Comments on: 8 Guidelines To Taking Panoramic Photos With Any Camera

By: Conor Boyd

Conor Boyd — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:40:39 +0000

Great to see the continued interest in this thread.
Here are a couple of Hugin efforts from me to add to the thread:
http://gallery.ildica.com/v/Porters2009/PortersPanorama.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1
And
http://gallery.ildica.com/v/2008/UKTrip2008/UKIreland2008/Scrabo.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1
(Second one has a bit of Topaz Adjust applied too…)

By: Richtpt

Richtpt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:33:11 +0000

Mike, as for advice here’s what I have. 98% of mine are hand held, not using a tripod. Tripods are great but with today’s software you don’t HAVE to use one. The biggest reason I’ve found to use a tripod is to make sure all photos are lined up – meaning saying in the 1st photo the horizon is 2/3 down the photo, using a tripod will make sure the horizon is 2/3 down in all the photos. There have been many times I start hand held on the left and by the time I get to the right I’ve moved up or down and now when I crop I get a very narrow area.

I’ve also found if I turn the camera sideways I can get more height in each photo meaning more height in the overall panorama with one row – but you can do multiple rows too.

Basically, I try to brace myself, turn the camera sideways, look through the viewfinder (I’ve got a Sony H50, not a DSLR but still find it better to use the viewfinder for keeping the camera steady) and move from left to right to line things up. Then I go back to the left and take the first photo. I move 2/3 to the right overlapping by at least 20% and take the next photo. I repeat until I’m done with the last photo on the right.

Then I use Hugin to build the panorama. Most of the time it does a great job. Now and then Photoshop does a better job. I’ve also used Autostitch, but I like Hugin better – and it’s free (for Windows, not sure about Mac programs).

I agree with what you said – practice as much as possible. Some might turn out bad, some might turn out great. The more you practice the more often they will turn out fantastic. :)

Good luck and post some of yours so we can see them!

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:49:43 +0000

wow, those are some great photos. I also like to do panoramics and I think you forgot one piece of advice: practice as much as possible. You never know when that stellar shot is going to present itself.
Are there any followups to this? perhaps a few hints on making a seamless stitch would be nice.

By: JO

JO — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 05:58:14 +0000

haven’t really tried panoramic shot… my dslr doesn’t have this feature…

great article…

By: Christian Kid

Christian Kid — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:26:54 +0000

i was there this january on a rafting trip and i can say these pictures are awesome.

By: Allison

Allison — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:03:09 +0000

This is good advice! Thanks! I use Auto Pano Pro to stitch together my panos. I have to do a lot of post porduction work because I don’t keep the place level and things really do warp. Especially interiors when the angles are so sharp. Auto Pano does a great job though and does a great job on outdoor scenes.

By: Richtpt

Richtpt — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:32:22 +0000

For those who say you MUST use a tripod, here's 41 photos I took hand held and stitched using Hugin: http://www.flickr.com/photos/richtpt/3696100525/in/set-72157601861416710/. It might have been better with a tripod but I think it turned out pretty good. Oh, and why 41 photos? I like to zoom in each photo so when you zoom in on the pano you see some really good detail. I could have done this with three photos, or actually just one. :)

By: MJ

MJ — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:33:09 +0000

The results work amazingly!

By: Gurgen Bakhshetsyan

Gurgen Bakhshetsyan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:44:01 +0000

I also have some nice examples! Check them out
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14577925@N08/

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:39:21 +0000

Thank you. Specially your ‘Choosing Your Metering Well’

I’m just starting