Understanding the way to learning how to do panoramic photography is one of the most exciting and fun things in photography. You can create thousands of photos that look beautiful on your wall or home office. It's not only a great way to practice the way you look at photography in general, but a great way to master your landscape photography skills as well.
Let's start with why panoramas were "invented". Software businesses knew that the scene was bigger than what our cameras could record. So they created a process called "stitching". Stitching is a term used to describe taking a series of photos side by side and merging them together to create one single, long and wide photo.
For panorama photography you don't need anything too expensive when it comes to cameras. You just need a tripod, clear lighting and some software. My favourite software to stitch my panoramas is called "Panorama Maker Pro". Nowadays they have version 6 available. You can even trial it for a short period of time to decide whether or not it is suitable for you.
I have created a lot of panoramas with the software. Once complete you can clearly see how it beautifully elongates a photo. This works fabulously for landscape photography. When you want to photograph your scene and do not have a wide or ultra wide angle lens, creating a panorama is good fun.
How To Take Panoramic Photos- Here is how you position the digital camera
There's one thing to make panoramas, and another thing to actually take them. There is a particular way to shoot panoramic shots and it's less difficult than you are probably thinking. Okay, so let's start.
Let's start with photographing a landscape shot. Choose the scene you want to photograph. Make sure your landscape has nice lighting and there are no strong shadows across your scene, it will make it a lot easier to stitch if you have a clear and open scene.
Set your digital camera up on a tripod. Keep the digital camera securely fastened and able to move about from left to right or right to left only. It's crucial that you allow the tripod to move horizontally. If your tripod slips downwards as you are taking the picture you make risk having your photo blurry and the software will be unable to stitch correctly.
Don't shoot into the sun. Have the sun behind you. It is better to shoot at the end of the day, or the start of the day. The light is nicer, softer and so much more gentle at the start and end of the day. The colours are deeper too.
Creating Panoramic Photos
Choose manual setting and place the camera in the direction of the part of the scene you want to expose properly. Now keep the digital camera on those modes the whole time. Let's say you have the camera at 1/250th of a second and F20, 100 ISO. You've decided that you want a certain part of the picture to be well exposed and these settings will do it. That's good, keep them that way and don't change the settings at all.
Once you have chosen your settings, now take a succession of photos, one after the other. Turn the camera from left to right, for example. Make sure you leave a section of the scene as overlap. Your stitching software needs to overlap something.
What Kinds Of Things Can You Make a Panorama From?
Fast moving subjects may not work- depending on the light. Begin with motionless subjects. Landscapes with a nothing but blue sky and a mountain range are good subjects to begin with. Nothing is fast moving so the software should not have any concern stitching your scene together. Let me explain.
If you are shooting with a shutter speed of /125th of a second and the subjects is fast moving, like water for example, then you may not have a fast enough shutter speed for the motion of the camera and the water. In one photo the water will be at the top of the rock and the next photo the water will be half way down the rock.
When the software tries to stitch two irregularities together it will not be able to form a complete picture. You must always keep the shot without movement so the software can stitch the image in exactly the same spot. It will then make photo 1 the same as photo 2. There will be no difficulties and the two photos will come together nicely.
However, on saying that, if you have loads of light and a fast shutter speed you must to move the camera sooner than the water is moving. In other words, you need to move super fast to make sure you position your digital camera in a way that the stitching will match up.
If the water is moving at 1/250th of a second, then you need to move at 1/500th of a second. You need to move the camera from left to right, faster than the water. But for now, start with a single picture without movement of any kind. Keep your mind on a stationary subject. It's simpler in the beginning that way.
What Other Scenes Make Great Panoramas- There are heaps of ways to make your photos wide and big.
Mountain ranges are not the only types of things that look good as panoramas. Once you have mastered the shutter speed and speed of motion for photographing a series of pictures, why not attempt a waterfall. Once you have mastered this method of panorama taking, you can work to produce panoramas in any direction. Not only do horizontal panoramas work but so do squares (tiles- two at the upper section of the photo and two at the bottom of your image, and so do vertical scenes.
I took a sequence of shots at Katoomba National Park in New South Wales, just a couple of hours drive out of Sydney, Australia. I did what was referred to as a "tile." The shot comprised of 6 photos; 3 bottom ones of the scene and 3 top ones of the scene. I was very careful not to overlap any sections of the water because I was unable to shift the digital camera quickly and have a fast shutter speed. My overlap points were rock instead of water.
Why did I chose this? This was due to the sunlight dipping behind the mountain. I used a very high ISO to compensate for the light decrease. I knew it would be okay to do this as my camera wouldn't overexpose anything in shadowy lighting like this. I was fortunate, the shot turned out well.
Creating Your Panorama as a Final Picture- Placing your panorama together
Once you have taken a series of shots from left to right, say 5, simply upload the photographs to your computer. Open up the Panorama software program. Then, once you are in, select the photos you want to work on. You will be able to follow the instructions pretty well when you are in the program itself. If your panorama works well, you should see a big scene. It is astonishing to see, for the very first time, that your photos have now become one and you are looking at a big photo- exactly the way you saw it with your own eyes. It's a stunning thing to experience.
Making panoramas is a superb way to not only become skilled at the art of photography but helps you look at scenes in a different way. You will have a fresh appreciation and excitement for landscapes especially.Don't just stick with landscapes. Once you grow more familiar with the progression, try creating photos of trees, water, oceans (remember your light and shutter), roads, and even pathways. Everything I have pointed out seems like a landscape scene, but if you do additional shooting you will find you can create a panorama out of just about anything. It's so much fun to do!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6996238
This is a blog created to share my photos with everyone. I want to show that photography is easy to learn and pick up..
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Saturday, March 7, 2015
How To Use A Digital Camera - Working Out The Basics
There are many great advantages of learning how to use a digital camera, even a point and shoot, or compact digital camera. Simply because you do not have an slr doesn't mean you won't be competent enough to take amazing images. The elegance about small compact cameras is that you can take them any where, slot them in your pocket and when you see something worth photographing, you can straightforwardly point and shoot. When you understand a few handy methods, you can then begin getting stunning images.
In order to photograph stunning photos you need to take a few things into reflection before pressing the shutter. As much as the digital camera has some fabulous technology, it can only prove as a rough road map for you, instead of taking the photo for you. It's you who photographs a beautiful picture due to artistic and technical skills, not the camera.
On the days when you have a few moments to assess what result you are going will get you will be thankful that you stopped and really looked closely at what scene you are about to photograph. It is always through this evaluation and awareness that takes you to a higher level in your photography.
To start, let's check out the essential mechanical foundations of your compact. Shutter speed and aperture. Every photograph consists of a combination of shutter speed and aperture. To appreciate this wholly think of your shutter speed as the measurement of time the lighting has to fall on to the camera sensor and then be closed out again. The aperture is the amount of lighting that the shutter lets inside. Shutter is about shooting at the right moment and fstop is about the quantity of light.
When you have a lens aperture that is quite big, you will discover you have a quicker shutter speed time. This is so that no overabundance of light floods in to the sensor and provides you with overexposed photos. (Photos with too much light can ruin your shot). Aperture and shutter speed continually work collectively. Once you become more positive in your camera and your skills and competencies, you will be capable enough to work out the ideal blend of both. Once you get the perfect combination you may be able to advance your photography in leaps and bounds.
What about the shooting modes on the digital camera? There are a few work modes you can use on your camera. Most of the time you will probably shoot in auto. I suggest to try out the other adjustments if you can.
"SP" is shutter priority function. It means that the digital camera will pick what it believes the best shutter speed is for your photo. "AP" means aperture priority. It will decide the aperture for you as you decide the shutter speed. You may also find a selection of other scene modes such as Portrait, Landscape, Night and Sport. When you place your dial on any of these shooting modes it means the compact will try to find the best combination of shutter and aperture for these conditions you have chosen.
These diverse adjustments cause different things to take place within the digital camera itself. Portrait mode sets the camera to have a fuzzy background. Landscape sets the digital camera to be able to get sharp focus in the distance. Night Time mode sets the camera to have a very slow shutter speed and Sports mode tells the digital camera to have a very quick shutter speed. Within all of these settings you are unable to manipulate the light sensitivity (called ISO), and at times won't be able to use the flash. (Based on what compact you have.)
Working to get the most ideal image sharpness you can is the ideal way to take shots. It's imperative to be on familiar terms with what kind of subjects needs what kind of focusing. For example, a close up picture of someone's face needs sharp, close focusing. A water fall tumbling over a mountain edge will require sharp focusing all the way in the distance. (This scale of focusing is called depth of field.)
To ensure that your shots are in focus where you want them to be, you will see a little circle come up in your view finder or lcd screen. When the photo is in focus the small dot will show. Some cameras don't have a dot but may beep quietly when the shot is in focus and it's time to take the photo.
It's important not to lose the focus and risk blurry images. But it's easy to do when you are just starting out. This is why compact camera manufacturing businesses created a helpful little function called "Auto Focus Lock". This mode allows you keep the focus on your subject while you get the most ideal place, then you can shoot and still keep the sharp focus.
Otherwise you can point the camera, hold the button down half way (don't push it yet) wait for the camera to beep, then take the shot. By doing this you will also be holding the focus. This has advantages because you don't have to recall to take the auto focus lock off. You can just move on to the next photo.
Always keep in mind to examine your lighting, before making the photo. Check to see which mode you love photographing in and take the photo accordingly. Happy shooting!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7039220
In order to photograph stunning photos you need to take a few things into reflection before pressing the shutter. As much as the digital camera has some fabulous technology, it can only prove as a rough road map for you, instead of taking the photo for you. It's you who photographs a beautiful picture due to artistic and technical skills, not the camera.
On the days when you have a few moments to assess what result you are going will get you will be thankful that you stopped and really looked closely at what scene you are about to photograph. It is always through this evaluation and awareness that takes you to a higher level in your photography.
To start, let's check out the essential mechanical foundations of your compact. Shutter speed and aperture. Every photograph consists of a combination of shutter speed and aperture. To appreciate this wholly think of your shutter speed as the measurement of time the lighting has to fall on to the camera sensor and then be closed out again. The aperture is the amount of lighting that the shutter lets inside. Shutter is about shooting at the right moment and fstop is about the quantity of light.
When you have a lens aperture that is quite big, you will discover you have a quicker shutter speed time. This is so that no overabundance of light floods in to the sensor and provides you with overexposed photos. (Photos with too much light can ruin your shot). Aperture and shutter speed continually work collectively. Once you become more positive in your camera and your skills and competencies, you will be capable enough to work out the ideal blend of both. Once you get the perfect combination you may be able to advance your photography in leaps and bounds.
What about the shooting modes on the digital camera? There are a few work modes you can use on your camera. Most of the time you will probably shoot in auto. I suggest to try out the other adjustments if you can.
"SP" is shutter priority function. It means that the digital camera will pick what it believes the best shutter speed is for your photo. "AP" means aperture priority. It will decide the aperture for you as you decide the shutter speed. You may also find a selection of other scene modes such as Portrait, Landscape, Night and Sport. When you place your dial on any of these shooting modes it means the compact will try to find the best combination of shutter and aperture for these conditions you have chosen.
These diverse adjustments cause different things to take place within the digital camera itself. Portrait mode sets the camera to have a fuzzy background. Landscape sets the digital camera to be able to get sharp focus in the distance. Night Time mode sets the camera to have a very slow shutter speed and Sports mode tells the digital camera to have a very quick shutter speed. Within all of these settings you are unable to manipulate the light sensitivity (called ISO), and at times won't be able to use the flash. (Based on what compact you have.)
Working to get the most ideal image sharpness you can is the ideal way to take shots. It's imperative to be on familiar terms with what kind of subjects needs what kind of focusing. For example, a close up picture of someone's face needs sharp, close focusing. A water fall tumbling over a mountain edge will require sharp focusing all the way in the distance. (This scale of focusing is called depth of field.)
To ensure that your shots are in focus where you want them to be, you will see a little circle come up in your view finder or lcd screen. When the photo is in focus the small dot will show. Some cameras don't have a dot but may beep quietly when the shot is in focus and it's time to take the photo.
It's important not to lose the focus and risk blurry images. But it's easy to do when you are just starting out. This is why compact camera manufacturing businesses created a helpful little function called "Auto Focus Lock". This mode allows you keep the focus on your subject while you get the most ideal place, then you can shoot and still keep the sharp focus.
Otherwise you can point the camera, hold the button down half way (don't push it yet) wait for the camera to beep, then take the shot. By doing this you will also be holding the focus. This has advantages because you don't have to recall to take the auto focus lock off. You can just move on to the next photo.
Always keep in mind to examine your lighting, before making the photo. Check to see which mode you love photographing in and take the photo accordingly. Happy shooting!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7039220
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