Update: Panorama of the Week on LAT.com? Well, not really...

Just heard from Bryan Chan of LATimes. He confirms Paul Fretheim's followup (see below) on the weekly feature. Brian says, "I'm not sure where a reader got the "pano of the week" idea. We just do them as needed."

Paul replied to me Sunday as follows (I should have posted this then):

"Most pages at the LA Times site have tabs for "Local," "National," "World," etc. Under the local tab if you scroll down there is a header that is over a list of links that says "Weekly Features" and that is where the link was to the panorama. I may have overstated it when I wrote "Panorama of the Week." When I went back and looked at it again, it was unclear if it really means that they will have a panorama on a weekly basis."

Bummer. I was hoping one of the big dogs would take the lead and do a weekly feature.

If anyone knows of someone doing a weekly panorama feature, I'll bow at their feet.

===============

According to a post from Paul Fretheim on the PanoToolsNG Yahoo group (text of the is message below), The Los Angeles Times is starting a "Panorama of The Week" feature.

The link is to a pano from Bryan Chan of the Los Angeles Times,who produced a group panorama of the LA Philharmonic, with hotspots giving us more info on the players.

I looked about the LAT site, and didn't see anything specifically touting "Panorama of The Week". However, there is a panoramas section on the Multimedia page.

Good use of hot spots, and if LAT is doing a pano of the week, that's a big boost (and a motivator) for the rest of us.

======================
Via PanoToolsNG@yahoogroups.com:

L.A. Times "Panorama of the Week"
Posted by: "Paul Fretheim" paul@inyopro.com inyopro
Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:44 am (PDT)

Apparently the Los Angeles Times has initiated a feature they are
calling "Panorama of the Week." Here is the one from today's "paper,"
that is, the L.A. Times web site:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-laphil-pano,0,3418644.htmlstory

Paul Fretheim
======================

Prison Riots Aftermath | Bryan Chan - LATimes

This is a good use of a panorama, to put the viewer in the news scene. I'm curious as to why the burned out housing block isn't the featured panorama. It is a powerful scene, and I would also have liked to see the prison courtyard.

I'd like to hear from Bryan about conditions, etc. during the tour if that's possible.

Working the nadir into our panoramas is a challenge, yet it is doable. Many of you don't include it, and I'd like to hear why. Is it a technical problem, stitching problems, or a question of photo manipulation ethics? Post a comment, or drop an email if you're shy. I'd like to help if I can.

This blog has been quiet of late and I want to change that. What do you want to learn? Also, please send links of yours and others' work to help prime the pump.

Panoramas at NPPA Visual Journalism Workshops

If you're coming to the NPPA Visual Journalism Workshops and plan to attend the panorama session, there will be panorama heads, lenses and demo versions of software for your use.

Bill Bailey at Nodal Ninja has loaned us six of his company's panorama heads (3 NN3 and 3 NN 5) plus levelers for your use. These heads are also available for purchase at a workshop discount of 10%.

We'll also have a couple of Bo Bracket pano heads for the Sigma 8mm f/3.5 available.

Canon, Nikon and Sigma have loaned lenses, a mix of fisheyes, extreme wide-angle, and wide-angle zooms.

There will be demo versions of PTGui and Pano2VR available for you to load onto your laptops.

If you have a tripod or monopod, bring that if you can fit it in your kit.

During the sessions, I'll fill you in on gear checkout. I plan to set up times on Thursday and Friday for one-on-one with anyone who needs help with stitching, and critique if you desire.

Feel free to contact me directly (gary [at] garyobrien {dot} com) if you have questions.

What do you want to learn about?

I'm preparing materials for a panorama demo workshop at the NPPA 2009 Visual Journalism Workshops. 

In a general sense - even if you're not going to attend the workshop - what do you want to learn about shooting panoramas?

What information do you need? How to shoot them, gear, using software, presenting, printing?

Let me know - specific questions are best. Please use the comments so others can see.

 

I look forward to hearing from you.