Acts of Volition

While on a recent trip to San Francisco, I took about 400 photos with my digital camera. A few of these were adjacent shots intented to be stitched together with panoramic photo software.

All kinds of software packages are available to stitch photos together into panoramas. My friend Nathan recomended a package called Panorama Factory, and it is impressive. My camera (nothing high-end, it’s a 2MP Canon Digital Elph S330) includes a feature to help line up multiple shots for a panorama, but Panorama Factory is good enough that you don’t even need to use the camera aids (though I still did for the photos below).

These aren’t meant to be particularly good photos. As you can see by my photo gallery, I’m no photographer. However, I do manage to luck out and catch a few nice ones now and then (getting up at sun-rise always helps, as with this set from the North shore of Prince Edward Island). I thought I would post a few photos to show how easy it is to put together panoramas, to encourage others to try it out, and to point out the great software package I’ve been using (Panorama Factory).

Each of the files below are simple partial panoramas, but Panorama Factory is just as good with complete 360° panoramas. As I show below, it can export to flat images (JPEGs) or create QuickTime panoramas (it also exports to a few other proprietary panoramic formats).

A pitstop on the way from San Francisco to Monterey.

• Larger Version (151Kb, 1378px wide, 400px tall)
• Full Size Version (1.1MB, 3852px wide, 1118px tall)
• QuickTime Panorama (1.1MB, QuickTime required)

One of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen (not really captured well here) - taken from the hills outside of San Francisco looking towards the Pacific ocean. As an added bonus, that’s the president of the internet on the right.

• Larger Version (224Kb, 1746px wide, 400px tall)
• Full Size Version (1.6MB, 4862px wide, 1114px tall)
• QuickTime Panorama (1.3MB, QuickTime required)

A view of silicon valley from the hills - I’m not actually sure where we are at this point. That’s Stephen DesRoches on the right who was all about gettin’ the shots.

• Larger Version (222Kb, 2038px wide, 400px tall)
• Full Size Version (1.6MB, 5458px wide, 1071px tall)
• QuickTime Panorama (1.4MB, QuickTime required)

Another shot from the same vantage point as the photo above. This one was with 3-times zoom.

• Larger Version (350Kb, 3407px wide, 400px tall)
• Full Size Version (1.9MB, 9608px wide, 1128px tall)
• QuickTime Panorama (2.4MB, QuickTime required)