"Edouard" <pov### [at] edouardinfo> wrote:
> My setup is a chrome-plated pinball, a Canon IXUS 860 (aka the SD 870 in the
> US), and a couple of super cheap table-top tripods (one for the camera, one
> for the ball).

When you say pinball, is that as in pinball machine? Basically a large ball
bearing? I thought about trying to find something like that, but I figured
imperfections would be more obvious on a small ball (as you say).

> It's interesting to consider that while the perfectly reflective, perfectly
> spherical ball is the stereotypical ray-traced object, getting one in real
> life is much, much harder than you would think...

I was in a church the other day with a lovely checkered tile floor. Oh for a
mirror ball and a camera... ;-)

> > - make sure there is minimal movement of background objects (ie, cars
> > driving, people walking, even fast moving clouds) as this can be quite
> > evident and cause visual errors in assembling the HDR.
>
> Clouds in particular move ore than you think they do...

I am well versed in this regard, I've been stitching regular rectilinear
panoramics centred on the horizon for some years now. Clouds are not as bad as
foreground parallax errors - I don't have a suitable tripod, so I try to
minimise parallax by rotating myself around the camera lens!

People moving can also be a problem, but as long as they stay out of overlap
regions it can work out (at least for regular panoramas). I took one where my
friend in the foreground appears twice - she skiied on while I was taking the
shots.

Thanks for the tips, both.

Bill

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