Backyard Joshua Tree Sunrise

Nikon D1h, 14mm f/2.8, Gitzo 410, RRS Panorama Gear, Realviz Stitcher

I've discovered a new thing with shooting panoramas. While I'd done this before forcing myself through photoshop but not really making "real" panos, I finally broke down and bought some real pano stitching software and the components of a pano head from RRS. I've been full up and running for a week and I think it's great.

Every morning about about 5 o'clock I go out and walk the dog in the desert behind the house. Usually there isn't a cloud in the sky which don't make for very dramatic sunrises. This morning was entirely different. I grabed my photo gear, ran out the door with the dog, and found a tree just off the trail we usually walk by every morning.

The image is about 180 deg field of view with the nearest branch about 5 inches away from the lens. Altogether, 10 images were used to make this. I also post processed two different exposures with Nikon Capture and merged the two layers in Photoshop to increase the dynamic range.

Cheers