[Leica] IMG: large panorama installation

[abridge683 at fastmail.com (Adam Bridge)]

Yesterday Steve Barbour generously gave of his time (and risked life and 
limb) to help me install the largest panorama I have ever attempted. It?s a 
morning shot from our camp on the Serengeti in Tanzania. 

Just for reference the installation is 175? wide and 40? tall. That?s 4.4 m 
by 1.0 m for the non-Imperial world. It?s comprised of, I think, 8 separate 
shots with a Sony A7ii, combined and edited in Photoshop (out of Lightroom) 
and printed in three segments on an Epson 9900 using Epson Premium Luster 
(270). I could have printed the entire image but I felt the chances of 
having something go wrong with the printing were too great.

I was faced with how to display it. I thought, originally, to make a 
triptych of equally spaced panels, but that broke the content in the wrong 
places. So I made what was essentially a scale model in Photoshop and 
divided the panels in various ways. I think I had a version with 9 different 
panels. Fortunately my wife talked me out of that.

Technically the largest panel I could make had a maximum dimension of 8 feet 
(2.4 m) because that?s how large sheets of gatorboard are made. So I elected 
to make three different panels and divide them asymmetrically along the 
horizontal.

I had the panels mounted in Sacramento and then when Steve was free we took 
an hour or so, a few ladders, and some gulping, to put them into place. I 
used 3M Command Strips to afix the images to the painted wall surface.

So, here?s a link to how it looks:

<https://adam-bridge.smugmug.com/2015-Tanzania-Service-Trip/On-Safari/i-7QrXTH7/A>

I am a little unhappy with the way the lights cast shadows against the wall 
behind the image?s gaps. I?m thinking that I can slide very black paper 
behind them to reduce that shadow effect. The panels are off-set by .5 in 
(1.27 cm). I can have gatorboard fabricated to fit between the segments 
which would eliminate the shadow. I may try both over time between some of 
the panels to see how it works out.

The lighting comes from below because, well, that?s the way it had to. 
Although I had envisioned a large panorama for this space I knew that in the 
sort run it would have individual prints so I needed flexibility.

I?d appreciate any thoughts on this. Seriously. If you mount large works, or 
if you have seen similar works displayed I?d love to know what might be a 
better way.

Thank you!

Adam