Panoramic Images

I have always liked Panoramic images, especially the really wide ones. While I was a student at Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology we had a guest speaker who specializes in panoramic photography. He didn't use a digital camera like I do. He had an antique camera that has a special film roll attached to it that holds long rolls of black and white film. The film is 10 inches tall and can be as long as he wants it. His camera mounts on a special tripod and has a mechanism on it that allowes it to rotate 360 degrees while it is taking a photograph. It would somehow take a series of images that would be continuous on the roll of film and when your printed it you couldn't see any seems. It was really cool and very expensive to own and operate.

I have several examples of images that I have made, the first image was taken at Cumberland Gap National Park. This image measures 11 inches by 85 inches. I would love to print it but I don't know where I would display it. You are supposedly able to see Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee in this image but it all looks the same to me. I was in a hurry and didn't have my tripod when I took this series of photos and I ended up making a mistake while creating this image. That is the reason it is so wide, I'll explain why as you read the post. The image below with the barn is a better example of a Panoramic Image. When creating the image you don't just take one shot and your are done. For this reason, you really should have a tripod but if you don't have one try to find a solid surface to sit the camera on. If you have to you can hand hold the camera but this brings in more work later. As I mentioned above I made a mistake at the Gap and held my camera Horizontal. Turning the camera vertical while shooting allows for a taller and less wide panoramic image. 

Now that you camera is mounted firmly you are ready to create the images that will become your panoramic image. I always start from left to right but I guess you could start from right to left. You will take a series of images that overlap each other by 50%. So in everyday language you take your first image then the next image you line up the left side of the frame with the center of the image you just created. You do this until you have taken all the images necessary to create your panoramic image.



You Have to be careful that your plain of focus stays the same in each image. This means that you need to put the focus of each image at the same distance from the camera. So look for something in each image that is relatively close to the same distance from the camera and use that point as your point of focus for each image you shoot. Other wise parts of your image may not be in focus.

Another thing you need to be sure to do for each image is to keep the exposure relatively the same for each shot you take. This may be difficult if it is a bright sunny day but it is a necessary part if you want your image to be evenly lit from side to side. 

Once you have done the work of taking the images the next step is taking them into a software program that will allow you to stitch them together to create your panoramic image. I like to use Photoshop, but not everyone has access to this program as it is expensive. I hope I have explained this to you in a way that you can understand and can begin to experiment for yourself.