A vertical Pano

I took this on the way home from work today and the exposure conditions were perfect for this type of shot. This is another image that I've been dying to get forever, and the photo just appeared in front of me when I got off the highway :) I used the 5D Mark II and the wide angle 17-40 f/4 L lens @ 17mm f/16, 1/250sec, ISO 320, hand held. My good friend Jim from James Douglas Gallery in Montgomery, has an awesome vertical Pano hanging up in his Gallery. I just thought that was the coolest idea!! Thanks Jim for the Inspiration.

Here is what went through my head when I approached this shot. First and foremost was DOF. I wanted the image sharp from back to front, but I'm using the 5D which has an extremely shallow DOF and I needed to be close to the subject. So I knew I would want at least f/16 and the wide angle 17-40. I could have went further with the aperture, but diffraction is an unwanted side effect that I try to avoid as much as possible. I then had to raise the ISO to increase the shutter speed to something faster and ISO 320 got me to 1/250sec. I then just focused on the second row of flowers and fired away

Best,

-Jay