Nowadays, many cameras have built-in the function to take panoramic photographs directly from the factory and without having to go through a computer. In spite of this, these modes are not yet as versatile nor will they allow you to obtain as surprising results as you can achieve if you build your panoramas yourself. In today's article you will see the different ways of taking panoramic photographs, the equipment needed to do it, the key factors and the programs necessary to join all the photos. You can not lose this!
WHAT IS PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY?
Panoramic photographs are, as the name implies, photographs that allow a larger portion of a scene to be appreciated than a normal photograph. The secret of this type of photos is the proportion of their framing since it allows the viewer to convey the sensation of immensity and place, in a very efficient and almost impossible way to achieve using other frames. Achieving this type of photographs will not be very difficult, although like every technique, it has its secrets. Then I will name some of them and how you can get the most out of them.THE FRAMING
Panoramic photography is not in itself a type of novel photography but, as I commented in the article “Everything You Need to Know To Frame Your Photos” , in reality it is only one of the many formats that you have available at the time of making your frames. Thanks to its proportions so "elongated", that is to say that the width of the photographs is much greater than their height, these types of photographs are very pleasing to the human eye. But how to achieve such proportions? Achieving this type of frames is possible using two totally opposite techniques: 1-Through a single photograph: this method consists of trimming a photograph of “normal” proportions in its height until its proportions are adequate for a panoramic photograph (width much greater than the height). To do this you must crop the photograph horizontally on the computer as you will see in the following example: In order to achieve the best results, it is essential that you have very clear the result you want to achieve in the final photograph. Why? Because re-framing a photograph of normal proportions to transform it into a panorama will require you to compose the photograph in a different way.HOW TO TAKE THE PICTURES?
One of the best ways to take a panoramic photo, if you use the method of multiple joined photos, is to shoot your camera vertically, that is, using a vertical framing after joining, to achieve the “elongated” horizontal framing. By photographing vertically, the vertical viewing angle that you will be able to achieve will be much greater than shooting horizontally and as the horizontal viewing angle will be given by the amount of photographs you said to take and then merge, shooting vertically will guarantee you best results. In this way, you will not only be able to maximize the quality of the final photograph (at the edges of the frame the cameras tend to lose quality, but if you use a vertical frame, you will minimize this lack of sharpness since you will work with a larger portion of the center of these), but you will also maximize the portion of the scene to capture once all of them on the computer. How to do it? Don't worry, you'll get to it.THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT:
- The camera: to take these types of photographs it is not necessary that you have the most expensive camera on the market, much less. Almost with any camera, whether reflex or not, you will be in optimal conditions for excellent panoramic views. While it is true that the better the equipment, the better the quality of the resulting photograph, this does not mean that the quality is everything. Even with your mobile phone you can get excellent results. Think of it this way: the camera on your cell phone is much better than those with the great masters of classical photography and we all admire their photographs. The limit is your imagination, not the equipment you have in your hands.
- The objective: although it may seem to you that the greater the angle of vision of your objective, that is, the smaller its focal length, the better results you will get in your panoramas, nothing is further from reality. In fact, it is not necessary to have very short focal lengths since, when taking many photographs and then joining them, the angle of vision that you will be able to capture will be much greater than even using a super-angular lens and the resulting photographs will not be as distorted as if you were using one of these lenses. Have you lost yourself between focal angles and distances? Do not worry, just by reading the following article you will understand better: "Everything You Need to Know About The Focal Distance of Your Objective" .
- Tripod: stability when making the different shots is essential, so having a good tripod will be very helpful. In addition to this, working with a tripod will allow you to correct one of the worst enemies of panoramic photography, which is neither more nor less than “the parallax error”. Don't you know him yet? Don't worry, I'll show you how to do it later so you don't have to know it.
IDEAL SITUATIONS
While you can take a panoramic photograph almost anywhere, not all places are ideal for you to achieve a good panoramic photograph. If you take the time to perform a search on the Internet, you will see that the vast majority of these types of photographs are used to portray landscapes. Take panoramic photographs in situations where there are a large number of subjects or objects moving in front of the objective will only make your work difficult. But look at the following picture:- 11 Simple Tips for a Stunning Landscape Photography
- 10 Frequent Errors in Landscape Photography (and How to Solve them)
THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE: PARALLAX
Taking a panoramic picture is not as simple as it may seem. It will not be enough for you to take the camera and make several shots and then join them on the computer. If you do it this way, you will be giving rise to one of the worst enemies of panoramic photography: "the parallax error". What does it consist of? Pay attention to the following images:THE 3 KEYS TO EXCELLENT PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY:
- The sharpness: as in landscape photography, one of the main factors when taking a panoramic photo is the sharpness of it. To do this, you must use small or very closed diaphragm apertures (f / 8, f / 16, etc.) in order to ensure that the entire photograph is perfectly focused. But be careful that if you close the diaphragm a lot you will have to compensate the exposure by adjusting the shutter speed or raising the ISO sensitivity. Check out the following article: "Detailed Guide: How to Make a Correct Measurement and Exposure in Your Photographs".
- Stability: when working with very closed diaphragm openings it is likely that, if you do not have enough light, you should decrease the exposure speed. Lowering the shutter speed will increase the risk that your photos will be moved, which you cannot afford in general photography and even less in the panoramic ones, since they require joining several photos and if one is moved, the series will be ruined. In addition to this, in order for you to capture the entire scene, the sequence of photographs must be as continuous and aligned as possible. If you don't have a tripod, don't worry! With a little imagination and the “Bricofotografía: How to Mount Home Photographic Accessories” you can make your own.
- Continuity: once you have achieved well-sharpened and stabilized photographs, it will only be enough to have them on the computer. To ensure success, it is essential that you take as many photos as possible to ensure the continuity of the resulting panorama. Similarly, you must maintain the white balance and exposure levels for each of the shots. To ensure the continuity of the photographs, before starting to shoot, identify a starting point and an end point. Not doing so may end up ruining your final picture.
HOW TO JOIN THEM?
Once you have your series of photographs downloaded to your computer, you are just a few steps away from obtaining the long-awaited panoramic photograph for which you have been working so much. It only remains that you become a program that allows you to join them all and voila. The magic will be done. In the following image you can understand how these programs work in general:- Canon Photostich Uilities
- Panorama Maker
- PTGui
- Adobe Photomerge
- Panorama Plus
- Autopane
TIPS FOR STUNNING PANORAMIC PHOTOGRAPHY:
A while ago Mario prepared a dozen tips so you can get the most out of your panoramic photographs. If you have come here, reading the following article is almost obligatory: "12 Tips for a Stunning Panoramic Photography". Thanks as always for reading me. If you enjoyed this tutorial please give it a vote / recommendation via Facebook, Twitter or Google+.