Australian_Photography_-_June_2016_

H

ave you ever witnessed a spectacular sunrise? One

of those mornings when you’ve finally positioned

yourself in the right spot at the right time and the

whole sky lights up? Perhaps there’s a rainbow,

streaks of lightning, or a palette of electric colours more like a

Jackson Pollack painting than the lifeless scene you scouted the

previous day.

It’s moments like these I feel confined by the conventional

three-by-two aspect ratio of my viewfinder. If you know the

feeling, perhaps it’s time to start thinking bigger – and wider! Say

hi to stitched panoramas!

Panoramic photography has been around for years and

was made famous in Australia by iconic photographers Ken

Duncan and Steve Parish, who initially used specialised,

panorama-format film cameras to create sweeping views of the

Australian landscape.

These days, with the advent of digital cameras and clever post-

processing software, it’s easier than ever to capture that expansive

scene by capturing a series of overlapping images and stitching

them together in post to create a single, stunning, wide-format

panoramic image.

So, how do you create seamlessly stitched panoramas of your

own? It’s really not that hard – as long as you have some basic

software and follow a few basic principles. So, without further

ado, here are my tricks and tips to get you shooting beautiful

panoramic landscapes in no time!

AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 45

Panoramas

Perfect

PHOTO TIPS seamless panorama stitching

Tired of the usual three-by-two picture format offered by most digital

cameras? Go wide says pro photographer Justin Gilligan who shares

his best tips and tricks for seamless panoramic image stitches.

AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY JUNE 2016