Freaky Photoshop Science

My experiments did not turn out quite like yours Henry.

But science, like love, has her little surprises – as you shall see.

Dr. Pretorious in
Bride of Frankenstein

I've worked with Photoshop for many years and know my way around the program pretty darn well. One of the cool things about Photoshop is that every new version usually comes with one or two new features that are just freaky-cool. The kind of stuff you can't begin to get your head around in terms of how it does what it does as fast as it does it.

Well, in the pervious version of Photoshop a feature called Photomerge evolved into the freaky-good category. It can be used for several different applications, but it's freakish characteristics bleed through when it comes to creating panoramas.

To execute a photographic panorama you take multiple shots as you rotate your shooting angle as if on an axis (shots can be vertically-oriented, though most are horizontal – depends on the subject being shot). Then you slip on the blood-stained white lab coat and play Dr. Frankenstein, stitching the various shots together using Photomerge. What's surprising is how "off" you can be in your shooting and still get amazing creations.

This was another little sandbox for my creative play-time from Photoshop for the Soul. I had not worked with panoramic imagery before – but I was encouraged to do so and am thrilled with how cool the results can be. I'll start with the one we ended with last time (mainly because I'd love to show it one mo' time).

Be sure to click each image to open a new window and see the big dog-chokin' version – a must for these proportionally-challenged images.

And just so you know I was telling the truth about the option to think of them vertically . . .


 

Fun stuff, huh? Being able to experiment with things like panos reminds me that I need to push myself to see design – and it's possibilities – in fresh ways. It also reminds me just how fun it can be to slip into my lab coat and monkey around with some of the freaky-cool science that's already under the hood of my favorite design app.

Next time I'll share some cool & creative image processing that I learned, and some insights into why "doing it on a slider" is a powerful way to work on images.

Aloha!

Comments

[Jim]

Outstanding photos. I do like the vertical - great perspective. Some simply look like a painting. I'm glad you're enjoying this new-to-you toy. Good stuff.

[Todd Adkins]

Thanks my brotha! I am certainly having fun with it. Two nights this week staying up til 2:00 just to "play". Thanks as always for the comments!