# Rebuilding the Acropolis with Nikon Coolpix 4300 (4,3Megapixels)



## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Taking photos with my Nikon Coolpix 4300 I was always disappointed with the detail & rendering from brightly lit subjects on dark backgrounds (Night photography) especially with results taking shots of the Acropolis. I actually thought that my Coolpix didn't have the ability to take those kind of shots until I decided to experiment with the Analogue & Digital Zoom features.

here is an example .. It's Ok but I am not pleased with it .. 










*Requirements 

Digital Camera

Tripod

Patience*

*All shots taken at Max zoom (Digital Zoom) on Night mode.*

*Shot # 1*











*Shot # 2*











*Shot # 3*











*Shot # 4*











*Shot # 5*











*Shot # 6*











*Shot # 7*











*Final Cut created with Hugin Panorama Creator *

*Unfortunately around about shots # 3 & 4 I realised that I had aimed too low at the starting point, slicing off the top of the Acropolis where it peaks .. so I decided to start all over again .. *











*Shot # 8*











*Shot # 9*











*Shot # 10*











*Shot # 11*











*Shot # 12*











*Shot # 13*











*Shot # 14*











*Final Cut created with Hugin Panorama Creator *











* I realised when I looked at the final cut that something was wrong with the look of the photo .. so I decided to to redo the panorama this time putting all 14 photo's into the array*


*Final Cut - Looks a lot more impressive and you can even see the silhouettes of the trees at the far ends *










* The tripod and Nikon at location*










* One single shot using the Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5, ALMOST full zoom (tweaked back a fraction), no editing, no after-shoot enjoyment / fulfilment playing with software. :laugh: *


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

just added an extra photo to the beginning .. an example of what I normally get when trying to create a single shot photo ..


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

That final panorama is superb - plenty of detail and as sharp as a pin ray:


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## Mack (Nov 8, 2004)

Love it. As WB said, plenty of detail. Love it.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

WereBo said:


> That final panorama is superb - plenty of detail and as sharp as a pin ray:


Hopefully you mean this one 











The real image is a lot larger (6720*1687 pixels) .. I reduced it to 1024 width .. & I think it is one of the best photo's I have ever taken / made with this camera .. so NO WAY it is going to be retired as yet ..


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

That's the one - The main thing I like about it is that there's no apparent curvature to the final picture, it shows the ruins exactly as they are


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Nice shots D_F, I never realized the ancient Greeks had lighting in their ruins:grin:


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Well, they were an advanced civilisation, in their time :grin:


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

They are still advanced ... just haven't advanced to present day standards, :laugh:


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## yustr (Sep 27, 2004)

WereBo said:


> Well, they were an advanced civilisation, in their time :grin:


I notice that roofs hadn't been invented yet.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

Who needed rooves in a hot clime .. only just starting to get cold now and the cold is still above 10 degrees C.


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

I still reckon they should bulldoze it flat & put a decent high rise hotel with an adjoining hyper market...

_(exit stage left on tip toes, to find my tin hat and asbestos overcoat! :grin_


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Seriously though, a very commendable effort DF


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

DonaldG said:


> I still reckon they should bulldoze it flat & put a decent high rise hotel with an adjoining hyper market...
> 
> _(exit stage left on tip toes, to find my tin hat and asbestos overcoat! :grin_


passed on photos with gps info to the appropriate organisations ... 

sacrilege .. :grin: ( my wife - Greek - also thinks it's just a load of old stones .. :laugh

I wll return during daylight & again at night time to take the sequence again giving a little more "top & botton" since it appears to be lacking "something".

I'll try today, although bucketing down, to get the daylight photo's .. I also have a second location I want to try out, a little farther away, to see how things pan out from there ..


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

Try taking the individual frames with the camera in the portrait (vertical) position. You get much more image above and below the centre line - it give much more latitude for error too.

(I am in the process of writing an article on pano photography, thanks to your inspiration:wave:. Could be ready in a couple of days)

edit: So you have discovered that many of my photos are geo-tagged...:grin:


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

:lol: look forward to seeing our article .. and compare notes .. 

geo-tagging .. You were my mentor .. :grin:


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

It will be taking a little longer than I anticipated - It was going to be a mini tut type but seems to be growing.... I'll keep you updated.. However I have some other article work to do that may overtake this one for the time being.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

What method are you using Don .. I use Hugin .. mainly "manual" mode location of control points, since on Ubuntu 10.10 & Win7 it appears to fail on auto .. In Win2K SP4 auto works fine providing I have fulfilled necessary criteria of overlapping.


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## DonaldG (Aug 23, 2007)

I use PTGui or Photoshop's 'Photomerge' process


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