Trial Run

If you read my last post, you would know the difficulties I've been having with the weather... I finally had a group of 4 or 5 people help me dig out my car one evening, and the next day I drove outside of town looking for anything to photograph. I wasn't able to make it out to any big cities due to the weather, however I did end up stopping right down the road from Crestview high school. I set up shop in the middle of a field and went to work. 25 minutes later, I had a memory card full of pictures. I had what I came for, and I couldn't feel my feet, so I headed back. Later I stitched the pieces together, touched up some places, and I was left with this panorama:Now onto the next step, making the globe. Using a few tricks I ended up with this:After doing this, I realized there were some faults (obviously) after the transformation. Even though this is a trial (by trial, I mean it is not the "urban/grunge" look I plan to base my work around) to make sure my process is correct.

Two main faults:
-Trees. This is a result of me being dumb during the photography process. Note to self: DO NOT cut off trees/buildings etc. (You can see why in my image above) I suppose this means I try to recreate the tops of the trees that were cut off, or re-photograph it again... I wont do that because this is a trial, but maybe next time I'll make two passes: one pass at eye level, and another with the camera pointed at an upward angle to catch the tops of the trees. Unfortunately that means I'll have twice as many pictures to take, and twice as many pictures to stitch together...
-The "vortex" at the center of the planet. Another photography fault of mine. I didn't realize this would happen, but if you think about it; it should. I didn't take a picture of the center, I took a picture AROUND the center. Another note to self: Next time, take a picture of where the tripod sat before/after I take all of the pictures, so I can blend it in over the "vortex."

Sorry for the long-winded post, but that's where I'm at. Still learning but, still at it.