The story behind the image: a friend of mine has recently "come out" as transitioning from male to female. This photograph is something of an alternative illustration of that; a highly technical image portraying the female aspect dominating the male.
Just as with tone-mapping, panoramas are a relatively "technical" photograph, and I find my technical brain is relatively good at these kinds of pictures. As the year as progressed, I've tried some more ambitious and challenging panoramas, including HDR panoramas, the application of tone-mapping to MDR images, and polar coordinate panoramas ("planets").
The two big lessons learned: using a tripod helps hugely, and taking panoramas from a moving boat doesn't help achieve something seamless.
Excluding a very short spell of promotional photography at university for a dramatic production, this is the first time I have had someone stand in front of the camera with the specific aim of them being the subject of the picture. I'd not directed a model, and suddenly I had two. Practice, practice, practice!
