How to take even better panoramic photos
On a recent trip to the South Island, I found myself in an excellent location for taking a panoramic photo. I’ve taken a few panoramas before and even blogged about lessons learned, but for whatever reason this one seemed to come out just about perfect. Here’s what I did.
How-to take great panoramic photos
There’s nothing like a panoramic photo to capture beautiful scenery (unless you count actually being there, of course). I’ve been taking panoramic pictures for a couple of years now and I thought I would share them with you, as well as some tips.
Here’s the first panorama I took, from the bank of the River Thames in Wallingford (UK).
(Click for a larger version)
I was fairly happy with it, for a first attempt. I used the Canon Photostitch software which came free with my Canon 350D camera. It’s done a fair job of stitching the photos together, but there’s some noticeable lines where the joins have been made. Also, I let the camera take care of the exposure setting, so the sky changes colour across the scene.
I was a bit disappointed with the end result, so I did what everybody does when they want to learn how to do something - I Googled it. I got some useful tips:
Turn Auto-exposure OFF Turn Auto White Balance OFF Turn the Flash OFF Use one Focal Length for all shots in the sequence (manual focus, not AF) Use one Size/Quality for all shots in the sequence Use a tripod whenever possible – especially when objects are near to the camera If a tripod is not available, lock elbows and pivot on one spot – keep camera level. Use 25%-50% overlap for each shot Use reference points on the landscape when moving the camera. Go beyond 360 degrees when shooting for 360 degrees panoramas – mark your tripod with a piece of tape Create time-based groups – wait no more than 40 seconds between shots Insert visual dividers (black shots, or a shot of the ground / your hand) between sequences Be aware that an object in motion may cause problems when stitching Be aware that scenes without much detail (cloudless sky over flat sea) are more difficult to stitch
Armed with this information, I was certain my next panoramic photos would be better. (more…)