415-595-5348
Panorama Editorial Portrait: Artist Kevin Kearney
click to enlarge
Finished portrait. Made up of 35 individual captures. Portrait of Bay Area artist Kevin Kearney for an editorial magazine photo shoot.
This image is made up of 35 individual images stitched together. Yes 35! It is a panorama portrait of Bay Area artist Kevin Kearney photographed at his home in Sebastopol, CA. Kevin is writer, successful entrepreneur, painter, business executive, wine aficionado, and probably more. The assignment was an editorial feature for Maryland Institute College of Art. Once the 35 captures were assembled, the new high res master version of the scene was retouched, color adjusted, and perspective corrected in Photoshop (final image above).
• • •
Proof image. Stitched panorama portrait of executive Kevin Kearney at his home in Sebastopol, CA.
Why 35 images?
There are technical and creative reasons for shooting a panorama portrait for this assignment. Shooting with a wide angle lens in this massive space would put too much of the scene in focus and draw attention away from the subject. Enter Ryan Brenizer. He developed a method of capturing multiple individual images with a long lens, and then stitching them together in Photoshop . The results are portraits with a shallower depth of field that could not be created otherwise. It’s genius! However instead of using the technique to create hyper bokeh, I use it to construct a wider angle of view for certain scenes. Wider scenes now have less perspective distortion, and extreme detail. Panning the den photo above, required (35) captures with a 70mm lens on a full frame sensor. That is a lot of pixels! (2-3 gigabytes before sizing it down).
• • •
Full frame capture. Image 1 of 35 for panorama portrait of Bay Area executive Kevin Kearney at his home in Sebastopol, CA.
Kevin Kearney is a Renaissance man who knows how to live the good life. Conceptually his life is much bigger than one single image. The massive upstairs den filled with books, guns, swords, and artwork was the location winner. It’s a room where “the world’s most interesting man” would keep company, and that is the room I want to be in as well. A single image portrait in this space wouldn’t have carried the weight.
This is awesome. I’ve attempted Ryan’s method, but this surpasses everything I’ve done. Great job Jay!
Great job with the panorama shot! That looks like it you put some great work into it. It came out fantastic!