xRez Studio to Shoot Record Setting Image of Yosemite Valley

High-Resolution Multi-Gigapixel Panoramic Photograph Will Be One of World’s Largest

Los Angeles— xRez Studio will soon capture the magnificence of Yosemite valley in unprecedented detail, orchestrating 20 photographic teams, each shooting over 10,000 images simultaneously throughout the park to assemble into one massive image.

The Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project began in summer 2007 as a discussion between xRez Studio and Greg Stock, staff Geologist of Yosemite National Park, about constructing a comprehensive, large scale gigapixel image of the valley walls in high detail. The image would become a tool for Stock’s research of rockfall behavior in the park, an ongoing hazard with the large percentage of vertical faces present in the valley.

Example of past work:

By using gigapixel imagery as an aid in re-photography, the project hopes to create a extremely detailed snapshot in time of present-day geologic conditions, in order to assist future analysis of rockfall activity. Further, the image will create a valuable asset for the search and rescue operations within the park, allowing detailed inspection of a given area ahead of the rescue operation. Artistically, by capturing the full extent of the valley’s magnificent walls in unprecedented and extreme detail, a unique and historic image will be created that should stand for decades as an artifact of lasting cultural heritage for the both the park and it’s many visitors and enthusiasts.

Utilizing cutting-edge emerging technologies in high resolution photography and 3d rendering techniques appropriated from the visual effects field, the final image will be one continuous, unwrapped panorama of all valley wall faces, assembled from 20 separate photographers positioned throughout the valley rim, all exposing 500 overlapping images in unison in order to achieve a congruency of light. Later in post-production, the 20 image sets will be stitched and draped onto a 1M digital 3d terrain model, recreating all shooting positions in an extremely high resolution 3d database.

From this model a synthetic camera will create an image as if flying down the center of the valley, resolving all of the gigapixel images shot into one of the largest terrestrial-based images yet created. The final image will be a long, continuous strip of all of Yosemite’s walls, a single massive image made from the close to 10,000 individual frames shot. Interactive displays, online exploration, large exhibition prints, visitor center installations, and fine art posters will all be final tangible results of the historic project. A 150’ long continuous print will be displayed at this year’s Siggraph computer graphics conference in Los Angeles in August 2008.

The Yosemite Extreme Panoramic Imaging Project is dependent on gracious support from many sponsors, including primary sponsor Microsoft Live Labs and Microsoft Research, The Yosemite Fund, International VR Photography Association, Canon USA, Autodesk, Bogen Imaging, Lowepro, WavGen, Peace River Studios, and Gigapan equipment loaned from Carnegie-Mellon, NASA, and Google.

Shooting is planned for late May of 2008, with image completion by August 2008.

For more information: www.xrez.com/yose.html Contact: Lanny Sher, PRA, 323-653-0380; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

High Dynamic Range (HDR) software

HDR software takes a number of different files of the same image (but with different exposure ranges) and combine them all into one amazing photo. It does this by using the best exposures for highlights and lowlights to ensure proper exposure across the entire image. It uses the best parts of the very divergent lighting to create a composite photo so that it accentuates exactly the colors and tones you desire.  It gives you the opportunity to put photos together that you would never be able to capture in just one shutter click.  This ability to merge photos is taking the photography world by storm and getting the right HDR software is imperative. 

Before you buy the software make sure you understand the concept.  To make HDR photos you have to, in essence, take the same picture multiple times in the exact same spot and angle (preferably with the same aperture).  You pretty much have to use a tripod so you are assured that the image does not move out at all between exposures.  You would then take the pictures at multiple shutter speeds - bracketing for multiple exposures at different ends of the lighting spectrum.  After you have taken these photos (an average of four to seven about 1-fstop (1 ev) apart) you then have to use the software to combine them into one image. Different software packages are made for different computers. So if you have a Windows operating system or a Mac operating system you might be looking at different software packages.

First let’s talk about those software packages that are free.  There are quite a few. You can get a relatively good HDR photo with these free software packages.   Let’s start with the free package for those that have a Windows operating system.

FDRTools Basic, HDR Shop, Picturenaut and Qtpfsgui are all free HDR software packages that are available.  For most that have used and compared these packages Qtpfsgui seems to come out on top.   It offers two ways of manually moving around the image, a guide that will both recommend what profile to use as well as the ability to not accept that recommendation and use your own as well as a plethora of tone mapping settings that you can then use to finish off your image. 

Picturenaut doesn’t support manual movement of images and it will do it for you automatically.  This sometimes can limit the ability to get the exact alignment you will finish with.  You can work with your light and dark pixels by assigning a weight to them instead of having to eliminate those that are the outliers.   IT is best for those who do not intend to do a lot of tone mapping.  If this sounds like you, you might consider this software.

Then there is FDRTools Basic where one of the top features that is well liked is being able to take the RAW image and manually move and change the image alignment.  Remember, not all of the software’s out there allow you to do this.  You can work with your image, the tone mapping functions and the many different RAW inputs that this software can accept so that you can develop the best HDR image possible. 

HDRshop is also free but do not offer the variety of choices that the others do so might be a bit limiting.  You can get a decent starter idea with them but you will quickly determine that you want more options once you get good and working the software.

For the Mac operating system there are a few that are also free for you to down load.  These include FDRTools Basic (which has all the same attributes as reviewed above except for the Mac system), pfstools and Qtpfsgui.  As you can see, a few of the programs we have already discussed are available in both operating systems.

There are, of course, many types of software for HDR that you can purchase.  One of these programs which has gotten positive results and reviews is Photomatix.  This software which is available in Mac and Win format has all the bells and whistles that you would want when searching for HDR software.   In addition they offer a free trial so you can see what the options are and how to use them prior to purchasing it.  Again, the software allows you take many images of the same thing and combine them as you blend the images together.   It has both automated and manual options so you can control and not control the combined image result. Photomatix Pro has more positive five start ratings than any other HDR software.

There are other software packages that you can purchase as well.  These include for Mac:  FDRTools Advanced (the next version of software from the Basic package with more options and choices), Photoshop and PTGui Pro.  Programs for Windows would include Artizen, Easy HDR,  FDRTools Advanced,  Unified Color HDR Photo Studio (considered an advanced program, works in 32 bit), Photogenics HDR (specializes in #D imagery) and  Photoshop.

These are the most widely used, purchased and reviewed software packages currently available for HDR.  If you are interested in any you can look up all their specs on line in greater detail to determine which one of all these options would be best for you and what you are attempting to do with your shots.  HDR imagery is still in its infancy -- so stay tuned.  The amount of changes to software even in the last year has been staggering. 

Most people are using Photomatix and Photoshop, from our experience.

Like anything new in the technology world there will be something new every time you look around.  The pricing for these will probably come down as the process becomes more and more every day.  When purchasing your software keep in mind that the advancements in this technology will probably be very rapid and what you get today might very well be obsolete in a year or so.  With this in mind you should opt for the High Dynamic Range software that suits you best.

Photo copyright Craig Meurer 2009.

Part 1: High Dynamic Range Photography (HDR). 

In the world of photography, we all are constantly looking for new ways  to get the best possible picture in the best possible light. One of the newest types of photographic technology is HDR technology.  HDR stands for High Dynamic Range photography.  It is not the simplest technique to understand --  but if you learn the concepts, have the right software and a camera to take the multiple exposures -- you will be very pleasantly surprised by what a full dynamic color range does for your photographs.

So what exactly is HDR photography?  It is a computer manipulation of multiple photos taken of the same scene at different exposure levels that are then combined with the use of software (and a lot of creativity) to produce the desired end-result HDR photograph.   In other words, you take multiple pictures of the same scene, use your camera’s different exposure (under and over expose it in 3-9 shots depending on the scene) and then use the computer software to combine this into what you want. This way detail and color are preserved in the low light areas, and highlight areas are not blown away either. The resulting range of color and tonality are amazing to see.

Photo copyright Craig Meurer 2009

The good news with high dynamic range imaging is that almost any camera can be used.  The camera must allow for the over and under exposure settings on the camera -- but as long as it does you can do this --  then you can take these different images and  translate them into HDR. 

It’s easy to understand why photographers would like this technique.  It allows for exceptional creativity and gives the photographer much more leverage and freedom to truly capture the essence of the image.  HDR captures light and color not normally caught with just one photo shot. 

By merging multiple exposures you can use color and tone mapping abilities to capture the details that you desire.  Tone mapping is the process of pulling out those pieces of the photograph that you want pulled out and working on them.  For instance you can keep shadows, brighten or darken colors, have light blooms around windows and sunsets and all types of contrasts that are done using this technology and the other levers that are available to you.

Some tips: Be sure to use a tripod so the scene is exactly the same in each exposure. Also use aperture priority or the same F-stop in each shot.  It sounds simple but you want to take the camera exposures separated by either one or two stops.  You will need to make sure you take the time to take these photos from one end of the light spectrum to the other for this to work properly.  Again, this requires multiple shots of the same image and can cause a bit of difficulty depending on your camera. You may need a remote shutter release to ensure stability of the image. 

The whole process of HDR photography is then dependent on the management of the software you get to merge the photos.  You can take all the photos in the world but if your software does not have the HDR capabilities it won’t matter how well you did that part of the process.  There are many software packages out there today with more on the way each and every day. Photoshop and Photomatix are two of the more popular.

HDR photography is a young growing field.  This is a new technology that will find its way into the mainstream.  High dynamic range photography is right for some photos and not right for others.  There are some images that are best left in its original state with no manipulation (such as action or motion photos that cannot be captured with multiple identical scenes. Modeling is hard but can be done with patience).

 You as the photographer will have to decide what that “vision” is for the photo.  In the meantime if you are interested in HDR photography you should begin to look for the software that is currently available for this purpose. And, see our extended series on HDR.  

Part 2: High Dynamic Range Software (HDR software)