Before I hopped on a plane to fly North to Alaska, I wanted to test my rig out on a large piece of vertical art, that was similar to a totem pole. I fortunately was able to find an actual totem pole in front of a trading post here in Santa Fe, NM. I set out to shoot, process then project my images to see where problems may lie. My first test went well, my second test went horrible, my third went well and I had my shooting method dialed in by the forth pole. Through my testing I learned that consistency is the key.
My comical first attempt involved me using my camera's self timer and raising and hoisting the camera. The camera would flop back and forth as I raised and lowered the camera. I have since added a radio release to my camera. The radio release is now my new favorite photo accessory of all time.
Every step yielded another variable I needed to work out of my photographic process. The list grew long. I needed to keep the camera parallel to the pole. I needed to turn all automatic aspects of my camera. In the example to the left there are a couple glaring examples of my camera doing too much to try and help me. There is a little bit of exposure issue an my stitching program didn't seem to like it.