Australian_Photography_-_June_2016_

AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 47

ABOVE

Having scouted this

vantage point at

Guerilla Bay, NSW,

I waited patiently

for a perfect

sunset to create

this panorama

comprised of 15

vertical images with

the aid of a Nodal

Ninja panorama

head. Nikon D800

with16-35mm lens

@ 28mm, 2s @

f/14, ISO 100.

OPPOSITE

I needed to wait

for high tide and

a spectacular

sunset to capture

a panorama of this

jetty to nowhere

on Wagonga Inlet,

NSW. A five-image

horizontal stitch

was used to create

the final panorama.

Nikon D800 with

16-35mm lens @

31mm, 6s @ f/18,

ISO 50.

AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY JUNE 2016

Getting started
Most lenses can be used for panoramic stitching, with the
exception of fisheyes. My preferred lens for panoramas is a
16-35mm zoom lens, however on rare occasions I have also
used a 60mm lens and even a 120-400mm lens for a distant
mountain scene. It’s worth noting panoramic stitching works best
with rectilinear lenses, not fisheyes which produce too much
distortion when it comes to stitching the final panorama.
A tripod is essential. Not only will it help ensure your images
line up in post, it will allow you to choose slower shutter speeds
in magic-hour lighting conditions. I use a special panoramic
head to help me find the optimal nodal point for the camera and
lens combination, but it’s not essential. A regular tripod head
is fine – only think about upgrading if panorama stitching is
something you do a lot of.

Composing your panorama
Like most forms of photography, your first step is to visualise
the scene and think about the way the key elements will be
arranged in the final composition. Experience and practice
will help you develop the skills to visualise panoramas in the
field. If I’m planning on shooting a panoramic image that
features breaking waves on a shoreline, I will often ditch the
panoramic head and wing it by shooting three to four images
in normal landscape format. I will then try to time each image
so the waves on the shore and in each respective frame are in
roughly the same position. Quite often I will also include the
overlapping area of the images around natural breaks in the
scene such as rocky outcrops, which helps with stitching and
blending the images when it comes to post-processing.

Best camera settings

Because you are shooting several images, it doesn’t really

work to set the camera up in auto mode. What you don’t

want is for the camera to adjust the exposure, white balance

or focus, partway through a sequence of shots. With that in

mind, these are the camera settings that I find work the best:

• Use manual exposure and white balance and don’t change
  settings in between frames. Altering the exposure or white
  balance between images will lead to uneven areas of tone
  across the final image.


• Obtain the correct exposure for the brightest frame in your
  series and be sure to check your histogram and blinking
  highlights (only a few highlights should be blinking in the
  brightest frame).


• Autofocus on the main part of the scene you want sharp and
  then switch to manual focus – you don’t want the camera to be
  refocusing part-way through the scene or you may end up with
  at least one of the frames out of focus.


• A mid-to-narrow aperture (f/11, f/16, f/22 etc) is
  recommended to give you the greatest depth of field through
  your scene. Some experimentation between a suitable
  combination of ISO, shutter speed and aperture based on
  your shooting conditions will be required before you commit
  to your final attempt.


• Shoot Raw to maximise your camera’s resolution and give
  yourself more options when it comes to fine-tuning tone, white
  balance, contrast and other variables in post.


• Do a test shoot of your series to check exposure and focus,
  and ensure you are perfectly positioned before attempting
  the final series.