HOBBIES Index
Beading
Bird Watching
Cigars
Collections
Folk Dancing
Hunting
Indoor Sports
Magic
Musical Instruments
Outdoor Sports & Activities
Photography
Cameras & Equipment
Digital Photography
Techniques
Other

Puppetry
Radio-Control Models
Robotics
Travel
Wine

BEST OF HOBBIES
Boat Race
Radio Control Hobbies

SPONSOR LINKS

  • Landscape Photography: Shooting and Editing Panoramas
    		•
    From "The Whole Picture"
    episode DTWP-104


    PHOTO

    The tripod is used as a fixed pivot point for taking a sequence of three photos along a horizontal axis across the scene. The three images will later be joined to create a single panorama.
    Effectively capturing a wide, scenic landscape in a photograph isn't easy, but there's a technological trick that can help. Professional photographer Erin Manning shows how to take a sequence of photos of a particular scene then digitally "stitch them together" to form a panoramic photo.

    Materials:

    Digital camera with the panorama function
    Camera owner's manual
    Tripod
    Carpenter's level
    PC with photographic software

    Some scenic vistas are simply to large and expansive to capture in a single photograph. One way that you can capture the scale of wide open spaces in a visually pleasing way is through panoramic photography. In the past, photographers created panoramic shots by joining together multiple images in the darkroom. With photographic software, it's now possible to create seamless panoramic images using your digital camera and computer.

    To create a panoramic image you take a series of photographs, starting at one side, rotating from a fixed point, and overlapping the images just slightly. Later, you'll join the images together using your image software. Here's how it works.

    advertisement


    PHOTO

    Figure A
    PHOTO

    Figure B
    Shooting a Panorama

    Building a great panoramic photograph requires two key ingredients, beginning with your camera. It has to be as level as possible and on a stable platform like a tripod or table (figure A).

    The other key is to visualize and plan your final image before shooting. That's because for a panorama, you need to know where the shots will overlap before you shoot.

    When you're ready, start at the left side of your scene and move to the right. Plan the pictures so that they overlap one another by 30 to 50 percent. it's best to place a distinctive object in the overlapping area of each image (figure B). That will make it easier for the software on the computer to combine the images when you get home.

    Some digital cameras have a special panorama function that allows you to take the photos and then preview the shot before going back home to print them out. this is A nice feature if you take a lot of landscape photographs.

    PHOTO
    PHOTO
    PHOTO

    Once your camera is level on the tripod, take series of photos, starting at the left side of the landscape and moving right, overlapping each adjacent image by 30 to 50 percent.
    PHOTO

    Using the photographic software, you can "connect" your digital shots into a single panoramic image. The change in camera perspective resulted in the anomaly on the right side. The image can easily be cropped to achieve the proper visual aspect.
    Digital Darkroom: Building a Panorama

    Building a panorama doesn't end in the field, Once you're home, you get to see if you really were able to thread together everything you learned. Once you've downloaded the pictures, it's time to combine all those panorama images into one panorama shot. This is where the software has really evolved. It does most of the work for you.