Picture Perfect: See the Light

Date of Photo:

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August 2014

Location:

San Diego Central Library’s Helen Price Reading Room

Camera:

Canon T4i. Canon 18-135 lens. 18mm.

During a tour given by architect Rob Quigley, Dr. Charles Mittman, 80, was inspired to photograph the Helen Price Reading Room. To create this more-than-180-degree panorama, the La Jolla resident and former dean of UC San Diego’s School of Medicine combined 30 photos (three rows of 10 images across) using three different exposures for each section, for a total of 90 exposures. To “stitch” them together, he used High Dynamic Range method, or HDR, photography software. “It captures a range of light levels close to what our eyes see,” explains Mittman, whose interest in photography goes back to 1948. “I invested some of my Bar Mitzvah money in a camera and darkroom,” he says. But, he adds, “Digital photography is more fun.”

Picture Perfect: See the Light