Shooting panoramic landscapes is getting easier by the day. You don’t need to buy special equipment and can use nearly any camera. I normally shoot lots of vertical pictures by using a telephoto lens and then I use software to put together and make a panoramic landscapes picture. Here are the steps on how to do it the easy way.
Step 1:
Prepare all of your gear namely the tripod, leveling base and spirit level. All of these tools will ensure a flat even picture and then once you have found your landscape you can set the gear up. Ideal panoramic landscapes will be shapes, textures or patterns that will provide a point of interest and draw the eye to it straight away. There shouldn’t be any shadows or bright lights either. It is important to note the time of day as an inexperienced photographer will not be able to take good panoramic landscapes at sunrise or sunset.
Step 2:
Prepare to actual shoot panoramic landscapes by capturing images in a RAW format. This will ensure maximum exposure latitude. Try to avoid a white balance as each image will show a different color cast. Of course make sure your camera is pivoted over a level horizontal base.
Step 3:
To actually shoot panoramic landscapes you need to do this slowly and make sure the shutter closes before you turn the camera. Try overlapping your shots by 10 to 15 percent and this will make it easier to stitch them together in the software. For each shot the settings should be the same so take note of your focus, white balance, focal length, ISO, shutter speed and aperture. You can do this simply by avoiding all auto modes. By panning the scene first this will help you to determine exposure settings. By following these simple tips you should have a perfect set of photos to stitch together panoramic landscapes.
Step 4:
Finally you should stitch the panoramic landscapes together using software. Adobe Photoshop is great to align all the images on one canvas. You can then use layer masks to hide the overlapping marks. The Photo merge tool is also great for stitching together panoramic landscapes. The best advice however when it comes to panoramic landscapes is simply to practice and practice, after a while and through trial and error you will get eh hang of it.
While photographing panoramic landscapes can be hard for beginners, it is not hard to teach yourself to be able to gain the same standards of panoramic landscapes that professionals do. All you need to do is follow the above hints and impressive panoramic landscapes pictures will emerge.
By: Patricia Newman