When Things Go Wrong

I'm usually pretty happy with the images that I post on the site, but what you don't see is how many I reject. Considering how much time they can take it's easy to get annoyed with this. I also don't usually show the panoramas I take before they're edited (although you can see some of those in the 'About' section. So, here are some average, random Bokeh Panos, that either didn't make the grade, or I couldn't be bothered to process:

Sometime I feel unsure about a scene, photograph it anyway and when it comes out bad and I tell myself to only press that shutter if I really feel it next time. This was different, the scene was definitely calling me, but I think it failed here because it didn't benefit from shallow depth of field. I was in the mood to take Bokeh Panos and was blinded by the scene not requiring it. Not everything works as a Bokeh Pano, as much as I'd like it to. If you're like me and only take out one lens with you it can be annoying.

Several other issues were making me want to hit the delete key on this image however (lack of vignetting removal had ruined the middle, distortion was making it look bad and composition was questionable). I could have fixed some of this, but I decided not to spend the time, thus it go no further than what you see here.

A Bokeh Pano can sometimes improve an image, but it can't overcome the fundamentals of composition and what makes that fail. The lighting and tones of this image are just unworkable. There are too many messy elements fighting for attention. The bike doesn't stand out against the uninteresting background and the angle / focal plane is weird.

In both of these cases I saw something pretty and tried to capture it without thinking about the final frame and composition. It really helps to have something else with you to visualise that final frame. Be it another camera (perhaps your phone) or a dedicated viewfinder. I have recently started using the latter and found that it really helps.

Another nice reason to use a rangefinder's viewfinder is that they can fit on the camera you're using, meaning you don't have to fiddle around with another device.

I was lucky enough to find this one stupidly cheap somewhere. If you don't have hundreds of £/€/$ (or thousands in the case of Swedish Kronor) to spend on a viewfinder I recommend looking for cheaper second hand items on ebay.