
John

Charo (51290) 2007-09-15 1:34

Hola Jose,
Magn韋ico edificio con su bonito artesonado, que en la versi髇 ampliada se ve con muchos detalles.
Excelente toma.
Cordialmente
Charo

Silvio1953 (222847) 2007-09-15 2:43

Hi Jose, wonderful facade with splendid light and colors, lovely details in great format, very well done, ciao Silvio

vincz (19113) 2007-09-15 7:44

Wow... 9 shots, you are applying for the book of records! Despite the minor flaws (your note forced me to discover them :)) I think the rult is very impressive. Lots of great details all around, I like it.

xuaxo (6854) 2007-09-15 10:16

Ol� Jos�
Depois dessas trabalheiras pode-se apreciar um trabalho bem razo醰el. Se n鉶 tivesse lido a nota e supusesse que era uma 鷑ica foto consideraria os diversos tons como pr髉rios da pedra. O "pior" ser� uma leve inclina玢o na segunda porta a contar da esquerda, mas n鉶 sei se ser� ilus鉶髉tica. Bom, isto � estando a procurar defeitos, depois de ler a nota.
Gostaria de ver mais c閡 (que at� parece que estava bonito), mas tendo em conta as circunst鈔cias que descreves � compreens韛el.
Se tivesse que dar pontos, de 0 a 10:
- pelo aspecto geral: 8 (porque n鉶 tem mais c閡 nem mais ch鉶);
- pelo trabalho e resultado do p髎-processamento: 9,5.
Um abra鏾. F.

leonorkuhn (16237) 2007-09-15 16:47

Ol� Jos�,

Uma composi玢o de excelente qualidade. Uma casa da 閜oca dos descobrimentos, assim bem conservada, d� gosto de visitar. Abrindo a Large Version, � como se eu estivesse diante da casa, tal a nitidez. Excelente cores e luminosidade. Parab閚s pelo belo trabalho.

Um bom domingo!
Leonor

Gerrit (62042) 2007-09-15 19:21

Hi Jos�,
excellent building and very good idea to make it a panoramic view.
Regards, Gerrit

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-09-15 21:25

Hi Jose,
All your effort and technique paid off to make this panoramic. The long building is well captured on this format. Great detail and sharpness and I like that you left just a strip of blue sky and white clouds at the top.
Regards
Wanda

cobbydale (1958) 2007-09-16 1:47

Great sharpness Jose, and a fantastic stitching job. Lovely details in the stonework.
cheers
Leon.

robertosalguero (292) 2007-09-16 2:06

You did a very good job with this image because I can't see where you stitched the images together. Very good exposure and colours. The long version is excellent and show very fine details of the building. Nice work Jose.

Roberto

ChrisJ (172408) 2007-09-16 8:04

Ol� Jos�

I like the repetition of the various windows in this superb wide angled panorama of the old stone building. Good sharpness & framing. Tfs!

Tort (2266) 2007-09-17 5:23

Ol� Jos�
Excelente qualidade de imagem, com detalhes muito n韙idos e cores muito vivas. 觮ima foto! Bom trabalho
Abra鏾s
Juan Tort

fanch (0) 2007-09-17 6:54

Jose ,

Une Image remarquable , de mon point de vue ... L'aspect g閛m閠rique
et massif du batiment donne beaucoup de force � cet assemblage ... particuli鑢ement bien r閡ssi !

Amicalement ,

adores (46979) 2007-09-17 17:17

Ol� Jos�!
Um excelente trabalho!(isto n鉶 trabalho demais para um alentejano?. Mas acho o resultado bastante bom, gosto especialmente da large version onde d� para ver os detalhes do edif韈io (e tamb閙 a trabalheira que isto te deve ter dado).

Emile (20352) 2007-09-17 22:12

Hola Jose.
Yo se lo dificil que fue tomar estas fotos con el poco espacio en tu espalda y se como cambia la luz de momento por nubes que pasan, por eso te felicito tu has hecho un gran esfuerzo uniendo 9 fotos para hacer tu primera panoramica, creo que aunque se ven en algunos lugares las uniones que hiciste para crear esta composicion tu gran esfuerzo valio la pena, ya veras que con la practica estos problemitas se van mejorando.
Un fuerte abrazo

aloste (497) 2007-09-20 15:29

Hola
Muy buena composici髇, el edificio es precioso y la nitidez de la imagen bastante buena
Thanks for sharing it
Abra莖
Antonio

alentejo (1954) 2007-09-22 3:26

Bela foto de arquitectura !
Gostei dos pormenores e do formato que escolheste. Acho que o resultado final � de grande qualidade.
Um abra鏾.

Didi (61589) 2008-02-03 0:48

Bonsoir Jos�.
Je vais donc remonter plus loin dans ta collection et j'ai 閠� particuli鑢ement attir� par ce panoramique original.
La nettet� est tr鑣 appr閏iable et la longue architecture est tr鑣 bien pr閟ent閑.
Cependant dans une image panoramique il faudrait un avant-plan (foreground) pour donner plus de profondeur � la composition et cesi est tr鑣 important.
Amiti閟.