pano-shots

[CaN0n 5OlDiEr]

How do I get good pano-shots without making the seams obvious in the picture? when I stitch the photo together I see little differences in the seams......Any suggestions? And also, what does it mean when a picture is "noisy"? How can I avoid taking "noisy" pictures? Please help me out, thanks.

Leland

[Red]

You get noise by using higher ISOs and longer exposures. So if you are taking a long exposure, you need a low ISO, but requires the exposure to be even longer.

[Scottes]

This may help a bit: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=49468&highlight=pano+scottes

As to seams specifically, I like to do it by hand in Photoshop. I'll use the Polygon Lasso to make selections without a straight line, zig-zagging since this will be make the seam much less obvious. Also, use objects to help hide the seam, like making the selection go along the edge of a house or tree or something.

[CaN0n 5OlDiEr]

Thanks guys for all your input, they were helpful.....Although the photo stitch by hand sounds kinda complex, having read through all the necessary steps from scotte, it sounded like a long and grueling process to get the perfect pano.........I will give that a try though, on the second thought, is there an easier way to perform this task? I mean photo stitching. Any input would be appreciated.

Leland

[RichardtheSane]

Basic stuff here, but you need the image you use for stitching to be good too, in fact you need to be taking the photographs with stitching in mind.

So you will have to use manual exposure, set the camera up and shoot all the images at the same settings. Also switch from Auto White balance to one of the presets or manual. If you don't do these you will likely get images that do not match in terms of exposure and colour balance, and that is really hard to fix when stitching.

Ideally (but not important in most cases) you would want to use a tripod or monopod too.

[Scottes]

Yeah, there are easier ways. They leave visible seams.
:-)

From my investigation it seems that the better the final image the more grueling the process is, whether one painstaking does things by hand or has to learn some complex software. Where is your balance between time spent to get a perfect image? If you want this quickly then you'll have to live with visible seams. If you want a perfect pic you'll have to learn complex software or do it painstakingly by hand.

There is middle-of-the-road software which is relatively easy to use and will create a pretty darn good pic. Alas, I couldn't tell you the name of any.

[CaN0n 5OlDiEr]

thanks for all the input guys.......I just want to know another thing, what is the difference between using manual exposure versus setting the shutter speed and aperture value to brighten or darken the pictures?? Any inputs would be appreciated.

Leland

[Scottes]

Always use manual exposure so you get the same exact exposure across all frames. Otherwise you'll get frames that are exposed slightly differently depending on the contents of that frame. By using manual you're ensuring that the exposure is *exactly* the same.

Using Av mode lets the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed to get a "correct" exposure. You don't want to let the camera attempt to do anything automatically, since this ensures that frames *will* be different. By using manual mode you stop the camera from trying to expose each frame as if it were an individual picture.

[rammy]

Regarding seams, what I have also noticed with 300D and kit lens, using wide angle causes some vignetting, whilst shooting a Pano at 50mm+ does not.

Thus, shooting close to "normal zoom" should give you a better blend across your images. Also, do not use a polariser as you pan and try and get a wide angle filter if you want to stop down the sky and stop it burning out.

Switch off auto-focus as well, I learnt this trick just recently. I now follow scottes original advice (see the link to thread he has posted). Basically, manual everything :-)

[CaN0n 5OlDiEr]

so I have to take the photos using manual mode? becasue when I want pano shots, I usually use the Pano option on my G6 and PhotoStitch to assemble the photos. So the pano mode is auto everything I think.........don't know if I adjust the Av and Tv in manual mode will affect shooting pictures in the panoramic mode? any suggestions?

[Scottes]

Again, manual everything. Focus, and switch the lens to manual focus. Put the camera in Manual mode and scan the scene watching the needle for a proper exposure. Pick the correct aperture and shutter speed for the best possible exposure for the scene. Take the pictures, stitch them.

Using any automatic modes of any kind will most likely change the exposure between two frames and you'll end up with a noticable seam.

[CaN0n 5OlDiEr]

ok thanks, I will try that this weekend if possible.........I'll let you guys know how I did........