HOW TO CREATE PANORAMIC PHOTOS

Create Panoramic Photos
Use These Tips to Ensure Shooting Successful Panoramas

By Kyle Schurman, About.com Guide

Shooting panoramic photos can be very tricky, especially if you don’t have a tripod available. Keeping the camera steady enough to record the images required to create the wide panoramic photo can be difficult. Use these tips to learn how to create panoramic photos with your camera and without a tripod available.

* Check the scene modes. With your point and shoot camera, you may have a "scene mode" specifically for panoramic photos. Many newer point and shoot cameras are making panoramic photos very easy to shoot, as the camera will guide you, helping you line up each shot. Some cameras even shoot the photos for you automatically. Some cameras perform much better than others with panoramic photos. Be sure to learn about the panoramic features your camera offers before you start to create panoramic photos.

* Shoot plenty of photos. When you know you’re going to have to create the panoramic photo using image-editing software and stitching together a series of photos, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty of photos available from which to choose.

* Use the lens with the widest angle that you have. If you have multiple interchangeable lenses available with your DSLR camera, consider selecting a wide angle lens for the best results. After all, you’re trying to present a wide look for your panoramic photo, and a wide-angle lens will give you the look you want.

* Use landmarks. As you shoot a photo, select a landmark that is about one-quarter to one-third from the edge of the image. Then use that landmark to give you an aiming point for the next photo, placing that landmark at the opposite edge of the next image.

* Avoid people. If any people are in the area where you’ll be shooting the individual photos for the panoramic photo, wait until the person moves out of the scene. Otherwise, if the person is moving as you shoot the individual photos, you might find that person ends up in more than one individual photo, appearing multiple times in your final panoramic photo.

* Stay consistent. Make sure that you use the same exposure and shooting settings for each photo, ensuring a similar color and sharpness for each photo. In fact, it’s probably best to use fully manual control settings for a panoramic photo, because you’ll ensure each photo contains the same exposure. If you use automatic settings, the camera might select different exposure settings for the individual photos.

* Double or triple up. Consider shooting multiple shots of each frame, just to ensure a sharp, bright photo. You don’t want to begin stitching the individual photos, only to find that one of the individual photos is a little out of focus, compared to the other photos. If you shoot multiple shots of each individual scene, you’ll be more certain that at least one photo of each scene is in sharp focus.

* Choose the best image-editing software. Finally, check your image-editing software carefully. Some image-editing software programs have features that automatically stitch together several photos for a panoramic photo, making the job pretty easy.

MY THOUGHTS

sounds exciting! not just focusing and then clicking the shutter. effort is required. and effort usually results to quality.