Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Mount Wellington Panoramas

Mount Wellington Panoramas

 * Reason:I'm submitting these two as a set as they are complementary and used in one article each. One or the other (or both) might fail, or they could be promoted as a "featured set", which has been done a few times before. The first image offers better context for the location but the second offers greater detail for the greater hobart area, a crop which is clearer in articles and a levels adjustment which combats the haze better. I waited weeks to get a particularly haze free day. The two images are seperately stitched with different lenses and not crops of the same thing.
 * Articles this image appears in:Hobart, Mount Wellington (Tasmania)
 * Creator:Noodle snacks


 * Support as nominator --Noodle snacks (talk) 20:32, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment. I detect some apparent stitching signs in the sky in both images.  In number one, a very faint vertical band, about 3/4 of the way to the right.  In number 2, a set of horizontal smears that span the sky top to bottom, around the first(?) stitch from the left.  Both are interesting and well-composed as thumbnails, but the intermediate level of detail in the city in both shots leaves me unsatisfied when viewing them large. --ragesoss (talk) 03:34, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Haze was the primary limiting factor sharpness wise. I spent some time adjusting levels etc to minimize the effect. I picked one of the rare days with good weather on the mountain and relatively low haze levels before going up. Short of using an infared camera I think it'd be difficult to get a considerably sharper shot. Bear in mind too that these are quite considerably bigger than the minimum size. Thanks for spotting the wierd artifact(s), I've uploaded a pair of fixes, let me know if there is anything else. Noodle snacks (talk) 05:01, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Both of those new version are improvements to my eye. In number 2, I detect one poor stitch, a vertical band in the sky about 3/5th of the way right, a little bit left of the the right-most bridge.--ragesoss (talk) 17:41, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Another fix for number two uploaded. Let me know if there is any more Noodle snacks (talk) 01:09, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * That mostly took care of it. I can still detect the stitch in that same spot in the sky, but it's so faint now that I don't think it's worth worrying about.--ragesoss (talk) 01:47, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Weak support both, per my first comment.--ragesoss (talk) 01:47, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Support both--Caspian blue 04:31, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 *  Weak Support Original 2, Neutral Original 1. It's already been said but the haze really is a bit of a killer and I think (although I've never been to Hobart) the haze would be reduced if you took the shot in January/February and an hour or two before sunset or just after dawn. Also I think a UV filter or a circular polarizer might have been helpful. As for "Original 1" I don't think its particularly illustrative of Mount Wellington as you can't actually see it and if you were wanting to place it in context of Hobart a view such as this would seem a better option --Fir0002 06:30, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I was using a UV filter, I have a polariser but opted not to use it because the degree of polarisation in the sky varies considerably with angle so you tend to get wierd effects both in the sky and on the water. As previously stated I have been waiting around for considerable time for a low haze day.
 * Fair enough about the polarizer, but if you're shooting no more than 100 degrees you can often get away with it. Regardless I was thinking you might be able to do something along the lines of this (although maybe an hour earlier) as it seems the haze is not as bad about that time on a summer day. That said after looking through flickr for a bit your pano is a lot better than most images in terms of haze so I'm switching to full support. --Fir0002 09:30, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The field of view on 1 is around 165 degrees, so I'd expect the polariser effect to be obvious. My argument for 1's EV would be the geology and vegetation from the top. I have no idea if you realised or not but the flickr photograph you linked to was the Mount Wellington in New Zealand. I have seen a similar pink sunset here before though. I suspect that you'd loose visible detail in the surrounding hills and other unlit areas in particular though. It would also be a battle to pick a day that doesn't have clouds on top at that time of day. On an ancillary note if you ever come to Tasmania there is a wide variety of easily found grasshoppers and other insects on the summit. I haven't tried too hard to photograph them as my macro gear isn't particularly suited to insects in the wild due to poor working distance as a result of the physical length of my macro setup. Noodle snacks (talk) 12:17, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah fair enough I guess a polariser wouldn't have been practical. Ah but if you were after the geology/vegetation of the top then I'd have to argue that the view of Hobart is superfluous and that the composition could have been improved to make this the more obvious focus of the shot. Hehe no I didn't realise it but it's really immaterial what was in the photo as I just was linking to that to illustrate the time of day I though would have low levels of haze - but it's probably unreasonable to demand such perfection because it would, as you say, be likely to be a once in a year evening when it would work. Ok thanks for the heads up - I guess otherwise I'd only have brought a wide angle to the summit. That said not sure when I'll visit Tassy - probably not this year anyway as my pennies are all going to a Mk II :) --Fir0002 23:58, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Comment. I've looked at these a few times and remain a bit undecided. I'm not so concerned about the haze, as I know from firsthand experience that can be a real issue, and these have less haze than what I've taken. However I'm not sure if either of them quite do it for me. I would certainly argue that they don't merit being featured as illustrations of Mt Wellington. Yes the first one does provide some context, but it is pretty limited. Something like the image I've put up as Discussion 1 gives more context, though I still wouldn't suggest that would be sufficient. The EV for Hobart is better; if was choosing I'd tend to go for Original 1, in which case I would oppose the other one, with the proviso that it go into the Hobart article. Again however I feel that more of the valley could have been captured, as with my Discussion 2 image, as from this distance it's probably more illustrative of the Derwent valley itself, which includes Hobart but extending right down to I think Bruny Island as well as further north, while still showing some context of the mountain. (Note: I took these a few years back on a very hazy day with my old A95; they are just there for discussion, not as Alts as they are not up to FPC standards). --jjron (talk) 08:05, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The Mount Wellington article has one image showing the mountain from a distance, which gives its appearance from Hobart (the profile is quite different from up river due to the organ pipes though). A second image details the organ pipes and shows the location of the main radio tower and lookout. A third image shows what the lookout looks like. The panorama is the only image in the article which gives the reader any information about what the view from the mountain looks like. Every person that drives to the summit will, weather allowing go to the point that the panorama was taken from and look (most of them take photographs as well!). The shot is approximately 170 degrees as it currently stands. It was not able to be wider from that location due to obstacles in the foreground. Your second discussion image suggests a wider vantage point is possible, but I am not sure that'd be possible with the foreground intact. Noodle snacks (talk) 00:50, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I understand that shots from the top of mountains show what the view is like, but I personally don't find the EV for the mountain article itself so good. It would be like if the Melbourne pano just put up at the top of the page was being used solely to illustrate the Rialto Towers - just not enough EV for mine when you can't see the building. I'd thus stick to my point that it should also illustrate the Hobart or Derwent article. I would prefer a wider angle for full support, but will Weak Support Original 1 if it replaces the other one in the Hobart article (or goes in the Derwent article) as it has a wider range of view, shows some of the geology at the top of the mountain and shows the foothills better, and Oppose Original 2, simply because I don't think we need them both as FPs. --jjron (talk) 13:46, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

MER-C 02:56, 9 December 2008 (UTC)