Painted Hills

John Day Fossil Beds, Painted Hills

On our way back to Idaho from the Oregon Coast last summer, we stopped at the John Day Fossil Beds Painted Hills Unit. We had never been there before, and thought it might be a good rest stop. We arrived about an hour and a half before sunset, just as the light was starting to get good. We were not disappointed in what we saw. It was the perfect place to shoot panoramics. Up to this point, I really had not done much as far as shooting multiple images and stitching them together into a panoramic view. I decided to try that technique here. The image above is created from nine individual images stitched together in Photoshop. While I don’t use this technique very often, it is useful in some situations and is fun to try occasionally.

While Photoshop makes it quite easy to stitch images together, there are a few things to keep in mind to in order to get better results. First, anything in motion will make it more of a challenge. This applies to clouds, water or even foliage that is blowing in the wind. Second, the foreground is easily distorted, so be careful what you place there. Third, While Photoshop does a fairly good job of stitching the images together, carefully check and double check the seams! Some cleanup with the clone stamp or healing brush is nearly always necessary. Paying attention to these three point will greatly improve your results.