What is Panorama? Guide to Taking Panorama on DSLR Camera Professionally

Taking artistic photos, you will surely hear the name  Panorama  , this is one of the modern photography styles that offers an extremely wide viewing angle to cover the entire frame. If you are a photographer who loves large airy spaces. Then panorama photos are the perfect choice. So  what is panorama? Let's learn with WebTech360 as well as guide to take panorama on DSLR!

What is Panorama?

The noun panorama is a combination of the Greek words pano (all) and horama (scene) . To understand in the simplest way, panorama means to simulate the panorama of any space.

This style has been around since 20 AD, on frescoes found in the ancient Roman city-state of Pompeii. However, it was not until 1787 that it was officially named panorama by the English painter Robert Barker.

In the field of photography, panorama is a style of spatial photography with any wide angle. For a photo to be considered a panorama, its angle of view must be at least 110 degrees (the field of view is equal to or greater than that of the human eye). For that reason, panoramas often have a ratio of 2:1, with the length twice the height.

Some images can even have an aspect ratio of 4:1 or sometimes 10:1, with a shooting angle of up to 360 degrees. The aspect ratio (aspect ratio) and the coverage of field factor are considered to be the two most important things in panorama photography.

With the desire to capture the panorama of the spaces that the human eye can see without using a brush. Since the early years of photography, photographers have been constantly exploring and experimenting, constantly finding new techniques and lines of panorama cameras.

Today, with the advanced technology of digital cameras, DSLRs, even travel cameras and mobile phones allow users to easily create panoramas thanks to built-in software. or specialized software such as: AutoPano, Panorama Make, Photoshop, ... If you are using a DSLR, you can't miss the guide to taking panorama on a DSLR in the article.

What is Panorama?

Popular Types of Panoramas

Before going into the guide to taking panoramas on DSLRs, we will take a look at some common types of panorama photos below!

Partial panorama

This type of panorama can be captured on a wide variety of devices, from digital cameras to mobile phones. Partial panorama will be created by merging multiple pictures into one frame.

Photo Partial Panorama

360° panorama

With 360-degree panoramas, these are more complex than partial panoramas because they capture the entire field of view around them. To capture this type of image, you simply start with partial panorama photography, then continue shooting until the final image comes back, matching the first image. This is the type of photo commonly found on Facebook 360 or right on Google Maps.

Wiki source: 360 degree rotation photography

The Simplest Guide to Shooting Panorama on a DSLR

To take professional panorama photos, you need to use specialized equipment, most of which are not available in Vietnam, and they are also very expensive. However, in this article, we will guide you to take panorama shots on DSLR without having to buy any expensive equipment. With a simple requirement, just have a camera capable of capturing RAW format and follow the end of the article and you are ready to take panorama photos.

Prepare equipment

A camera that captures RAW files

Suitable camera lenses with focal lengths of 50mm or more. If you are using a lens with a large focal length, taking individual images will cause distortion in the corners, affecting the compositing.

Filter for the lens: To achieve the best quality panorama, you should remove the filter from the lens before taking the photo. If you're afraid to remove the filter, make sure it doesn't create a vignette.

*Note: If your filter is a circular polarizer (CPL) , it must be removed.

Camera tripod: For better quality photos use a tripod. But make sure your tripod is flexible enough to pan freely.

Camera settings

Before you start, determine where you want to shoot and pick out the highlights , mid-lights, and shadows of the image when shooting.

Step 1: Set the camera to aperture priority mode (Av) . Next, you set the matrix metering mode and the image format to RAW.

Step 2: Meter into the mid-light area to get speed & aperture parameters. During the metering process, you are simultaneously focusing for the photo, so please switch the focus mode from AF to MF .

Step 3: Switch the camera to Full Manual mode and set the camera with 2 parameters obtained after metering.

Take a photo

Step 1: Prepare the pose with 2 feet firmly on the ground.

Step 2: Start shooting from the left end, gradually rotate to the right and take pictures one by one, note that the back photo must overlap the previous one by 1/3 of the frame. You are not allowed to change your standing position and camera while taking pictures.

Photo post-production

We will guide you to merge panorama images with Photoshop's Photomerge tool.

Step 1: Start Photoshop, then choose File > Automate > Photomerge .

Step 2: Click Browse to select the list of photos just taken.

Step 3: Select Auto in the Layout section on the left and choose 3 options at the bottom: Blend Images Together, Vignette Removal & Geometric Disortion Correction . Then click OK to get started.

Step 4: Once done, the image you just created will appear. Select all the layers and click Layers > Smart Objects > Convert to Smart Object if you want to edit.

Step 5: Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool (shortcut M), to select the area of ​​the image you want to keep.

Step 6: Choose Image > Crop to remove the excess image and press Ctrl + D to deselect.

Step 7: Finally Save As to save the image.

Hopefully with answers related to  what is panorama and guide to taking panorama on DSLR and editing photos so professionally. Hope you will create quality panorama photos, bringing extremely top-notch images.