P-A-N-O-R-A-M-A

nevard_120522_cbampton_350124_pano, a photo by nevardmedia on Flickr.

350124 is captured flying through fields of rapeseed and an old platlayer's hut near Church Brampton, on a sunny Tuesday 22 May 2012. Bigger version here.

Modern unit trains aren't always the most inspriring things to photograph, so whilst waiting for the more interesting freight workings and because the weather and colours were on this particular day and location were so magnificent, I decided to have a go at shooting a panorama - the result being the above.

I shot the train first, then as soon as it passed shot the remaining exposures that will make up the final panorama - the exposure above being a compilation of just 3 exposures using a moderate wide angle lens. The reason for speed is importatant, especially if there are lots of clouds on a windy day, because if they move too quickly between exposures you might end up with odd cloud effects in the sky as the software battles with registry.

As well as the above photo, the whole day was very rewarding, with a good selection of freights, wall to wall sunshine and even a few diverted passenger trains via the Northampton Loop line. The results can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nevardmedia/sets/72157629855144418/with/7255433590/

A similar technique can be used to create a backscene for a model railway, especially if you don't want your layout to share the same backscene as everyone else or if you want something just the right size for your layout without repeating scenes because the supplied one isn't long enough. So to address this, coming soon in Model Rail mag I have created an in-depth highly illustrated feature on just to to do this, along with ideas of how to get it onto paper without joins.