Panoramic Photography

fenderjaguar · Apr 22, 2012

Havent seen any panoramic photos so I thought I'd post a few. Just an area of photogrpahy I've been working on lately so let me know what you think! These shots all range from 180-360 degrees. The one with all the cars in it is the 360 degree shot.

Mike K · Apr 22, 2012

Cool shots! Can you tell us what gear you used? Anything special on the tripod to compensate while rotating the camera? Any post editing to square things up?

fenderjaguar · Apr 22, 2012

Mike K said:
Cool shots! Can you tell us what gear you used? Anything special on the tripod to compensate while rotating the camera? Any post editing to square things up?

I used a Canon EOS Rebel T3/1100d with an 18-55mm lens. Just used a standard tripod with a pistol grip head that once leveled you can release a lever that lets just the part attached to the camera swivel 360 degrees without using the grip. So basically nothing special tripod wise. It's not even and expensive model. For software I use a program called "Hugin" a panorama photo stitcher which is free and you can download it. You upload the files and it stitches it for you and corrects the images. I did my first panorama the old fashioned way using Gimp but lens distortion and all that was a real problem plus it takes serious time so now I just use this program which is very simple. After Hugin does it's thing I take the tiff file it creates and throw that into Picasa (another free program for editing) and adjust the picture to my taste. I then go to "Export to folder" and convert that tiff from, for ex. a 45mb image, down to a 200kb image which can then be uploaded anywhere.

STM · Apr 22, 2012

Mike K said:
Cool shots! Can you tell us what gear you used? Anything special on the tripod to compensate while rotating the camera? Any post editing to square things up?[/QUOT
I have done a fair amount of 360 degree panoramic stuff for realtors who want to have a "virtual." room. I actually contract through a company known as CirclePix I have a bracket which mounts on the tripod and is click stopped to take 16 images and is designed to work with a 28mm lens in a vertical orientation. It works like a champ. I am sure you can find something similar on the web. Most tripods do have a ring below the head with graduations for different focal lengths as well. I you want to just "wing it" you can look for a specific, easily identified landmark towards the end in the frame and when you move the camera, ensure it is included in the view in the next frame as well. It's not as precise but it will get the job done.

The ONE thing you must be mindful of when shooting panoramas is the camera must be level in all planes or stitching your photos will be a chore and your results will be poor. My bracket has a small bubble level at the center point which you need to keep centered. However, for less than $10 including shipping on Fleabay, you can get a three axis spirit level "cube" which slides into your hotshoe. I carry two of them everywhere I go (they are easy to lose!). They come in extremely handy when it comes to shooting panoramas or architecture, etc. Anywhere your camera needs to be plumb.

One thing you will encounter doing any panorama is some kind of perspective distortion, The longer the longer the focal length of lens you use (which means more images), the less pronounced the "barrel" or bulging effect. If you don't mind stitching 20 images together an 85mm lens (on FX) is a good choice. You get minimal distoriton.

Mike K · Apr 22, 2012

fenderjaguar said:
Mike K said:

Cool shots! Can you tell us what gear you used? Anything special on the tripod to compensate while rotating the camera? Any post editing to square things up?

Click to expand...

I used a Canon EOS Rebel T3/1100d with an 18-55mm lens. Just used a standard tripod with a pistol grip head that once leveled you can release a lever that lets just the part attached to the camera swivel 360 degrees without using the grip. So basically nothing special tripod wise. It's not even and expensive model. For software I use a program called "Hugin" a panorama photo stitcher which is free and you can download it. You upload the files and it stitches it for you and corrects the images. I did my first panorama the old fashioned way using Gimp but lens distortion and all that was a real problem plus it takes serious time so now I just use this program which is very simple. After Hugin does it's thing I take the tiff file it creates and throw that into Picasa (another free program for editing) and adjust the picture to my taste. I then go to "Export to folder" and convert that tiff from, for ex. a 45mb image, down to a 200kb image which can then be uploaded anywhere.

Thanks for the info. They really do look great.

I hear that at wider settings of zooms the distortion will make stitching difficult. Any idea what mm setting you used?

BTW, I'm in VA also but in the DC suburbs.

Mike K · Apr 22, 2012

STM said:
Mike K said:

Cool shots! Can you tell us what gear you used? Anything special on the tripod to compensate while rotating the camera? Any post editing to square things up?[/QUOT
I have done a fair amount of 360 degree panoramic stuff for realtors who want to have a "virtual." room. I actually contract through a company known as CirclePix I have a bracket which mounts on the tripod and is click stopped to take 16 images and is designed to work with a 28mm lens in a vertical orientation. It works like a champ. I am sure you can find something similar on the web. Most tripods do have a ring below the head with graduations for different focal lengths as well. I you want to just "wing it" you can look for a specific, easily identified landmark towards the end in the frame and when you move the camera, ensure it is included in the view in the next frame as well. It's not as precise but it will get the job done.

The ONE thing you must be mindful of when shooting panoramas is the camera must be level in all planes or stitching your photos will be a chore and your results will be poor. My bracket has a small bubble level at the center point which you need to keep centered. However, for less than $10 including shipping on Fleabay, you can get a three axis spirit level "cube" which slides into your hotshoe. I carry two of them everywhere I go (they are easy to lose!). They come in extremely handy when it comes to shooting panoramas or architecture, etc. Anywhere your camera needs to be plumb.

One thing you will encounter doing any panorama is some kind of perspective distortion, The longer the longer the focal length of lens you use (which means more images), the less pronounced the "barrel" or bulging effect. If you don't mind stitching 20 images together an 85mm lens (on FX) is a good choice. You get minimal distoriton.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I've got an Acratech GP ballhead and wondered if I really had to spring for one of these in addition Nodal rail w/ level quick release clamp*::*Photographic Accessories*::*Acratech

BTW, I'm a guitar player too. Is that an SG you're holding?

fenderjaguar · Apr 22, 2012

For the 360 degree shot and the one in color my focal length was 18mm at f/22. My tripod has multiple levels built into it so I did the best I could to level it and then adjust the shot by looking through the view finder before taking any shots and panning the area to get an idea of what the end result will look like. In doing so I find a happy medium and go with it. Yes the distortion makes the stitching difficult but that's why I like the program I used because it deals with all of that. For the most part it gets everything right.