ShootingĬhoose a shooting direction, e.g. Some cameras offer a panorama mode that locks all of these setting for you, based on the first image you shoot. This will make stitching and blending your panorama as easy as possible. This is also a good time to figure out roughly how you will divide your scene into separate shots.įocus on an object in the foreground and use a narrow aperture to give you maximum depth of field.įor consistency between shots, lock as many of the camera's settings as you can, including focus, white balance (or use a preset), shutter speed, and aperture diameter. When shooting, keep foreground objects away from image overlaps as much as possible.Ĭomposition is just as important in panorama photography as it is in any other sort don't get so bogged down in the technical details that you forget to photograph a visually appealing shot.Ĭarry out a few test pans of your tripod to ensure that your panorama's horizon is level. Including some foreground detail will add depth and interest to your panorama, but be aware that the closer something is, the more it is affected by alignment issues (called parallax error). Leave a generous border around your panorama to allow for cropping. A good rule of thumb is to try to contain the part of the scene you actually want in the centre two thirds of the image, giving you a generous border top and bottom. It is important to include more of your scene than you actually want, because you will lose some of it through cropping during the stitching process. Look through your camera's viewfinder and ensure you can fit all of your scene in. This is where lens distortion is at a minimum, which will make stitching the shots considerably easier. Set your camera's zoom to somewhere around its middle setting. This allows you to capture more vertical detail, giving depth to your panorama. Mount your camera on your tripod in portrait rather than landscape. These are perfect for visualising the scene when you are at your shooting location. Make a set of cardboard frames in varying panoramic ratios (3:1, 4:1, 5:1 etc). RAW files give more detail than we realistically need, and their large file size can cripple your computer when stitching shots together.Īvoid using filters, such as polarizing filters, when shooting panoramas, as they produce very obvious colour changes at the edges of your shots, making them difficult to blend together when stitching. Set your camera to shoot in JPEG rather than RAW. Panoramic tripod heads produce the best results but are expensive. You can use a spirit level to ensure your tripod is perfectly level. A panoramic head on your tripod is ideal, but they are very expensive, and you can still achieve some superb shots with a standard tripod. You can photograph panoramas with a hand-held camera, but you will achieve better results with a tripod. Get to your location with plenty of time to set up your equipment so you don't miss the critical moment. Sunrise and sunset can make for dramatic panoramas, but the rapidly changing light conditions mean you have to work quickly. Instead, shoot closer to the start or end of the day, or when the sky is overcast, as this will help reduce the contract, allowing you to capture detail in all areas of the scene. Shooting in the harsh midday sun is a sure way to create too much contrast in your panoramas. Because you are shooting a much wider angle than a regular shot it is easy to end up with a scene with so much contrast that you lose most of the detail.Ĭhoose a scene with an even level of contrast throughout so that you don't lose detail. When photographing panoramas choose a location with a consistent tonal range. Follow these steps to ensure your panorama photos come out just the way you intend. Panorama photography is generally very easy, though it does require you to plan your photo in advance and be methodical with the way you shoot it. This leaves you with two options - either shoot a smaller part of the scene, potentially losing some of the overall impact, or take multiple shots that can be stitched into a panorama. Unfortunately, you often can't fit enough of the scene into a single frame to do it justice. Often when I do, I'll stumble across a stunning landscape that would make a great photograph. I really enjoy taking my camera out to explore new places and see what interesting subjects I can find.
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