A beautiful sunny day ahead and not a soul on the beach. Lake Superior is truly an inland ocean with it’s own beauty and magnificence that makes all the world’s oceans envious.

Little Girl’s Point Beach

Ironwood, MI
Notes: One of my earliest semi-successful 360 images. Focus was set to infinity which caused problems stitching pictures of the beach pebbles. The fine detail and variation of the beach made it difficult to stitch the nadir cap image. The water and the sky presented their own challenges due to lack of unique control points to stitch the images against. My shadow turned out to be a surprising artifact that I hadn’t planned on remaining in the final blend. Instead of trying to mask it I ended up emphasizing it.

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Baylor Massacre Memorial Park

River Vale, NJ
Notes: This was compiled using the same technique used in the Pine Meadow Lake pano. Care was taken to clear away the leaves directly under the camera to prevent any leaves from being accidentally scattered while the images were being taken. Standing in the shadow of the tree hide what little shadow would have been cast by me and helped create the interesting flare while facing the sun.

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Some places get better as time passes. Perhaps we choose to remember what brings joy to the heart and a smile to the face. Other places are so wonderful that they immediately become favorite spots without the passage of time. The image below is one of the few places that continually appear in my dreams as a wonderful place on earth.

Pine Meadow Lake

Harriman Park New York
Notes: Over 50 images stitched together. Each image shot on manual with autofocus.

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HKU: Photography Tips

• Practice at a parade – Everyone will be taking pictures of everyone else. Professional and amateur photographers will be running (and standing) around with cameras taking pictures of the parade, the participants, and the crowds. Join in the fun and take a couple close up pictures that capture the excitement and the moment in the faces of the people who were there.
• Wear a sleeveless vest to conceal your camera – If walking around with a SLR camera makes you self conscious and you feel too obvious wear a un-zippered sleeveless vest. The camera can rest between the zipper and under the folds when moving around the crowd.
• Look for the shots – Uniformity and variation are captivating subjects to photograph. People will be dressed and walking in ordered formations. Wait for the shots and anticipate the crowd.
• Use various camera settings and photography styles – Meter and adjust your camera for the environment but be sure to take some pictures in auto, aperture/shutter priority, and full manual. Each mode will allow you to render the images differently. Full auto isn’t always the best choice.

The last was a personally difficult lesson. As a photography exercise most of my pictures were shot in aperture priority mode. My goal was to soften the background and enhance the focal point. Great idea, poor implementation. My recollection of what large and small f-stop settings did was completely backwards. As a result many of my pictures were poorly exposed.