The photo on my web page was made up of 12 photos that were taken of the Blue Ridge Mountains, outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
The photos were taken with a Canon 20d set to Manual and on a tripod.
The photos were all adjusted in Lightroom and then all 12 photos were opened in Photoshop CS3.
In Photoshop, I used the Photomerge function to create the panorama photo.
Photomerge is found under, File, Automate, Photomerge.
When you have Photomerge open, click on the Auto icon, and then click on Add Open files.
You will see all of the files listed in the center box. When that is done click on the OK button.
Photoshop will do the rest. This will take a few minutes.
When the photo is done, you will see one single photo on the screen. The photo will need to be cropped. After cropping you will have your panorama photo.
Like everyone with a DSLR, I had dust on the sensor. For the longest time I use the Giotto’s Rocket-air Blower. After years of dust, the blower just did not work anymore. So I needed to something else to get the dust off the sensor. After speaking with one of the major camera stores, they suggested the Arctic Butterfly. The Arctic Butterfly is a small brush that has a battery and a motor. The motor spins the brush and creates a small static charge. The theory is that the static charge and the brush are will pull the dust of the sensor. To use the brush, you turn the motor on, the brush spins and build up a charge. Turn the motor off and wipe the sensor with the brush. You repeat this process until the dust is removed. The Arctic Butterfly may work for general dust, but it did not work for the dust that was built up on my sensor.
Well, it was now time to do something I did not want to do. I needed to go to a wet cleaning system. I needed something with swabs and cleaning solutions. So what product do I use? That decision was simple to make. When I spoke to the camera store, they said there is only one chemical cleaning product that they were legally permitted to ship via UPS. That product was the VisibleDust System.
This is actually two products, the cleaning solution and the swabs. I have to admit I was a little nervous putting a swab with wet liquid on my sensor, but it was not that bad.
When the product arrived, I read the directions twice and went about cleaning the sensor.
I put a fully charged battery in the camera and switched the camera to sensor cleaning mode. I followed the directions on the VisibleDust package and went about cleaning the sensor.
Basically, you put a drop or two on the swab and wipe the sensor with the swab. Anyone with a DSL will know that this is where the uncomfortable part came in. Well after two or three passes with different swabs, I am happy to say the spots on the sensor are gone!!!
Some things you should know about the swab system:
1) You need a swab for the size of your sensor
2) The swabs should only be used for one swipe per side. Each swab has two sides.
3) The system is not cheap. The swabs are around $40 and solution is around $35.
Adobe has just released the brand new Lightroom 2.0 for public beta.
You can download the program for use it for FREE!
It sound like you will be able to use the beta version for about a month
or two until the final version is released.
Lightroom is a great program and will do most of the photo adjustments
that photographers need to do. The program can also catalog your
photos, print, create slide shows and much more. It is a nice all
around program for photographers. The new version has offered many
improvements over version 1,
The NAPP provides general information on the new program and
has links to free online video tutorials on how to use the program.
You might want to check it out.