F.A.O. Denis

[Fogey]

An Introduction to taking a Panoramic Photograph.

First a few rules of thumb.  Never use a wide angle lens for panoramic work.  If you are using a wide angle lens you are in fact taking a panorama.
I always set my lens to 50 mm, so that every shot has the same dimensions.  I have used telephoto lenses to get a detailed panorama from a massive panoramic view.  There is a misconception that panoramas are wide angle shots - wrong! - panoramas can be vertical as well as horizontal.  Remember that. 

For the sake of easy organisation, when I take a sequence of shots I always place my hand over the lens and take an under-exposed frame at the beginning and end of the sequence.  That way you will know which sequence is which, whether it’s a panorama, a focus stacking sequence or a combination of both when post processing.

So, when taking the shots, (and I would recommend using a tripod when you first start), be logical and work from left to right, take the shot and move the camera to the right, making sure the next frame is going to overlap the previous by one third.  Count the shots!! Very important! 

The overlap is important!  The software needs repetition between frames to stitch together.  

Continue until you have covered the width of the final image you want,  then, tilt the camera up, making sure the image is overlapping one third, top to bottom and take the shot.  Now move the camera to the left, overlapping by one third and take the next frame, repeating until you have completed the same number of frames in the first tier of images.  

Repeat this for remaining tiers of shots until you have covered the scene you want.

In post processing simply load the series of shots into the panoramic software and simply click on the button ‘stitch’ and let the software do its work.  Crop for effect and tweak as you would normally.

 

 

[Fogey]

Hope this helps, Denis.

[Black Pearl]

46 shot Pano taken with the wide angle lens on an iPhone XS

[Fogey]

And look at the distortion.  Converging lines and curved horizons have their place I agree, but not in a panorama.  Just my thoughts.

[David995031]

Thanks so much for this. A Wide angle lens has always been my go to for a panorama so I will certainly take what you say on board. If I may add one suggestion:

If you are not using a tripod, Start by facing the mid point of the proposed panorama. Then twist to the left to commence taking your shots and continue to shoot as you twist around to the right WITHOUT MOVING YOUR FEET!. Foot movement inevitably  results in some  unwanted and avoidable vertical movement.

[Fogey]

Sound advice, David.  Thank you for that.

I posted the images of the wood not only show the grid I used to take the capture but also to demonstrate that a standard lens will not produce  vertical distortion.

 

[Fogey]

I can't remember how many shots went to make this panorama.

[Denis]

Thank you Jeff, and everyone for the sound advice, I shall have to have a practice  when I find a suitable scene, I have a good tripod, and may use my f1.8 35mm Nikon prime as on the crop sensor on my D7500 that should work out at 50mm.

all I want now is some dry weather!

[Fogey]

Good choice, Denis.

I look forward to seeing your pics.

[colinb]

On 29/10/2020 at 10:06, Fogey said:

There is a misconception that panoramas are wide angle shots - wrong! - panoramas can be vertical as well as horizontal. 

 

Wouldn't that be a 'vertorama' not a panorama?

[Fogey]

Being pedantic, it would be a vertorama, according to the Collins Dictionary, and  this  is a prime, fine example where converging perpendiculars  work very well. 

I think the difference is if the author wants to portray a wide angle image of a landscape that has some height to it, then that would be a panorama.

If, however, the author wants to produce an image where the height  of the subject needs to be greater than the width  width then vertorama comes into play.  That's my interpretation of it, for what it's worth; it would be interesting to see what other members think.

Edited to say:  Thinking about it, if the image is wider that it is tall  -  panorama.   If the image is taller than it is wide then vertorama.

 

 

 

 

[colinb]

Me ... I just prefer to use a 10mm wide lens saves a lot of faffing about. 

[Denis]

Hmmm, and quite cheap considering Colin .....