3 days at Zion National Park in Utah with a couple of tilt shift

Under the heading of "are you really sure you want to do that"

I have 3 days before a big family reunion in the west to devote to hardcore photo. I am thinking of spending it in/around Zion (the narrows specifically) and perhaps bryce or some other nifty geologic formation S.E. Utah, etc.

I have been playing with a nodal slider and fiddling w/ panoramas & stitching, etc.

I am thinking of renting the set of T/S to work with - a week prior to get an understanding of how they work and use them in the panorama effort at several locations.

My goal is to produce a very large & detailed pano for the apartment in which I am forced to live from M-F in NYC.

From my read on the lens review the 90 is top notch in the resolution, the new 24 is darn good, the 45 no shame either. I am thinking w/ overlap the 90 will require 9 x the number of exposures.

Any helpful hints, thoughts suggestions, observations that I have really lost it this time?

Mike

I am not sure I see the advantage of TS lens when it comes to stitched panoramas. I understand that for landscapes the tilt function is helpful to keep more of the image in the focal plane, just not sure you need that function when stitching multiple images. Never the less, the lenses are nice and I think 24mm is especially well known to be very sharp corner to corner. I guess you don't have to use the TS function if you don't need it. I think I would choose the 24mm because you could use it for single image landscapes as well.

My brother has the giga-pan device and he frequently uses his 70-200mm for stitched panoramas. It is really cool to zoom in on those images to see the small details pop out from a huge image.

I can't comment on the T/S, but Zion was phenomonal. I went last fall.

I have a set posted from the trip
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8...5842c97d_z.jpg
IMG_2633.jpg by EricPvpi2, on Flickr

I found this page to be a good guide for the trails: http://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/
Rented gear for hiking Narrows from: http://www.zionadventures.com/zion-narrows/
Stayed here, which is right next to the entrance: http://www.cablemountainlodge.com/

Enjoy,
Eric

Try to hit both parks if you can, Bryce is also amazing. I don't have any experience with T/S however I can tell you that you will be confronted with sweeping vistas from observation areas, but you will also have the chance to get up close and personal with some relatively easy hikes. I imagine the T/S will be great for removing perspective distortion from close hoodoo shots.

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...psa4722bf2.jpg

Three days in Zion sounds great! In addition to the narrows which has great light in mid morning as light bounces off the walls, another long hike is to "the Subway." If you have any afternoon clouds, join about 23+ other photographers on the bridge to capture the iconic southwest shot of "The Watchman." Another short side trip that is off the beaten path is Coral Pink Sand Dunes. Getting low angle light near sunset really makes that place glow red. A low angle wide angle shot or a multi-stiched pano taken from down low would look great on a wall.

The Watchman at Zion NP. Not an original vantage point, but still a photo to check off the"bucket list."
[img]http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6234/6...2cee96cf_b.jpgSunrise....Sunset? by ernogy, on Flickr[/img]

Not too far away in Page, AZ is the ever popular Lower Antelope Canyon. This is a photographer's dream. Endless possibilities at any time of the day.
[img]http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3428/5...25d33543_b.jpgLower Antelope Canyon in Page, AZ [Explored] by ernogy, on Flickr[/img]

And of course if in Page, a must is the short hike out to Horseshoe Bend that will take your breath away. This place will test you if afraid of heights. Sunset works well here. Finally, a stop off at The Dam Bar & Grill in Page, AZ is a nice way to end a day here. Enjoy your trip! Erno
[img]http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6236/6...c22a1a6b_b.jpgHorseshoe Bend. Page, AZ by ernogy, on Flickr[/img]

Thanks for the reminder on Antelope - did it 7 years ago w/ a Panasonic superzoom - want to go back w/ better gear - might be day 2? This will be in mid July so time for planning is running out for the planning time.

The thought on the T/s is that the I could use the tilt to help manage the DoF elements and the shift to eliminate some of the parallax errors that might creep in.

but..... those are my thoughts vs. experience and that is why I am asking the questions :)

Here us a link to a simulator that helped me understand a bit better how the tilt focusing works:
http://static.timparkin.co.uk/static/dslr-tilt-shift

Moving the focus slider to the right means focusing closer, moving it to the left means focusing towards infinity

You will see that at usual tripod heights you need very little tilt to get hinge point of the plane of focus on the ground under your camera.

It is from this article:
http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/04...ction-to-tilt/




Arnt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ahab1372

Simulator: http://static.timparkin.co.uk/static/dslr-tilt-shift

It is from this article: http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2011/04...ction-to-tilt/
Arnt

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Very handy. I had to go to 0 tilt w/ the slider to "get it" then started added tilt and very nifty tool, one can see the DoF impact of the different focal lengths.

Having the Field of View is also nice for looking at the impact of the focal length options. Which then of course begs the questions on which one(s) of the T/S should I rent? I noticed that the cost of renting all three for the month will approximate the cost of buying either the 90 or 45......

To avoid what JRW experienced with me (i was the lousy photo guide in Orlando) I have been conversing w/ a photo guy who also works for of the guide shops and he gets the whole light & angles and times of day issues -

I am not likely to get back to this part of the world for several years so I don't want to leave it a few hours/dollars short of the best possible outcome.

2nd week in July if anyone can find their way to Salt Lake, I will have a big SUV (needed later when the kiddos show up) and be Chauffeur (already hired the guide :) )

Mike

aha moment - Lens issue solved- as I have the t3i and the 5dIII I will rent the 24 and the 90. as the 24 on the crop will give the 40ish equivalent that covers the 45 close enough.