Panorama's question.

[Maezel]

Hello!

I've been trying to get some panorama shots in the last weeks and I always end with the same "problem". I want to identify the cause of the curved horizon I always get.

Example: All sizes | Wanaka Surroundings | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Information about how it was taken/done:

1) I took to lines of photos, one with 2/3 sky, and one with 2/3 earth
2) No tripod was used
3) Camera Nikon D5100 (crop)
4) Lens Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8 @ 14mm f/2.8
5) No lens correction profile done in LR (I've tried correcting it but nothing changes)
6) Panorama merged in PS, settings: Auto and correct geometrical distortion
7) Every individual photo has a straight horizon

My guess is that it's caused because of the focal length used. There's some distortion and the only way PS can merge them together is if it curves the horizon. But I'm not sure, can anyone confirm?

Thanks.

 

[480sparky38 37]

It's caused by aiming the camera away from the horizon. Take portrait-orientation images instead, and keep the center of each image on the horizon.

The curved horizon can be corrected in post, but you'll lose a huge portion of the image.

 

[Maezel]

Ok thanks. I'll give that a try when the rain stops over here

 

[Light Guru]

No lens correction profile done in LR (I've tried correcting it but nothing changes)

Once you have done the panorama merge then you a auto lens creation will do nothing. You can manually do lens correction in photoshop to straiten things out.

 

[Edsport]

It's caused by aiming the camera away from the horizon. Take portrait-orientation images instead, and keep the center of each image on the horizon.

The curved horizon can be corrected in post, but you'll lose a huge portion of the image.

Portrait orientation or landscape orientation have nothing to do with distortion and my guess is that the distortion in the OPs image is caused by shooting at a very wide angle (14mm)...

 

[480sparky38 37]

Portrait orientation or landscape orientation have nothing to do with distortion and my guess is that the distortion in the OPs image is caused by shooting at a very wide angle (14mm)...

Orientation doesn't matter. But not keeping the camera level does. Taking a series of images in an arc, aiming the camera up, then down, then up again, can 'confuse' the software.

 

[Edsport]

Maybe some software has problems stitching but this photo is over 20 images all taken up and down in landscape mode and stitched using photoshop. Some shots was so high that there was no horizon in the photo and all done without tripod. I've done a few panos and have never used a tripod yet and photoshop has always stitched with no problems...

 

[tirediron]

Using a tripod will make your life a LOT easier!

 

[petrochemist115 140]

Using a tripod will make your life a LOT easier!

I've never used a tripod for Panoramas and Microsoft ICE rarely had any problems just stitching the shots. It's even coped with a run of ten or so fom a moving ship. I think the only problem was where I had too little overlap, a mistake that's as easily made with a tripod.

Using a tripod would have made it a LOT more hassle.

 

[Maezel]

No lens correction profile done in LR (I've tried correcting it but nothing changes)

Once you have done the panorama merge then you a auto lens creation will do nothing. You can manually do lens correction in photoshop to straiten things out.

Yes I know, i was talking about doing the lens correction on the separate original files.

Portrait orientation or landscape orientation have nothing to do with distortion and my guess is that the distortion in the OPs image is caused by shooting at a very wide angle (14mm)...

Orientation doesn't matter. But not keeping the camera level does. Taking a series of images in an arc, aiming the camera up, then down, then up again, can 'confuse' the software.

I did it that way because I was still getting the arc when I took only one line, resulting in having to crop a big part of the sky or ground to make the image rectangular. That's why I tried taking 2 lines instead, but the curvature is still there.

Using a tripod will make your life a LOT easier!

I have one. A gorilla pod with the ball. But that ball is useless to move the camera just in one direction and the tripos is pretty short. That's why I do it handheld. Unfortunately, right now and due to my traveling, I can't carry a big tripod with me.


The weather is still bad over here to give the things you guys posted in this thread a try, maybe it gets better tomorrow or this afternoon.

Thanks.

 

[480sparky38 37]

I did it that way because I was still getting the arc when I took only one line, resulting in having to crop a big part of the sky or ground to make the image rectangular. That's why I tried taking 2 lines instead, but the curvature is still there.

Are you aiming the camera up and down equally? If you're shooting up, say, 30°, but down 45°, that may cause the software to bow the horizon.

 

[Edsport]

Using a tripod will make your life a LOT easier!

I'm not sure how having to set up a tripod and put camera on it makes life easier compared to not having to set up tripod and not have to put camera on it. If you're talking about PP than as i said before, i have taken quite a few panos and never used a tripod yet and i have no problems stitching them. Can't get easier than that...

 

[480sparky38 37]

Using a tripod will make your life a LOT easier!

I'm not sure how having to set up a tripod and put camera on it makes life easier compared to not having to set up tripod and not have to put camera on it. If you're talking about PP than as i said before, i have taken quite a few panos and never used a tripod yet and i have no problems stitching them. Can't get easier than that...

If you have portions of the scene that are quite close to you, you can have parallax errors from frame to frame and the software can't match things up properly. If all you ever shoot are distant scenes, it's not a problem. But if you're standing next to a handrail, or a statue, etc., parallax becomes an issue.

 

[Maezel]

Update:

I tried taking pictures in a portrait orientation at 14mm and the horizon was fine on one. On the other it ended up in an S shape (?) but probably because I failed. I'll keep shotting this way and see where it gets me. I have 2 big subalpine hikes coming in the following weeks (Milford and routeburn) I'll get a lot of chances to shoot panoramas if the weather is on my side

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Edsport]

Try shooting at 24mm. Since you're gonna stitch the photos there's no need to take them at such a wide angle...