Sunday, June 04, 2006
Panorama Mode in Digital Photography
Modern digital cameras have made taking panoramas nearly an easy task. Dedicated panorama cameras are very costly but every digital camera has a panorama mode that lets you take multiple wide images with overlap and these images are joined precisely to form a single panorama picture using the specific software supplied along with the camera. The process of joining is generally referred to as "stitching".
A tripod with a panning head is required for the camera when panorama mode is selected. How shots should be stitched is also to be selected. It could be from right to left or top to bottom or the other way. When you start shooting it should be from the far left or right or from far top or bottom corresponding to the selection.
You should keep the camera at level and at the same spot till you complete the entire sequence of shots.
After you capture the first section of the image you should lock the white balance and exposure settings to ensure that the same settings are used for the subsequent shots. You should then turn the camera by 30 to 40 degrees in the selected direction for each subsequent shot till the entire scene is captured. The minimum over lap of each image in the sequence is 30% and the vertical alignment should be kept at less than 10%. If a distinct object were included in every overlapping section, it would be easier for the editing software to precisely identify the section to be joined
