Cayenne,
For the Roan Mountain Tn. Shots it was just the right place at the right time. This vista is at the end of a trail on a fenced overlook. I set AEB to -1, 0 ,+1, It was a very dark so I left AV at F4.5 Normally I would stop down to increase DOF. I this case I was hand held.. I used a fence post for support and manually focused. I took 12 landscape shots, 4 groups of 3 to cover nearly 180 degrees. I set up my tripod with Really Right Stuff Ultimate Pano head and took many more shoot. None of them were useable due to change in light and solid dark clouds. So I was stuck with hand held images.
For software I first tried DPP HDR software but did get satisfactory results. I tried PTGui Pro. I did not like how it handled the HDR so I backed up and used Photomatrix Pro 4.2 (64 bit) to merge and tone map the images. If I recall I tweaked the “Photographic” preset. Than I applied the same preset to the remaining groups and went back to PTGui to stitch the pano.
Camera Model Canon EOS 7D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.2.3
Shooting Date/Time 6/12/2012 1:54:17 PM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/1250, 1/60, 1/320
Av( Aperture Value ) 4.5
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
Autoexposure Bracketing -1, 0, +1
ISO Speed 100
Auto ISO Speed ON
Lens EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Focal Length 17.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Auto
AF Mode Manual focusing
AF area select mode AF Point expansion
Picture Style Landscape
Bath NH Covered bridge is 18 shots taken in portrait mode. On a tripod with a Really Right Stuff, Ultimate-Pro Omni-Pivot Package atop a RRS BH 55 Pro ballhead. Workflow would be about the same as above.
Camera Model Canon EOS 40D
Firmware Firmware Version 1.2.1
Shooting Date/Time 10/9/2010 10:26 AM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/50, 1/160, 1/500
Av( Aperture Value ) 18.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
Exposure Compensation 0
Autoexposure Bracketing -1 2/3, 0, +1 2/3
ISO Speed 400
Auto ISO Speed ON
Lens EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Focal Length 35.0mm
Image Size 5184x3456
Image Quality RAW
Flash Off
FE lock OFF
White Balance Mode Cloudy
AF Mode Manual focusing
Picture Style Landscape
PS I know I should take notes of settings and workflow but I just play until it looks right than print.
Paul