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need help in taking panorama pics

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keith__k

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HI

I would like some help in taking panorama pictures.

1a) what is a panorama head?
1b) Is it attach to the camera or the tripod?
1c) Any websites to see how it looks like and how it is fixed?
1d) how does it help one to take panorama pics.

2) how to go about taking panoramas of night scenes?

3) I read that when taking panorama, one has to keep his feet still and simply revert the body from left to right like forming an arch as each shots is taken. Can one actually move his feet along a straight horizontal line on the ground as each picture is framed. Does it work this way as well?

4) what exactly does one mean by using auto exposure lock when taking the first image and get an exposure lock from the first image, before taking the second frame. Then return to the first flame to set an exposure lock for teh third frame and subsequent frames.

I am confused about the steps and the sequence of 4.

Any help?

Thanks
 
keith_k said:
HI

I would like some help in taking panorama pictures.

1a) what is a panorama head?
Click to expand...
A panorama tripod head is a device which rotates the camera and lens around its nodal point. This helps ensure that the photos you're taking for your panoramic shot will line up correctly without severe cropping.
keith__k said:
1b) Is it attach to the camera or the tripod?
Click to expand...
Both. But you put it on the tripod first.
keith__k said:
1c) Any websites to see how it looks like and how it is fixed?
Click to expand...
Take a look at the BH photo web site and do a search for panoramic heads. Also Kaidan has some basic and relatively inexpensive heads: http://www.kaidan.com/products/pano-prods.html . I have their low-end product and it works very well.
keith__k said:
1d) how does it help one to take panorama pics.
Click to expand...
See 1a.
keith__k said:
2) how to go about taking panoramas of night scenes?
Click to expand...
I'd start with daytime shots first until your comfortable with the process.
keith__k said:
3) I read that when taking panorama, one has to keep his feet still
and simply revert the body from left to right like forming an arch
as each shots is taken. Can one actually move his feet along a
straight horizontal line on the ground as each picture is framed.
Does it work this way as well?
Click to expand...
Ha, Ha, Ha. The human body makes for a very imprecise tripod. The times I've tried it, I've had to crop too much of the image. Your mileage may vary. If you want to do panoramics I suggest you invest in a panoramic head and do it correctly.
keith__k said:
4) what exactly does one mean by using auto exposure lock when
taking the first image and get an exposure lock from the first
image, before taking the second frame. Then return to the first
flame to set an exposure lock for teh third frame and subsequent
frames.
Click to expand...
If you meter each shot individually, it's very difficult - if not impossible - to get a consistent exposure in your final image. The drill is to pick the most important part of the scene you're shooting and use that exposure for all the scenes. You lock the exposure for that scene and use it for all the other scenes. Check the Kaidan site and the site listed by the previous poster: I suspect it will explain it better than I can.
keith__k said:
I am confused about the steps and the sequence of 4.
Click to expand...
You won't be if you try it a few times. The learning curve is not terribly steep.
--
Larrym
 
Larry Mendenhall said:
Larry Mendenhall said:
1a) what is a panorama head?
Click to expand...
A panorama tripod head is a device which rotates the camera and
lens around its nodal point. This helps ensure that the photos
you're taking for your panoramic shot will line up correctly
without severe cropping.
Click to expand...
An ordinary tripod or a flat post top will often do nearly as well. But I have many times taken panaramas by hand. It can help to take them with the camera at 90 degrees (portrait) as otherwise you can end up with a very narrow strip covered. If it is just sky or trees etc that are lost you can often bodge them in afterwards to increase the overall vertical area.

It is best to have the same exposure for all so as to minimise differences around the overlap areas. An example of a hand held panorama done without fixed exposure (by mistake) is on http://www.badfa.org.uk/news/news2002.htm at the second item down. It is of course low resolution for the web but the vertical exposure mismatches can be seen, though the picture serves its purpose.

As to walking along and taking photos, you would have to walk a long way (say the panorama includes two miles width of distant hills you would have to walk two miles). Also the foreground items wouldn't work. But there is a use for this technique when you are copying something all on one plane like a long banner or the Bayeaux Tapestry. I think most panorama programs allow you to specify which method you use, certainly PhotoStitch does.
Chris Beney
 
The only time you really need a panorama head is if there are close objects in the panorama, within 10 feet or so. If you're shooting a landscape and everything is very far away then rotating the camera on a regular tripod will suffice just fine. The reason we want to rotate the camera around the lens nodal point is to reduce parralax distortion which creates problems with stitching because the foreground objects will shift more than the distant ones. For an example of this, hold your finger out infront of you and close one eye at a time and notice how the finger seems to jump back and forth in relation to the background.

I made up a simple pano head for my G2 out of aluminum, but it will only work 100% properly when at wide angle zoom because the nodal point moves as you zoom the lens. This is why the Kaidan ones (and other expensive manufactured brands) have the ability to adust the position of the camera.

Things to note: make sure you use Manual mode if you have it...regular exposure lock doesn't work from picture to picture. Use one of the auto modes to figure out an average exposure over the range of the panorama and dial that up in Manual mode. Also, lock in Manual Focus so that all of the images will be focused at the same point. Also, if you really want good stitches, try something like Panorama Factory or the much more difficult to use (but much better) PanoTools. Canon's Photostitch is ok and very easy to use, but it can't compete with those other two in terms of stitching accuracy and quality.

Michael
keith_k said:
HI

I would like some help in taking panorama pictures.

1a) what is a panorama head?
1b) Is it attach to the camera or the tripod?
1c) Any websites to see how it looks like and how it is fixed?
1d) how does it help one to take panorama pics.

2) how to go about taking panoramas of night scenes?

3) I read that when taking panorama, one has to keep his feet still
and simply revert the body from left to right like forming an arch
as each shots is taken. Can one actually move his feet along a
straight horizontal line on the ground as each picture is framed.
Does it work this way as well?

4) what exactly does one mean by using auto exposure lock when
taking the first image and get an exposure lock from the first
image, before taking the second frame. Then return to the first
flame to set an exposure lock for teh third frame and subsequent
frames.

I am confused about the steps and the sequence of 4.

Any help?

Thanks
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178
 
Hey thanks for the posts (even though it wasn't me that asked the question).

I have a digi-cam arriving tomorrow and I have been interested in panoramas, but this cleared up a lot of questions.

Hopefully I can post a few first attempts based off your help once I get it.

-Ryan
 
Cool, man, which one did you get? I think panoramas are cool but I don't take hardly any of them. Why not? Because I keep forgetting that I CAN. I'm still used to film, the ease of stitching pics just hasn't sunk into my subconciousness yet so I come home from somewhere, smack my forehead and say, d'oh! I should shot some stitch pics! Crazy, I know. Do share your panos when you shoot some.

--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
riddelrp said:
Hey thanks for the posts (even though it wasn't me that asked the
question).

I have a digi-cam arriving tomorrow and I have been interested in
panoramas, but this cleared up a lot of questions.

Hopefully I can post a few first attempts based off your help once
I get it.

-Ryan
Click to expand...
 
Yeah, I often forget to shoot them too, but I've been playing around with them a lot in the past few days and am really getting the hang of it. I've mostly been shooting multi-row arrays...not for sweeping vistas, but more for super-high-res normal aspect ratio images. I'm getting 25-35MP images that are super sharp and have an incredable amount of detail! I can't wait to try printing some of them as posters! :) I shot a 3 image pano from atop the CN Tower a few weeks ago and really wish I had tried some multirow panos! Here's a very small version of the 3 image one though: http://www.pbase.com/image/5313058/original

Michael

P.S. See this thread for some of the ones I was working on this weekend (particularly the last post called "new samples"): http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=3559393 I just reshot the exterior one today and it should look a lot better 'cause I was actually thinking about composition and content. :) I shot one series of 10 images (2 rows x 5 colums) and one of 27 using a teleconverter (3 rows of 9 colums). I'm working on the 2x5 one right now.
Eric Haglund said:
--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
riddelrp said:
Hey thanks for the posts (even though it wasn't me that asked the
question).

I have a digi-cam arriving tomorrow and I have been interested in
panoramas, but this cleared up a lot of questions.

Hopefully I can post a few first attempts based off your help once
I get it.

-Ryan
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178
 
Keith,

I take a lot of panoramic pictures and want to try to help answer your question by not answering it directly (others have given you the specific answers), but coming at it from another direction.

That direction is -- in the end, a panorama is one photograph. When you take a panorama, you need to think that way: "I am not taking four shots, I am taking one in four separate steps. The final product will be one photograph, and each step needs to be part of that whole, or the whole won't work."

When you take a single photograph, you have to settle on one exposure that accounts for the entire scene. It's the same with a panorama. (Mix exposures, and your final shot won't look convincing.)

When you take a single photograph, you have to work from one point of view. A panorama works the same way. (That will help you think about how to set up position your body--better off a tripod--and move it between shots. As you pan, you may find something interesting above or below the point of view that you forgot to include, but it won't work in THIS PHOTOGRAPH. To include it, you'll have to take another from a different point of view.)

Keep that in mind, and you can take successful pans from a simple tripod or one using a pan head, from a monopad, or hand-held.

I hope this helps and doesn't just complicate matters.

--
Jim Lewis
http://www.pbase.com/pdx_photoman
http://www.jimlewis.info
 
Multi-row panos? Sounds interesting. BTW- your home is very nice.

--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
Mickey said:
Michael

P.S. See this thread for some of the ones I was working on this
weekend (particularly the last post called "new samples"):
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=3559393
I just reshot the exterior one today and it should look a lot
better 'cause I was actually thinking about composition and
content. :) I shot one series of 10 images (2 rows x 5 colums) and
one of 27 using a teleconverter (3 rows of 9 colums). I'm working
on the 2x5 one right now.
Eric Haglund said:
--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
riddelrp said:
Hey thanks for the posts (even though it wasn't me that asked the
question).

I have a digi-cam arriving tomorrow and I have been interested in
panoramas, but this cleared up a lot of questions.

Hopefully I can post a few first attempts based off your help once
I get it.

-Ryan
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178
Click to expand...
 
Chris, did you actually take any pictures of the Bayeaux Tapestry? Can you post them? When I was there they didn't allow any photography.
Chris Beney said:
As to walking along and taking photos, you would have to walk a
long way (say the panorama includes two miles width of distant
hills you would have to walk two miles). Also the foreground items
wouldn't work. But there is a use for this technique when you are
copying something all on one plane like a long banner or the
Bayeaux Tapestry. I think most panorama programs allow you to
specify which method you use, certainly PhotoStitch does.
Chris Beney
Click to expand...
 
Nice shot.
Mickey said:
Michael

P.S. See this thread for some of the ones I was working on this
weekend (particularly the last post called "new samples"):
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=3559393
I just reshot the exterior one today and it should look a lot
better 'cause I was actually thinking about composition and
content. :) I shot one series of 10 images (2 rows x 5 colums) and
one of 27 using a teleconverter (3 rows of 9 colums). I'm working
on the 2x5 one right now.
Eric Haglund said:
--
Eric
Disclaimer: Snapshooter, and proud of it ;-)
http://www.pbase.com/haglunde
riddelrp said:
Hey thanks for the posts (even though it wasn't me that asked the
question).

I have a digi-cam arriving tomorrow and I have been interested in
panoramas, but this cleared up a lot of questions.

Hopefully I can post a few first attempts based off your help once
I get it.

-Ryan
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/mooremwm
http://www.photosig.com/userphotos.php?id=7178
Click to expand...
--
http://www.pbase.com/golfpic/the_dome
 
Though it is getting a bit out of date, Panoguide still seems to be the best source of information, links, and reviews panoramic.

pdx_photoman has some good things to say - things that often get forgotten below a pile of stuff like nodal points, stitching techniques, software comparisons, ... I'd like to add:

1) There are all kinds of rules about panoramas - level tripods, exposure matching, shoot fast, ...
2) All of those rules can be broken.

3) There will be fewer failures, you can use simpler software, and life will be easier if you follow the rules.
pdx_photoman said:
Keith,

I take a lot of panoramic pictures and want to try to help answer
your question by not answering it directly (others have given you
the specific answers), but coming at it from another direction.

That direction is -- in the end, a panorama is one photograph. When
you take a panorama, you need to think that way: "I am not taking
four shots, I am taking one in four separate steps. The final
product will be one photograph, and each step needs to be part of
that whole, or the whole won't work."

When you take a single photograph, you have to settle on one
exposure that accounts for the entire scene. It's the same with a
panorama. (Mix exposures, and your final shot won't look
convincing.)

When you take a single photograph, you have to work from one point
of view. A panorama works the same way. (That will help you think
about how to set up position your body--better off a tripod--and
move it between shots. As you pan, you may find something
interesting above or below the point of view that you forgot to
include, but it won't work in THIS PHOTOGRAPH. To include it,
you'll have to take another from a different point of view.)

Keep that in mind, and you can take successful pans from a simple
tripod or one using a pan head, from a monopad, or hand-held.

I hope this helps and doesn't just complicate matters.

--
Jim Lewis
http://www.pbase.com/pdx_photoman
http://www.jimlewis.info
Click to expand...
 
I got the PowerShot 330 (first digi). I don't have any panas yet, but will work on that this weekend.
Eric Haglund said:
Cool, man, which one did you get? I think panoramas are cool but I
don't take hardly any of them. Why not? Because I keep forgetting
that I CAN. I'm still used to film, the ease of stitching pics just
hasn't sunk into my subconciousness yet so I come home from
somewhere, smack my forehead and say, d'oh! I should shot some
stitch pics! Crazy, I know. Do share your panos when you shoot some.
Click to expand...
 
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