Photography
entire scene and in your viewfinder. This will help ensure you’re panning accurately to the next frame. Shoot more images than you
need. I usually aim for around six frames with about 25 percent overlap. The more overlap you have, the greater chance you have of obtaining a successful stitch. However, the greater the overlap, the more images you will need to take to obtain the ideal 3:1 ratio. Stop to take each frame. There
is a natural tendency to pan through the whole scene while clicking frames along the way. By stopping you are ensuring the sharpest images possible and can concentrate on your composition. Be sure to keep an eye out for
additions to your scene, such as divers or interesting fish and wait for these elements to move into a complimentary position before shooting the frame.
Raw Processing Once you have downloaded your
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memory card, place each series into its own folder so you can keep a track of each attempt. Highlight all the RAW images of
a single series and drag them into Adobe Camera Raw (Photoshop) so all the files open at once - the series thumbnails should appear on the left hand side of the screen. Be sure to hit Select All at the top
of the thumbnails, which will ensure that any adjustments are applied to all image files in the series, which is essential to ensure there is consistent and continuous exposure and tonal range across the entire scene. Minimal adjustments to exposure,
highlights, shadows, white and black points, and clarity may be required in Adobe Camera Raw. Save the processed images as TIFF files back into their folder of origin.
Stitching Software There are many software options, from all-encompassing programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom, to powerful
Top left: processing multiple RAW
images at a time. Top middle:
Photoshop’s excellent
Photomerge
utility. Top right: PTGui settings. Above right:
Cropping your final image
Above right: The final panorama
specialist stitching programs such as PTGui. Here’s an overview of each of these programs: Adobe Photoshop: go to File and
from the dropdown menu select Automate and Photomerge. In the pop-up box, select Browse to find your processed TIFF files and for the layout select Auto. These do a good job, but as an alternative choose Cylindrical and remember to tick Vignette Removal before hitting Ok and save as a TIFF file. 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, which can then be adjusted by editing individual images, by repositioning
I usually aim for around 6 frames with about 25 percent overlap
Shoot more images than you need.
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