What's the best way to shoot a panorama?

[Levina]

The question came up in a thread on how to best shoot a panorama. It's a good question, or better: questions, as in plural, because:

How many images does it take to get a good panorama?
Is it better to take vertical shots when shooting the images?
How to deal with differently lit parts of a scene due to the angle towards the sun or clouds covering a part of the scene?
How to deal with moving parts, like clouds or trees moving in the wind?
Does the gear matter? Camera, lens?
Should the camera be set to manual mode?
Should the autofocus be turned off?
Is a tripod necessary?
And what is this thing called parallax?

And that's just the photography side. What about the post processing? Do we need special software to put images together?

In other words: what is the best way to shoot a panorama?

 

[Jack Dawe]

Thanks for that, Levina. I've often wondered. My old Canon 40D came with some software that included a programme called Photostitch, which did what it said and hardly anything more. The results inevitably left a lot to be desired.

 

[Levina]

I never used Photostitch, Jason, but I do remember it being part of the Canon software. I only used Photoshop. If I have good, overlapping shots it will do a decent job but I think there is better software for stitching images, dedicated software. Not sure.

As to taking the images, I always take vertical shots, two rows usually: the bottom half from say, left to right, and then back right to left for the top half. I don't use a tripod. I just stand still and try to shoot as level as I can. I also turn off autofocus. And I shoot in manual mode but I always do.

I like shooting panoramas with a 50mm lens. But I also did some in the city with the Samyang 14mm. That resulted in panoramas with a very deep/removed background. I also shot panoramas with a birding lens but found that difficult because of the narrow field of view.

 

[Jack Dawe]

If I remember correctly, this was just three landscape frames. Doesn't taking two rows of vertical shots multiply exponentially the problem of getting matchable exposures—or does it make them easier to correct?

 

[Levina]

I don't know if two rows multiply the problem of getting matchable exposures. I just like to get a lot of overlap. And I think vertical shots give me more pixels on the subject in the resulting panorama.

But exposure can be a real problem. That's why I try to shoot panoramas with the sun behind me as that gives me the most even light across the scene. But that is obviously not always possible and then yeah, it's a problem. Particularly with the sky. I mean if you shoot with the sun to your right then the left half of your resulting pano will be nicely exposed with a blue sky but the right half will increasingly loose the blue colour and might end up blown out. That is a problem. I try to mitigate that by doing a second round for the half that I know will be overexposed. Or I do a second round just for the sky and underexpose by a stop or so. But however I do it, it needs correcting in post to get an evenly exposed panorama. Or as evenly lit as possible anyway.

 

[Jack Dawe]

That's helpful. Thanks. The problem I find - and it may well be because I've always tried it with landscapes, is that with, say, the sun to the right, an exposure gradient is present in each shot, but the shots never match. When (if) the weather improves here I'll try your method in portrait mode.

 

[Levina]

That's helpful. Thanks. The problem I find - and it may well be because I've always tried it with landscapes, is that with, say, the sun to the right, an exposure gradient is present in each shot, but the shots never match. When (if) the weather improves here I'll try your method in portrait mode.

Never match in terms of exposure? Or in terms of lacking overlap between the shots?

 

[Jack Dawe]

Never match in terms of exposure? Or in terms of lacking overlap between the shots?

Sorry, I meant exposure

 

[Capn Jack]

Polarizing filters can be problematic as different parts of the sky have differing amounts of polarized light.

 

[Bryn]

With my Samsung WB150, I can easily take a panoramic shot by moving the camera from left to right. Here's an example...

Flawless

My camera can even let me do a vertical panorama shot, like this one I took way back in 2013 (with the original one).

Yes, I had to move the camera over my head to get this

 

[JohnPD]

With my Samsung WB150, I can easily take a panoramic shot by moving the camera from left to right. Here's an example...

Bryn, I think you may be missing the point a little bit. This is about problems with exposure as you move the camera. You want an even exposure across the image but that is not always possible. Because if you have say, a landscape that covers maybe a 150º angle then one half of your image will most likely be differently exposed than the other half, due to the changing relative position of the sun as you move the camera.

Your second panorama, the vertical one, shows the problem very nicely. The sky in the bottom half is differently exposed than the sky in the top half because your position relative to the sun was changing: the more you shot upwards (over your head) the more you began to shoot into the sun, so much so that the top 25% or so of the sky is totally blown. And that is one of the problems when doing panoramas.

 

[Bryn]

Your second panorama, the vertical one, shows the problem very nicely. The sky in the bottom half is differently exposed than the sky in the top half because your position relative to the sun was changing: the more you shot upwards (over your head) the more you began to shoot into the sun, so much so that the top 25% or so of the sky is totally blown. And that is one of the problems when doing panoramas.

Looking at it again, I see what you mean. Unfortunately for that camera, I can't manually change the exposure so that I don't get somethin like this again...

However, I was able to take panoramas with my Kodak camera but only that under the "Panorama" setting for it, you had to take one photo at a time and when you're about to take the next one after it, the side of the last would be shown on the screen to help you line up with the next shot perfectly for the stitching process once about four or five photos are taken in a row. Here's an example...

Again, higher exposure on the right side of the image... can't be helped I suppose

 

[Jan1977]

The question came up in a thread on how to best shoot a panorama. It's a good question, or better: questions, as in plural, because:

How many images does it take to get a good panorama?
Is it better to take vertical shots when shooting the images?
How to deal with differently lit parts of a scene due to the angle towards the sun or clouds covering a part of the scene?
How to deal with moving parts, like clouds or trees moving in the wind?
Does the gear matter? Camera, lens?
Should the camera be set to manual mode?
Should the autofocus be turned off?
Is a tripod necessary?
And what is this thing called parallax?

And that's just the photography side. What about the post processing? Do we need special software to put images together?

In other words: what is the best way to shoot a panorama?

I occasionally do panoramas when on holiday in the mountains. I did manage to get some nice panoramas over the years, but would not consider myself an expert. Here is my take on the points made:

1. The number of images really depends on the angle of view one wants (both vertically and horizontally) and the subject. When taking shots vertically, you need more shots to cover the same angle of view horizontally. When you shoot landscape mode, you may need more rows to capture the vertical angle of view. Next to that it really depends on the focal length one uses as the FL influences the angle of view both horizontal and vertical. I prefer an overlap in photos of about 1/3 to a 1/2.
   My preference is to shoot one row and if I need the vertical angle of view to be a bit wider, I shoot vertical.
2. See above. With vertical, you need more shots for a horizontal oriented panorama (which mosts are). The more shifts between shots, the higher the chance of stitching errors. A panoramic head can help greatly.
3. Different lit parts of the scene are a challenge and may not even be suited for a quality and proper panorama. For panoramas I tend to shoot full manual (ISO, shutter, aperture and focus). After stitching I may try to locally adjust the exposure through gradient masks.
4. Moving parts in the photo are a challenge. Making sure that there is enough static content for the stitching software to properly align the photos is the most important thing. Errors due to moving can be maybe fixed in post. The other remedy is to shoot as quick as possible. While handholding, this can be a bit quicker than using a tripod.
5. In my opinion the gear (camera/ lens) does not really matter, other than it does for regular photos. The dynamic range in the scene, the amount of light, the overall sharpness... . For panoramas you do not want to much moving subjects, so you can back down of the shutter speed (may require a tripod).
6. My preference is to full manual mode. I often take some test shots to get an exposure reading from the camera for parts of my scene and then set shutter, aperture and ISO which I think would be the best average (most simple with evenly lit scenes).
7. I usually use autofocus to set focus and then switch it of. In my experience, the autofocus can really mess up the panorama series. Even if the stitching software can handle it, panorama will look weird with unnatural changes in focus.
8. A tripod can really help. A panorama head to correct for "nodal point" or "no parallax pount" is then very beneficial, as otherwise the rotation of the camera is not through the nodal point. Sometimes handholding can give better results than a tripod with a non-panoramic head, as one is more flexible to determin a pivot point.
9. (In my own words) The parallax or nodal point or 'non parallax' point have to do with the positioning of subjects to the lens in relation to the angle of the lens towards the subject. The easiest way to get the concept is to have your finger somewhere in middle front of your face and look at a certain subject at some distance with both eyes open. Then close one eye and alternate between eyes while remaining in position. If your head is steady you will see that the distant subject 'moves' left or right from your finger, although nothing is actually moving.
   A panoramic head helps you rotate the camera exactly around the 'nodal point' of the camera and lens combination. This is the only point that allows for rotation without the parallax effect coming into account. The pain is in determining the exact point for your camera-lens combination, which for zoom lenses may be different for different focal lenghts
   I have shot many panoramas handheld and when the nearby elements are not too close, handheld or a regular tripod head can do the trick. When needing to shoot multiple rows or 360 panoramas, a panoramic head becomes more valuable.
10. I usually try to stich in Adobe Lightroom for regular one row panoramas. For more complex work I use PTGui. Never really tried other software.

 

[Jan1977]

Here are some panoramas I shot in the past. If I remember correctly these were taken using a regular tripod head (Manfrotto 3-way head MH804) or handheld (since I did not have a panoramic head when I shot these).

 

[Levina]

I occasionally do panoramas when on holiday in the mountains. I did manage to get some nice panoramas over the years, but would not consider myself an expert. Here is my take on the points made:

1. The number of images really depends on the angle of view one wants (both vertically and horizontally) and the subject. When taking shots vertically, you need more shots to cover the same angle of view horizontally. When you shoot landscape mode, you may need more rows to capture the vertical angle of view. Next to that it really depends on the focal length one uses as the FL influences the angle of view both horizontal and vertical. I prefer an overlap in photos of about 1/3 to a 1/2.
   My preference is to shoot one row and if I need the vertical angle of view to be a bit wider, I shoot vertical.
2. See above. With vertical, you need more shots for a horizontal oriented panorama (which mosts are). The more shifts between shots, the higher the chance of stitching errors. A panoramic head can help greatly.
3. Different lit parts of the scene are a challenge and may not even be suited for a quality and proper panorama. For panoramas I tend to shoot full manual (ISO, shutter, aperture and focus). After stitching I may try to locally adjust the exposure through gradient masks.
4. Moving parts in the photo are a challenge. Making sure that there is enough static content for the stitching software to properly align the photos is the most important thing. Errors due to moving can be maybe fixed in post. The other remedy is to shoot as quick as possible. While handholding, this can be a bit quicker than using a tripod.
5. In my opinion the gear (camera/ lens) does not really matter, other than it does for regular photos. The dynamic range in the scene, the amount of light, the overall sharpness... . For panoramas you do not want to much moving subjects, so you can back down of the shutter speed (may require a tripod).
6. My preference is to full manual mode. I often take some test shots to get an exposure reading from the camera for parts of my scene and then set shutter, aperture and ISO which I think would be the best average (most simple with evenly lit scenes).
7. I usually use autofocus to set focus and then switch it of. In my experience, the autofocus can really mess up the panorama series. Even if the stitching software can handle it, panorama will look weird with unnatural changes in focus.
8. A tripod can really help. A panorama head to correct for "nodal point" or "no parallax pount" is then very beneficial, as otherwise the rotation of the camera is not through the nodal point. Sometimes handholding can give better results than a tripod with a non-panoramic head, as one is more flexible to determin a pivot point.
9. (In my own words) The parallax or nodal point or 'non parallax' point have to do with the positioning of subjects to the lens in relation to the angle of the lens towards the subject. The easiest way to get the concept is to have your finger somewhere in middle front of your face and look at a certain subject at some distance with both eyes open. Then close one eye and alternate between eyes while remaining in position. If your head is steady you will see that the distant subject 'moves' left or right from your finger, although nothing is actually moving.
   A panoramic head helps you rotate the camera exactly around the 'nodal point' of the camera and lens combination. This is the only point that allows for rotation without the parallax effect coming into account. The pain is in determining the exact point for your camera-lens combination, which for zoom lenses may be different for different focal lenghts
   I have shot many panoramas handheld and when the nearby elements are not too close, handheld or a regular tripod head can do the trick. When needing to shoot multiple rows or 360 panoramas, a panoramic head becomes more valuable.
10. I usually try to stich in Adobe Lightroom for regular one row panoramas. For more complex work I use PTGui. Never really tried other software.

That is a terrific write-up, Jan. Great post. Thank you so much for this. Very helpful!

 

[Levina]

Here are some panoramas I shot in the past. If I remember correctly these were taken using a regular tripod head (Manfrotto 3-way head MH804) or handheld (since I did not have a panoramic head when I shot these).
View attachment 2832View attachment 2833View attachment 2834

These are beautiful! And really well done. Great work, Jan.

 

[PhotoNut]

Here are some panoramas I shot in the past. If I remember correctly these were taken using a regular tripod head (Manfrotto 3-way head MH804) or handheld (since I did not have a panoramic head when I shot these).
View attachment 2832View attachment 2833View attachment 2834

These are good!

 

[Jack Dawe]

That's really helpful advice, Jan. Thank you very much indeed. Ane great panorama shots too!

 

[JohnPD]

I occasionally do panoramas when on holiday in the mountains. I did manage to get some nice panoramas over the years, but would not consider myself an expert. Here is my take on the points made:

1. The number of images really depends on the angle of view one wants (both vertically and horizontally) and the subject. When taking shots vertically, you need more shots to cover the same angle of view horizontally. When you shoot landscape mode, you may need more rows to capture the vertical angle of view. Next to that it really depends on the focal length one uses as the FL influences the angle of view both horizontal and vertical. I prefer an overlap in photos of about 1/3 to a 1/2.
   My preference is to shoot one row and if I need the vertical angle of view to be a bit wider, I shoot vertical.
2. See above. With vertical, you need more shots for a horizontal oriented panorama (which mosts are). The more shifts between shots, the higher the chance of stitching errors. A panoramic head can help greatly.
3. Different lit parts of the scene are a challenge and may not even be suited for a quality and proper panorama. For panoramas I tend to shoot full manual (ISO, shutter, aperture and focus). After stitching I may try to locally adjust the exposure through gradient masks.
4. Moving parts in the photo are a challenge. Making sure that there is enough static content for the stitching software to properly align the photos is the most important thing. Errors due to moving can be maybe fixed in post. The other remedy is to shoot as quick as possible. While handholding, this can be a bit quicker than using a tripod.
5. In my opinion the gear (camera/ lens) does not really matter, other than it does for regular photos. The dynamic range in the scene, the amount of light, the overall sharpness... . For panoramas you do not want to much moving subjects, so you can back down of the shutter speed (may require a tripod).
6. My preference is to full manual mode. I often take some test shots to get an exposure reading from the camera for parts of my scene and then set shutter, aperture and ISO which I think would be the best average (most simple with evenly lit scenes).
7. I usually use autofocus to set focus and then switch it of. In my experience, the autofocus can really mess up the panorama series. Even if the stitching software can handle it, panorama will look weird with unnatural changes in focus.
8. A tripod can really help. A panorama head to correct for "nodal point" or "no parallax pount" is then very beneficial, as otherwise the rotation of the camera is not through the nodal point. Sometimes handholding can give better results than a tripod with a non-panoramic head, as one is more flexible to determin a pivot point.
9. (In my own words) The parallax or nodal point or 'non parallax' point have to do with the positioning of subjects to the lens in relation to the angle of the lens towards the subject. The easiest way to get the concept is to have your finger somewhere in middle front of your face and look at a certain subject at some distance with both eyes open. Then close one eye and alternate between eyes while remaining in position. If your head is steady you will see that the distant subject 'moves' left or right from your finger, although nothing is actually moving.
   A panoramic head helps you rotate the camera exactly around the 'nodal point' of the camera and lens combination. This is the only point that allows for rotation without the parallax effect coming into account. The pain is in determining the exact point for your camera-lens combination, which for zoom lenses may be different for different focal lenghts
   I have shot many panoramas handheld and when the nearby elements are not too close, handheld or a regular tripod head can do the trick. When needing to shoot multiple rows or 360 panoramas, a panoramic head becomes more valuable.
10. I usually try to stich in Adobe Lightroom for regular one row panoramas. For more complex work I use PTGui. Never really tried other software.

That's a tutorial if ever I saw one.

 

[Jan1977]

Here is a handheld panorama of one row. Taken during a mountain hike and I didn't want to bring too much gear. So this was shot using my R5 with the 24-240 zoom lens.

And here is one shot with a DJI Mini, shooting separate photos after which stitching was done in post on laptop: