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 Scottware Images

Panoramas

Here's a collection of panorama images I've taken through the years. I've only just started to take a keener interest in them. I think I'm improving. Here's some tips I've learnt to help you create you own just like these (or better :)
 I've only belted this out - so will fix it all up later - just had to get it out of my head.

Taking the photos

• If you have a panorama function on your digital camera - that's the easiest way - I don't.

• Before clicking, test the zoom distance you need to be able to get a close as possible but fit everything in once you 'pan'

• if you are at 0x zoom you may be a fish eye effect and have difficulties joining up the images.

• if you are at 0x zoom you also will have a far less impressive panorama. It's better to zoom in and then take more shots and you'll get a much wider pan.

• do a test pan looking at your camera screen/view finder. make sure you can do a level one and not have to move higher or lower to get key items in the image. Better to be zoomed out a little bit to get it all.

• When taking the images, keep an eye on what is included in the image, remembering a key feature in the image on the side of the direction you are panning. pan to the next image and include that key feature in the shot, hold the camera still and look for the next key feature in this current screen to repeat the process as you pan around. It's better to have too many images than missing a chunk!

• Consider what you can include in the image to make it more interesting then just a long image. Have something reviled at the end as a surprise for example.

• You can cheat, take a Hi Res photo and simple crop the top and bottom and you end up with a panorama!

Joining the photos:
Here's some quick instructions - not thorough yet sorry!)

• I use Photoshop to join my images. 

• Open all the images taken for the panorama

• Pick one of the end images, and increase it's 'canvas size' to be long enough to drop all the images in that one file as different layers. Also increase the height of the canvas a little to allow for a crocked pan.

• drop all the images in the big working file you now have. then line them up one by one.

• adjust the 'level' of the layer to match the previous image

• Sometimes a feathered edge joins the images better. but even better is if you can have a line that follows natural 'lines' on the join rather than just a straight vertical line.

• If sky/clouds are not joining nicely you can do 'motion blurs' and get away with it.

• When all joined, rotate the image a little if needed.

• Crop the image to the best effect.

• now reduce the size of the image to what ever is practical to display on a screen. 

• for really larch Megapixal images and long series or slow computers - you may be better to reduce the size of the images first and then start working on them.