Panoramic Technique

Steps

This is a basic overview of various steps and tips for combining several photographs into 1 photo. For greater detail and information please refer to the links page for more online resources. Also to see an example from start to finish of a single row 360 panoramic image please jump ahead to this page.

Find the Nodal Point of your camera lens and make (buy) a pano bracket

While you can take the photos handheld without using a specialized bracket you will get more accurate and consistent results with a bracket with the proper camera measurements- especially with objects less than 50 feet from the camera. A bracket obviously is a bit more advanced, but once you have attempted several pano photos this will become self evident as images may not line up properly in the final output image and may produce a ghost-like effect. The newer, smarter programs will not produce ghost-like images but rather just not properly line up the images causing poor stitches between photos. A pano bracket with the proper nodal measurements for your camera will produce seamless images on a consistent basis.

The key for good results is to eliminate the effect of parallax in the overlapping images. This is accomplished by pivoting about what is commonly referred to as the lens nodal point. A specialized bracket on the tripod will accomplish this. Different cameras, lenses, and focal lengths will have different nodal point measurements.

Bracket Links:

Finding the Nodal Point:

Pano Programs:

Autostitch is currently a free program that has very basic options and is completely automatic. This is a good program to start with. PT Assembler offers a unrestricted free 30 day trial. Enblend and Auto-Pano are two essential plug-ins that will make this program easier and faster.

Program Links:

Take the Pictures

Images should overlap by 15-20 percent. Brightness and contrast of the image should be the same throughout each image. Each photo should be taken on manual control with shutter speed and aperture set the same throughout each image. Focus should also be set to manual so it does not change from image to image. Sometimes even setting the WB (White Balance) helps in consistent color over several images.

Portland ME

Page 5- Steps

Photography by Charles Peifer