View from the Thorung La

[Escher]

Here is a stitched hi-res view of what you see as you descend from the Thorung La towards Muktinath. I've posted it large so you can scroll around and see some detail. If you look closely you can see the zig-zag trail above Kagbeni and a little patch of green which I think is Kagbeni.

Smaller sizes can be seen here (http://flickr.com/photos/escher1/2600302215/sizes/l/)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3005/2600302215_71625940f5_o.jpg

[yakshaver]

Nice. I feel like wanting to step into the picture...

[peteris]

Nice work, Escher. These trails are waiting for us ;)

[thesilvertops]

Excellent! Could we have some technical details? Camera, lens, filter, etc., How many shots did you combine? It took me back to February except most of the snow is missing. You can clearly see the washout on the hill above and behind Kagbeni.

[Escher]

That shot was six portrait pictures stitched together with Photoshop. Technical details: Canon EOS 40D DSLR, 17-40 F4L USM lens, no filters, shot handheld in manual at focal length 40mm (about the equivalent of 50mm on a 35mm camera - this stops any distortion effects as 50mm on a 35 is the equivalent of what the eye sees), 1/400 at f8 (lens sweet spot), all shot in manual so I could fix the exposure the same for each shot. Shooting at around 50mm equivalent and fixing the exposure for each is key to getting the pictures to match cleanly when stitching.

[Escher]

Here is another stitched panorama this time of Kathmandu from the roof of the Norbu Linka Hotel in Thamel. This time it is 15 landscape photos stitched together - a little harder to do so the horizon is a little wonky in places. Also it was early evening so the change in intensity of light was difficult to deal with throughout the whole 270 degrees. 1/250 at f8 40mm same equipment as before. The other key thing is setting the camera to manual focus and fixing it so the camera does not refocus for each shot.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2604167068_205dfb5d19_o.jpg

[Saurav]

Beautiful shots and stitching. Looks like you have a very similar camera setup to me. Gotta love the 40D and the L lens. I'm hoping to take my pano head to Kathmandu and the Everest region this October for some 360 views.

[thesilvertops]

Kathmandu photo stitch - Brilliant! Almost felt like home! But there's something missing? Oh yes, the noise and the smell!

Thorong La photo stitch - Thanks for the technical info. Kagbeni is just visible in the lowest part of the valley. Directly above Kagbeni you can see the new zig-zag path that has been created to take trekkers up to a viewpoint overlooking the Kali Gandaki and Upper Mustang. I think it's a fairly tough 1000m climb though!

[thesilvertops]

Your knowledge of photography is much greater than mine so if I am going out to buy a new camera and lens, what is your recommendation. I am looking at spending round about £700-800 possibly a bit more. I want to be able to take photos of flowers, so ability to get closeup is important and I want to take landscapes, i.e. mountains. I don't want to lug around a lot of kit. I'm 66 now and 20 Kg on my back when trekking is now getting a bit much. I have been looking at reviews of the Canon 40D, the Nikon D80 and the Sony A300/A350. In film days I had a Canon EOS 100 and a lovely 28-105mm lens but then it let me down - a dealer said the ribbon cable inside the lens had probably cracked causing intermittent failures. I would rather get a good mid-range camera with a good lens than an upper-range camera with an ordinary lens.

[peteris]

Although I am in Nikon camp I think D80 isn't the best option today. It's already quite old model and - more important - as far as I know it hasn't the best matrix metering mode. D80 tend to overexpose a bit (this isn't welcome in mountains) so you need to check exposure more and use center average metering which is more predictable in D80. Also if to keep in mind all recent releases (D300/D3/D700) which clearly demonstrate huge technology development I would rather wait for couple of months to see if D90 appears (rumours are going about it). Or look to D60. (There is an interesting article about Nikon lenses, look to chapter "Going Light—Travel Kits" where is also suggestion for D60 http://www.bythom.com/rationallenses.htm).
I think 40D is higher class camera than others you mentioned. Though I heard about many manufacturing defects in recent Canon's (I'm not going to exaggerate or persuade) and Escher or somebody else may be more knowledgeable. For me I would rather go to D300 but it seems outside your borders. Also I'm not a big fan of Sony until now, for me they always have some eccentricity either for controls/use or image. But I'm not a big specialist in Sony - sometimes kept A700/A200 in hands and read some reviews.

[a1jbg]

Brilliant photo of Kathmandu, thanks Escher.

[Sharon]

I'll have to check out the roof top at the Norbu Linka. I can't count how many times I've stayed there but never hit the roof.

[a1jbg]

Hi Sharon

Congratulations slightly in advance; your next post will be your 500th, in case you hadn`t noticed.

[un-j]

[QUOTE=Escher]Here is a stitched hi-res view of what you see as you descend from the Thorung La towards Muktinath. I've posted it large so you can scroll around and see some detail. If you look closely you can see the zig-zag trail above Kagbeni and a little patch of green which I think is Kagbeni.

Escher, super shots.
Can you, or anybody else name the peaks seen on your panorama?
I've got only "Around Annapurna" map by Nepa Map and I think these peaks could be beyond the map. I'm interested, because I've got similar panorama, but taken much lower, just over Kagbeni as well as few shots from Jharkot and Muktinath.

Regards

[Oli]

I have a map of Upper Dolpa that extends to just include Kagbeni and Jomsom, I think it names a couple of peaks on view here.

Looking to the middle ground there is a valley running west (away from the viewer) that has a large cliff on the south side where it opens into the Kali Gandaki valley just above Kagbeni. This is Lungpa Khola, and it rises up to Niwar Pass, and beyond that is Upper Dolpa.

Following the ridge up from that cliff, beyond the rocky spine and up to the snow peaks, two summits on the right then a saddled snow field and another summit on the left. I believe these are named Tashikang (6386m on the left) and Tsartse (6347m, the closer of the two on the right with its companion unnamed).

I think that the highest/furthest peak to the left is Hongde (6556m), then left of that the high ground leads to Dhampus Peak which is out of sight behind the foreground hillside.

The ground north of Lungpa Khola has a myriad of peaks between 5500m and 6000m. The only one named (on my map) is Arniko Chuli which is 5995m and stands on the border with Tibet, I don't know which one that is or even if it is visible from here.

I hope that help, but I make no promises for accuracy. And I see that I am not far behind Sharon in number of posts, this being #498, goodness knows how Yakshaver managed to get so far ahead with way more than double Escher's total :rolleyes:

[un-j]

Thanks Oli.

[The Yakherd]

Hi!
GREAT photo!

Just curious: When was this taken? What time of year?
I'm leaving fro Nepal on friday and heading for Thorung La and the circuit, clockwise. Wondring how the weather up there is like this time of year, would sure like to get these sort of views as well..

[Escher]

They were both taken in March this year. There was some snow higher up on the Thorung La but it had mostly melted. Should be reasonably clear this time of year as it is the rain shadow.