We are novices in virtual tour creation and would like to receive some tips and advice for creating proper lighting in our photos.  All of our interior panoramas come out dark and dingy looking, and we would like them to look bright and vibrant.  We tried adjusting the color balance, brightness, etc. in Photoshop, which did help improve a little bit, but it is hard to get it perfect.  Is there any way to improve the lighting while taking the picture so less adjustments need to be made afterwards?

You might want to consider,  Putting your back to the prime light source (sun or bright window) and for your first image turn 90 degrees left or right.  This will meter 50% dark and 50% light area.  Then use that f-stop and shutter speed for all your images.  If you are using a Nikon 990 /995/ 5000, use AE-Lock (automatic exposure) to lock in those settings.

If you are using a dSLR with no AE-Lock,  Put the camera in automatic mode.. then meter at each position (writing down the f-stop and shutter speed).  Then average the 4 or 6 image fstop and shutter speed.  THEN turn your camera to Manual Mode and manually set the shutter using your average speed and f-stop.

To get a good depth of field (fore - mid and background) so that all is in focus your f-stop should be set to around f/8 or f/11 or higher.  Of course indoor shots this will cause the scene to be shot at 1/2 second or longer.

Some people expose for shadows, others expose for highlights like bright windows.  Example, while in position 1,  shoot 3 images bright, medium and dark.  Then turn to positions 2, 3 and 4 and repeat

Then in photoshop combine (on layers) all positi1 images.  Then 2, 3 and 4.

Then stitch the final single set.

Perfection is a judgmental aspect that is in the eye of the photographer.  What looks good for one person.. often does not pass inspection from the other person.

I think everyone will agree that  an image that is well lighted, great color and image detail are good criteria.

Dave

I use Photomatix without any complaints

Regards Markus

PS There is another thread about it

http://www.easypano.com/forum/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=1&TopicID=1332&PagePosition=1

Hi PleaseHelp

Just want to tell you about how I do my pictures, as I almost never have a problem with dark images. Perhapd you can use some of it as an inpiration.

When I set up my equipment I allways make sure to use the right white balance. I always use the manual mode, and always choose a high f value (like 8.0 or higher) Then I start out by measuring the light in the room. I measure it at every 45 degrees. Then I find the average, and take all of my pictures with the same exposure. Once in a dark rook I have experienced it wass necessary to set the timer to 4 seconds. But it makes no difference when you use a tripod. Be carefull thoug if there are people in the room. If they move and you use a long shutter time you risk that the people looks like ghosts.

I can only advice you to take a look at www.hdrsoft.com for their product Photomatix or at  Photoimpact fropm unlead. It is two different pieces of software that can help you make HDR panoramas. Some really great stuff.

Best regards

Morten Andersen

- a newbie trying to improve

Hi Spinem

The fourth image you get is the result of the 3 images you started with. The fourth image is therefore the result. For instance. If you open 3 images, and then combine them with e.g. H:Sdetails auto the new image is the end result. Be aware that the result depends on serveral things:

1) weather you combine or create a HDR image

2) how many different exposures you use.

I know that most people working intensively with photomatix normally recomend that you use 5-7 exposures and that you create a HDR image and then tonemapping. Personally I am just getting started with photomatix and normally use 3-5 esposures. Most of the time I also create HDR images. When you afterwards want to use the tonemapping tool you have a range of options to change the color saturation, dynamic range and so on.

Though I have also had great results when combining the pictures with H:S details auto.

Best regards

Morten Andersen

- a newbie trying to improve