Making panoramic images no longer requires a specialized camera. With the digitization of imaging, there are many programs that offer stitching capabilities to enable the photographer to combine images easily in the computer. I have found Adobe Elements 6.0 does a terrific job; much better than the Photomerge option contained in Photoshop CS2. Perhaps CS3 does a better job, but why upgrade when Elements 6.0 does the job?

In any event,  care needs to be taken in the capturing of the images that make up the panoramic photo.  Two things to watch for: make sure you shoot in Manual mode on your camera and make sure you keep the camera level as you acquire the images.

What I do is put the camera on Program mode and meter the middle of the scene. I take note of the aperture and shutter speed indicated by the camera. Then I switch to Manual mode and enter the same shutter speed and aperture.  The scene, depending on how wide the pano is going to be, is most likely going to have one end that is brighter than the other. By choosing the proper exposure for the middle of the scene, the brighter and darker ends will generally fall in line.  Elements does a very good job at blending the variations in light levels in the individual images.

If you are shooting at sunset, for instance, you may end up with a big difference in the bright to dark gamut that is beyond the capability of your camera to capture, so what I have done is expose more toward the brighter end in those instance so the sun is not blown out, then use the image/adjust/shadow/highlights function in Elements or Photoshop. This lightens the dark areas considerably (you can dial this down by the way) without lightening the bright areas. Check out O-989 on page Ottawa 33 of my website (skiphupp.com) where I did this to bring out detail in the bridge and the riverfront behind the bridge.

If you don't keep the camera level, the software program will have a difficult or impossible time aligning the images. A tripod is almost a necessity. I say almost, because that is what is recommended for the best image.  I must confess this image was taken handheld. These image stablization lenses really spoil a person. Though I must say I have learned through experience to keep the camera level enough. If you use a tripod (which I do do when it is possible), you want one that has a bubble level on it.

Overlap your images by about 25%. Watch for moving objects in the scene because if they appear in more than one of the images, it will goof you up.

I have taken up to as many as six images that worked, but usually it is 4 images that works best. Keep in mind that your computer has to churn the images all at once, so if you have a slow computer or little RAM memory available, you may not be able to combine the images.  I have 3gb of RAM and it works well. I use JPEG images (at full resolution because I intend to print my pano) rather than TIFF or PSD formats to keep the size down.

In the computer, do not make any adjustments to each image before making the pano. Do that after the computer has combine the images into a panoramic picture.

You will find that nearly every scene you photograph is capable of also becoming a panoramic. Just look around, find the correct exposure, put the camera on manual mode and shoot 4-6 images. Its fun seeing them come together in your computer.

This image is a horizontal image. I am now going to experiment with vertical ones.

Skip Hupp