Consider what you can achieve through panoramic photography – a sweeping vista of the Grand Canyon, an all-encompassing shot of a lake that is actually more than the eye can take in just standing on the shore, or an emerald reservoir high in mountains of Colorado.
I could go on about some of the beautiful landscapes that I have been able to capture in not one, but often two or more photos – all stitched together seamlessly as panoramas.
Panoramic photography used to be a complex art form requiring special equipment back in the days when film was prevalent. But with the proliferation of digital technology, just about anyone with a digital camera and its included software can assemble sweeping panoramas.
Getting started is really very simple, but there are a few important steps to keep in mind. When I first began doing panoramas, I had one major problem: the lines where the photos stitched together were obnoxiously visible. The reason for this was because I left the camera’s auto settings to control the f-stop, shutter speed, and white balance. This led to slightly different color temperatures in each photo which were painfully obvious in my panoramas. As time went on, I got better and learned the first key to good panoramic photography: use your camera’s manual settings (most digitals today allow you to set f-stop, shutter, etc. manually).
Find a suitable f-stop number, shutter speed, and white balance setting, dial them in, and keep it locked there in manual mode. If you’re not sure what settings you should use, pre-focus the shot in auto mode, take mental note of the camera’s auto exposure settings, and then dial those numbers in manually. The reason behind this rigor: you’ll have even, consistent lighting, color, and white balance across the spectrum of your photos.
Ok, so now that you’ve got the settings calibrated just right, it’s time to take some pictures! A tripod is very useful in panoramic photography, but often not practical – especially if you’re hiking or the like. A tripod is helpful because it ensures that each shot in your panorama is taken at the same level. If you don’t have a tripod, then do the best you can to take each picture on a level plane while hand-holding the camera. I’ve actually gotten my best panoramas when no tripod has been in sight. Either way, tripod or none, take your pictures and use a slow panning motion to compose the next shot. Consider not just a horizontal panorama, but a vertical one as well; this can have some
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