Panoramic shots, what MUST i do?

[funk1196]

I tried doing a panoramic shot with my tripod and head thats designed for panoramic shots.

I used the same aperture, and exposed for each of the 3 shots, when i stitched them together, they were different exposures, and even if i manually edited them in PP, i dont think it would look quite right no matter how close i got.

Should i be using the same aperture AND shutter speed for all the shots, even if its under/over exposes?

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c44/funk11963/Panoramic1.jpg

[speedhop]

It would probably be best for you to use the same aperture and different shutter speed depending on the composition.

Remember that your sensor exposes for 18% gray, so when you shoot into the sun it's going to meter differently than when you are taking a shot with no sun.

Try taking overlapping photos...the more photos the better, so take quite a few.

Where was this taken? Looks goregous! Keep trying, you'll get what your looking for ;)

[funk1196]

it's over napa valley.
I actually just did Av and let the camera meter for shutter speed, i'm trying to do a panoramic HDR of this....but if the exposures are even slightly off, as they obviously are there, i'm not gonna get lines in my images!

i guess i'll try again!

[argyle]

1.) Be sure that your white balance setting is not set to "automatic"
2.) Use adequate overlap between images (25% min to 50% max)
3.) Do not use a polarizer
4.) Use of a lens hood will help to prevent flaring, especially when a strong light source is present
5.) Aperture must remain constant throughout the pano (you seem to have that one covered already)

[funk1196]

1.) Be sure that your white balance setting is not set to "automatic"
2.) Use adequate overlap between images (25% min to 50% max)
3.) Do not use a polarizer
4.) Use of a lens hood will help to prevent flaring, especially when a strong light source is present
5.) Aperture must remain constant throughout the pano (you seem to have that one covered already)

what do you mean by #2?

[DunnoWhen]

Shoot the whole scene with the same (manually set) exposure.

As you said, whilst you used a constant aperture, you have three different exposures due to shutter speed.

[argyle]

what do you mean by #2?

After you take your first image, rotate your camera partway through the first image (from 1/4 to 1/2). Repeat this process for each successive shot until you're finished. Whatever you do, do not try to line up the leading edge of the second shot with the trailing edge of the first shot (and so on). Keep overlapping the images...let the software take care of the alignment. Also, make sure that your tripod has been leveled so the camera stays flat as you rotate it through the shots. Forgot to mention in my previous post, but the next poster brought up...shoot in manual mode. Try this link, it gives some good tips:

Kelby Pano Tips (http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1025307)

[funk1196]

After you take your first image, rotate your camera partway through the first image (from 1/4 to 1/2). Repeat this process for each successive shot until you're finished. Whatever you do, do not try to line up the leading edge of the second shot with the trailing edge of the second shot (and so on). Keep overlapping the images...let the software take care of the alignment. Also, make sure that you're tripod has been leveled so the camera stays flat as you rotate it through the shots. Forgot to mention in my previous post, but the next poster brought up...shoot in manual mode. Try this link, it gives some good tips:

Kelby Pano Tips (http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1025307)

ah... yeah i only did about 10% overlapping :P i'll do more next time, as well as make sure my tripod is level this time too! My last one ended up being skinnier than i wouldve liked it cause all my shots were sloping downward in sequence

so some people are saying i should do the same aperture, but different shutter speeds.
anyone else think i should do different shutter speeds? cause it seems logical to me to use the same one throughout!

[argyle]

Set your camera to Av mode and select the f-stop that you prefer to use. Meter the scene and make note of the shutter speed in the VF. Switch the camera to full manual, and set the aperture and shutter speed as metered. Use this for all the shots. Setup, focus, and rotate through the shots. Do not refocus from shot to shot...after setting your initial focus, move the switch from "AF" to "MF" and leave it there...no need to refocus.

Set the camera up for portrait (vertical) framing...you'll need to take more shots to cover the full range of the pano, but the extra height will give you more room for cropping.

Read the link, its all in there. Or you can google panorama shooting to get more info.

Note: Beware of objects in the very close foreground...unless you've adjusted the lens' nodal point, there will some issues with parallax. For distant panos, parallax and the nodal point of the lens will not be a concern...just shoot without any worries.

Really, read up more on this...

[funk1196]

Set your camera to Av mode and select the f-stop that you prefer to use. Meter the scene and make note of the shutter speed in the VF. Switch the camera to full manual, and set the aperture and shutter speed as metered. Use this for all the shots. Setup, focus, and rotate through the shots. Do not refocus from shot to shot...after setting your initial focus, move the switch from "AF" to "MF" and leave it there...no need to refocus.

Set the camera up for portrait (vertical) framing...you'll need to take more shots to cover the full range of the pano, but the extra height will give you more room for cropping.

Read the link, its all in there. Or you can google panorama shooting to get more info.

Note: Beware of objects in the very close foreground...unless you've adjusted the lens' nodal point, there will some issues with parallax. For distant panos, parallax and the nodal point of the lens will not be a concern...just shoot without any worries.

Really, read up more on this...

sounds good! i'm excited about doing my next shot!

one more thing though, have you ever done an HDR panoramic? if i'm taking 10 images (30 total) should i:
stitch 10 (creating 3 pano's of 3 different exposures) and then HDRing
or
HDR (creating 10 HDR's) and then stitching all 10?

thanks for all your tips!

[David Ransley]

I am testing HDR as well. In your shot you have 3 areas; left middle and right. I would approach it this way:
1. Decide on the EV difference you are going for. Maybe start with 1EV. Manual, no Auto changes by camera.
2. Plan three shots, for left with the 1EV (-1, 0 and +1)
3. Plan three shots for the middle at 1EV (-1,0 and +1)
4. Plan three shots for the right at 1EV (-1,0 and +1)
5. Also plan for 25% overlap between panels
5. Now HDR each panel first (left, middle and right), you can do tone mapping or detail enhancement.
6. Stitch the lot to get the Panorama
7. Now do final sharpening and fix what you want.

[CameraBuff]

Thanks argyle - great link - I saved that one for sure

[rammy]

Having made the mistake of not presetting the focus, shutter speed, aperture, WB and ISO, I learnt from the overlap exposure differences and have never looked back. (Read that again).

Put the camera into M (manual) mode, pre-set the aperture and shutter speed, pre-set the WB to anything BUT auto, pre-set the focus (then switch the lens to manual), and select a low ISO. Overlap by 33- 50% and shoot in portrait.

Take a read through this thread:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=412143

[agunther]

Set your camera to fully manual, focus and set your lens to manual as well. Some of the first mistakes I made was using af and when there was a foreground element, my picture got messed up.
Stitching is easy enough:
I wrote a tutorial about stitching (http://www.aguntherphotography.com/projects/highresimg.htm) a while ago.
White balance is not an issue if you shoot RAW. Just remember to equalize it for all images before conversion.
There is some amazing stuff you can do. I did this 800 Megapixel Image a while ago:
800 Megapixel Image of San Francisco (http://www.aguntherphotography.com/blog/million-dollar-display-cluster-based-visualization.html)
These shots require a bit of planning, but otherwise are just larger (multi row) version of the panoramas we are talking about here.
However since a 300mm lens translates into a super wide angle, this means your depth of field becomes very small (just as a large format camera has less less dof with the same lens and aperture). You are effectively increasing your sensor size. So make sure you got enough focus.

[chauncey]

agunther
nice to hear that other folks are using this technique as it do make a great image.
I use rammy's method in conjunction with a 300 f/2.8 ISL at about f/16 mounted on a Ds3 and using your "S", multirow, camera panning method.
Your DOF point is correct, something to be aware of.

Combining them in CS4 is a long process as they create some huge a$$ files.

[rdenney]

sounds good! i'm excited about doing my next shot!

one more thing though, have you ever done an HDR panoramic? if i'm taking 10 images (30 total) should i:
stitch 10 (creating 3 pano's of 3 different exposures) and then HDRing
or
HDR (creating 10 HDR's) and then stitching all 10?

thanks for all your tips!

I would make the panoramas first, and then do the high dynamic range merge. That way, you avoid edges in density. Work fast--those clouds and that sun will move.

One thing I didn't see elsewhere: In addition to manual exposure, use manual white balance. Guess how I know:

http://www.rickdenney.com/images/ranier-ridge-panorama-lores.jpg

One out of the nine images ended up with a different white balance, and I didn't notice it until I'd stitched it all together. And, no, these weren't done in raw so I can't fix it easily.

Rick "it isn't supposed to be easy" Denney