Panoramic Photo Stitching Tutorial

Panoramic Photo Stitching Tutorial

What is Photo Stitching? If you have ever shot photos on film, you might have already tried photostitching at one point or another. You would have taken 4 or 5 images in a row moving from right to left and then when you printed them, you would have overlapped the photos to create a very crude panoramic image. In essence that is what the film equivalent was of what is known as photostitching. The difference now is that if the images are photographed correctly, the resulting panoramic photo will look like ONE image and you wont see the stitch marks. This is unique to digital photography, this kind of photography was never possible before and it is changing the way we see things photographically. This tutorial is by NO means exhaustive, in fact, this just scratches the surface of what is a very technical field and of what is possible. If you get into photostitching and panoramics then you may want to take it to the next level. So this tutorial is really a light introduction into what is a huge topic...so, start here! How does it work? There are two distinct processes that you need to do in order to be followed in order to get your stitched image to look great. The first step is image capture, this is the process that happens in the camera. The second process is image editing and this is done on a variety of software packages. So, lets look at these individual processes first... Image Capture You need to be sure to get the shots right in camera, if you get this wrong, the images may not stitch properly or you will see the joins where the software has struggled to make a proper match. Here are some pointers for capturing your images: 1. Images must overlap by approximately 30% a. The best way to do this is to look for something in the shot about a third of the way in from the edge of the frame. If you are shooting to the right hand side, then make a mental note of that object and be sure that it is in the left hand side third of the frame on the next shot. By overlapping by 30% you can make sure that your image stitching software will be able to see the objects and joint them properly b. Make sure that you overlap consistently especially if you are using a wide angle lens. If you don t some distortion might creep in and the software might struggle to stitch. 2. Keep the same line throughout the image b. Be sure not to allow the camera to move up or down when you shoot the images. If you do, the result will be that the images might stitch but the resulting shot will be dropping down or sweeping up and you may not be able to get it right afterwards c. The best idea is to use a tripod and keep the focal plane as flat as possible, to avoid distortion, particularly with a wide angle lens. If you don t have a tripod, then try and visually mark the centre of the image and keep the camera along that line. Not easy at first but gets easier with practice Over time, you will learn what works and what doesn t work and you will get better at capturing the shots better for a pano stitch. Many of my pano stitches are shot handheld without the use of a tripod, once you get used to how to do it, it is easy. The key thing is practice, practice and more practice... On the last page of this tutorial, I have put some tips and tricks, so read through those before you try your first pano.

Example: 4 images captured Image overlaps Put this in practice and make sure you get this right and the software shouldn t have any problems with picking up the joins and making a good stitch. Image Editing Adobe Photoshop has a useful photostitching function that can do a really good job. On occasion, I have had some images that it has struggled with, but that is mostly because I have done some extremely large stitches. For starters though, Photoshop should do the trick pretty easily. There is another product out there which I use almost exclusively and it is called Autopano pro. This is a heavy duty stitcher and does the job with such ease that you will be fooled into thinking that you don t have even try too hard to get the shots right in camera. It uses a really advanced algorithm and manages to find the joins really well and almost never have I seen a bad stitch from it. While I am a HUGE Photoshop fan, on this function, I would recommend Autopano. The software just works! You can download a trial version and try it out before you buy it. It is a little expensive, but if you see yourself doing lots of Pano work, it is worth it... On the next page are some pics of the software in action...

Autopano Pro Screenshots Screenshot 1: Simply select the images you want the software to look at for stitching (Second Icon from the left) Choose your images and the allow them to load into the window. Screenshot 2: Once the images are loaded and you are happy that you have them all selected, click on the detect button. The software will then scan the images and see if they can be stitched. If they can be stitched, it will display a preview of the stitch in the Right hand side window. If you are happy with that, all you need to do is click on the RENDER button on the top left hand side of the pano window and it will begin the rendering process. Once the rendering is complete, you can save the image where you want to. From there you can take the stitched image into Photoshop and edit it for colour correctness, light, exposure etc...that will be the topic of another tutorial, but for now, you should be able to easily make some panoramics. Where to from here...take a look on the next page for some final tips and links to some great panoramic websites.

Final tips: In summary, photostitching is really easy if you follow the basic ideas outlined in this tutorial. So here are some things to keep in mind when you are standing in front of a potential scene, ready to shoot. If you are shooting on a DSLR then, shoot on manual mode and don t vary the exposure, this can result in the software struggling to do the match. Keep your white balance setting (not Auto White Balance) if you cant control this, then thats OK, if you can though, choose a white balance setting and keep it there. Keep the camera level & use a tripod Overlap your shots by 30% or more Don t use a polariser Avoid subjects in the foreground that may distort Don t process your individual images in Photoshop, rather stitch them first and then process the stitched image. Links and websites: Here are some great resources to be inspired and to find out more. Autopano website: The makers of the software that does the stitching, a really great piece of software http://www.kolor.com/ Take a browse through this website to see what is happening in this space of digital image stitching, some amazing stuff out there, some phenomenal images. Take a look at the galleries on their website too...wow! http://www.kolor.com/forum/f4-panorama-gallery-galerie-de-panoramas Click on google and do an image search on panoramic photography, you will be amazed at what great images will come up.

About Barry J Brady Photography Barry J Brady has been a professional photographer since January 2008. He remained in the top three finalists, for three consecutive years, in the Professional Fuji Film Awards for South Africa. In 2010 he was awarded silver in the Scenic and Landscape Category. His diverse portfolio of commercial clients comprises of boutique hotels, luxury guest lodges, five star resorts and private residential estates. His scope of professional work incorporates small product photography, food and drink photography and architectural photography. He specializes in commercial photography and fine art landscape photography. Barry is based in the beautiful city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. How to make contact: By Email: barry@barryjbrady.com By Skype: barrybradysa Website (for more images): www.barryjbrady.com Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/barryjbradyphotography