Panoramic photography is a unique photography technique that requires specialized software or equipments, which capture pictures with stretched fields of view. This is why it is also known as wide format photography. Few years ago, it was only limited to professional photographers who had money and time to create amazing wide angle pictures. It’s no longer the same story in this digital age, when one can easily create panoramic photos right on your computer, thanks to advancements in technologies. All you need to have is access to a camera and a computer.
How to Create Panoramic Photos
As a general thumb rule, such pictures can be captured only in two ways- by using a rotatable panoramic camera or by capturing many pictures and stitching them together. The technique of stitched panoramas is the easiest and best way to create panoramic views. This is nothing but a collection of pictures with overlapping areas of view and matching exposures that are flawlessly combined jointly in software applications that are particularly designed for the purpose. In order to do this, you will require a rotatable tripod head and the tripod has to be level. Use your camera in portrait mode as this can give you more room to move later in stitching software. With the correct exposure, you can proceed to capture pictures. It is essential to be quick enough to keep away from the movement of things like trees, sun, and clouds. Stitch videos can also be created similar to stitch photographs.
Stitching Your Photos and Videos
Stitching is debatably the most common practice followed, owing to the fact that it can be achieved with the standard equipments used for photography and that panoramic cameras are very expensive. The modern cameras that are available today are integrated with new features that make the process of stitching a lot easier.
While clicking pictures for creating a panoramic video or panoramic photograph, you have to ensure that the pictures follow one another closely, failing which they will not combined together properly. Once all the pictures are downloaded, begin with process of stitching.
Scale for Panoramic Photography
The scale used in panoramic photography ranges from 160-degree to a complete 360-degree viewpoint. And, a person cannot achieve this kind of angles without extra knowledge of the techniques used in photography and the correct equipments.
As the saying goes ‘Practice makes a man perfect’, practice is needed to learn the ins and outs of this kind of photography. It may require some time and practice after which you can produce fascinating pictures. There are several online videos and books available on the subject that can make the learning process much easier. You can also check online for experiences of other people who have gone through the process of learning panoramic photography successfully, and this can help you know the kind of mistakes they committed and how it can be overcome. Such tips will help you learn the process quickly and easily.
Using a Panoramic Mount
If you are looking upon panoramic photography as a serious profession or hobby, it is suggested that you consider purchasing a professional panoramic mount as this can get rid of parallax lens distortion issues and the frames will also stitch together correctly. Gradually, you can see improvement with every panoramic photo you capture.
On the whole, this is certainly a challenging and fun form of photography in addition to being a great way to take home the complete view along with you.
Joe Rice is a professional photographer, who is obsessed by this form of art and is passionate about learning all kinds of advancements in the field, especially panoramic videoand stitch videos.
