By Peter Liu

Camera: Nikon D2X
Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 29 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash

How I got this shot:

This panorama was created with four exposures on a tripod with a 3-stop ND grad set on the horizon. I used the sun as a reference point and simply panned from left to right. I had to do this quickly, as the sun was moving and I wanted it to occupy the same relative spot in all the frames. I used an ExpoDisc to set the white balance beforehand and locked the focus and exposure.

From Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.5, I loaded the four frames directly into Photomerge in Adobe Photoshop CS4 and processed the panorama using the default settings. After flattening the resulting image, I used the Ruler Tool to straighten the horizon (I didn’t have time to make sure everything was level during the shoot) and did the final crop.

Then I saved the image as a TIFF, closed it and reopened it in Camera RAW, so that I could adjust the overall exposure and use Fill Light to open the shadows in the rocks. I saved the image again and imported it back into Lightroom, where I manage all my photos. As a finishing touch, I burned in the edges slightly using the Vignettes feature in Lightroom.

View Peter Liu’s Flickr Photostream