Australian_Photography_-_June_2016_

AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 51

ABOVE

I didn’t hold much

hope during this

rainy afternoon at

Sugarloaf Point

Lighthouse, NSW.

The rain showers

finally cleared at

the exact moment

the sun hit the

horizon. The final

image was created

using a nine-image

vertical stitch with

the assistance

of a Nodal Ninja

panorama head.

Nikon D800 with

16-35mm lens @

16mm, 1/10s @ f16,

ISO 50.

AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY JUNE 2016

PHOTO TIPS seamless panorama stitching

• Choose ‘Select All’ (at the top of the thumbnails) to ensure
  any adjustments you make are applied to all the images in the
  series. This ensures the exposure and tonal range is consistent
  across the entire scene.


• Generally, I make small adjustments to exposure, highlights,
  shadows, white and black points, and clarity at this stage of
  the process.


• Save the processed images as TIFF files back into their folder
  of origin.

Stitching software
There are plenty of choices when it comes to software for stitching
panoramas. If you already own Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom,
both offer good stitching features. Alternatively there are powerful
specialist stitching programs such as PTGui. Here’s a brief
overview of how to get started with each of these programs:

• If you’re using Adobe Photoshop, go to File > Automate >
  Photomerge. In the pop-up box, select Browse to find your
  processed TIFF files. For the layout option, select Auto. Auto
  usually does a good job, but if you’re not happy with the results
  try Cylindrical. Remember to tick Vignette Removal before
  hitting OK and save as a TIFF file.


• To get started in PTGui confirm your camera and lens
  parameters and select Align Images. The Panorama Editor
  automatically applies control points to your images before
  aligning the images. The Panorama Editor then shows a
  preview of the panorama that you can adjust by editing
  individual images, repositioning the panorama, setting the
  centre point, or by changing the projection and blend modes.
  Select Create Panorama, save as a TIFF file if you’re happy

with the blended preview, or save as a PSD file if you want your

blended image to also contain the original image files as layers.

This can be useful if there are stitching issues, which can later

be fixed by using the Brush tool to add and subtract elements in

an adjustment layer in Adobe Photoshop.

• If you’re working in Adobe Lightroom, import the series of Raw
  images (rather than the processed TIFF files) and Shift-click
  to select all. Right click on the highlighted series (Ctrl-click,
  Mac) and select Photo Merge then Panorama. The Panorama
  Merge Preview display appears with the output image displayed.
  Choose Auto Select Projection if you want Lightroom to
  automatically select a layout projection. Otherwise, choose
  your own projection (Perspective, Cylindrical, or Spherical)
  depending on which projection produces the best panorama.
  Finally, select Auto Crop and then Merge to create the
  panorama and place it in your catalog. The panorama will now
  be saved as a Raw file, so it is possible to make Raw adjustments
  to the processed panorama – a major benefit compared to the
  other programs above.

Crop and final adjustments

Open your final image in Adobe Photoshop and enlarge it to

100%. Check that everything is lining up properly and there

are no unusual or mismatched features in the final panorama.

Choose the Crop tool and crop the image as desired.

Final adjustments to levels, curves, saturation and

sharpening can now be made to complete your perfect

landscape panoramic image. ❂

See more of Justin Gilligan’s images at justingilligan.com.

SEE MORE

OF JUSTIN

GILLIGAN’S

WORK HERE