Panoramic Photography By: W. Patrick Day Patrick@PatrickDayPhotography.com
Panoramic Photography
What is Panoramic photography? a technique, using specialized equipment or software, that captures images with elongated fields of view. an image showing a field of view approximating, or greater than, that of the human eye about 160 by 75 may be termed panoramic Essentially any image that exceeds a 2:1 ratio (height to length) is considered a Pan
Two methods Cropping Stitching
DedicatedCameras
Alternatives GoPano adapter http://www.eyesee360.com/gopano/
Alternatives GigaPan http://www.gigapansystems.com/
Software Canon Stitch (free*) /Nikon (?) Photoshop Hugin(Open Source) http://hugin.sourceforge.net/ Stitcher Unlimited 2009 ($350) http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteid=123112&id=12023907 PTGui($120/$225) http://www.ptgui.com/ Comparison of major software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/comparison_of_photo_stitching_applications_(software)
Pros No post production Cropping No movement distortions/aberrations/ghosts Less planning/errors Less equipment needed Cons Resolution degrades as Height/Length ratio increases Limited to max angle of lens
Cropping Example
Stitching Pros Upto and beyond 360 High resolution possible HDR friendly (with equipment) Cons Equipment (hardware and software) Planning required MUCH room for error Post production work
Concepts:Lenses and Sensors Simple Rules: The shorter (lower) the mm of the lens, the wider the angle of view. The wider the angle, the fewer the shots needed The wider the angle of view, the closer you can get to the subject (and vice versa). The closer you get to the subject, distortion will be more pronounced.
Concepts:Focus Focus is comprised of two components: Focus Point The common (mis)understanding of what or where the camera is focused. Depth of Field (DOF) the distance in front of and beyond the Focus Point that appears to have no visible distortion.
Concepts: HyperfocalDistance Hyperfocal Distance (Easy concept, confusing definition) A Focal Point at which everything half way from the camera up to the focal point is in focus AND everything beyond the focal point (to infinity) is in focus.
Concepts:HyperfocalDistance Confused? Download FREE applications from: http://www.dofmaster.com (Windows, Palm, and iphone/itouch apps)
Tips and Tricks Lock Exposure & ISO (MANUAL MODE) Lock Focus(use Hyperfocal Distance) Use Panoramic Head/Jig Pay attention to moving objects Watch for extremes of Light/Shadow Shoot in Portrait orientation for max height
Tips and Tricks Level Camera (tripod helpful) Start from Left andpan right Overlap images 10% to 20% Do practice shoot Don t hesitate to start over
Enough Theory, Show me how!
Photograph
Overlap
Stitch
Correct*
Final
The Full Monty.
The Full Monty.
Benefits of Pan Heads Incremental Stops Nodal Point Correction Stable/Consistent results
Nodal Point Parallax error caused when two or more shots are taken where the pivot point is NOT over the camera s entrance pupil. Can cause image ghosting when software tries to stitch images. Mitigated by using tripod, essentially eliminated with proper panoramic tripod head.
Nodal Parallax Error
Nodal Parallax Error
Nodal Parallax Error
Uncorrected NodalPoint
Corrected NodalPoint
Correcting Nodal Parallax Error
Correcting Nodal Parallax Error
Correcting Nodal Parallax Error
Correcting Nodal Parallax Error
Tilted Camera
Tilted Camera
Vignette Issues
Collage
Collage San Francisco from Rincon Hill (1851) [first photographic panoramic] Lookout Mountain, TN (1864)
Bracketing & HDR
Bracketing Bracketing is the technique of taking multiple shots of the same subject but changing the shutter speed. Most camera have feature built in to take a 3- image bracket. Typical setting is Normal exposure, 2-Stop under exposure, and 2 stop over exposure.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) HDR is the technique of merging 2 or more bracketed shots into single image. Allows a greater range of color and exposure than a single shot could capture. VERY useful for indoor shots! Reduce need for lighting Can compensate for overexposed windows VERY easy to go overboard with color saturation. Many software solutions including Photoshop. Best is Photomatix (www.hdrsoft.com)
Bracketing 1/1000 sec 1/30 sec 1/250 sec 1/8 sec 1/60 sec 1/2 sec Canon 5DMKII -16mm -f/8.0 -ISO400
Bracketing HDR
Links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/panorama_tools http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/digital-photography-software/panorama/pls_3081crx.aspx http://gigapan.org CALCULATORS: http://www.nodalninja.com/pano_calculations.html