First attempt at panorama

[LStoner]

Okay, here is my first try at a panoramic picture using my FZ20 and the software that came with it. Please keep in mind it is the first try. I now know I need to practice keeping all the shots at the same level and be a little more consisten with my exposures. The software makes creating the panoramics a breeze. I welcome any suggestions for improvements before my trip at the end of this month. I want to make a pano of Clearwater Beach.

I'm not sure why, but after resizing the original for uploading, the pic became a little blurry. Sorry about that.

-Lee Ann

[indiawala]

Hello Lee Ann,

You are right about the picture being too blurry for one to really get the satisfaction of a true panorama. Panorama's are aesthetically pleasing, either because thats not how we are used to seeing our personal photographs, so its a novelty...or because it gives us a perspective that is closer to real life.

I personally find smaller panorama's better, you have to stitch less photos together so the chances of something going wrong is less. Also i like panorams to the ratio of 1:3 or 1:4 better than really long ratios of 1:10 cause i can't take the entire picture in one sight usually if its too long. Just a personal opinion...i would welcome any suggestions.

Also tripods are a must for panoramic photos, makes the job of maintaining a level easy. If you don't have a tripod and are just shooting with the free hand then remember to do a good job of cropping with the provided software. Hope these tips help.

seth

[LStoner]

Thanks for the advice. I don't know why it got blurry when I reduced the size. My original looks much better. I wasn't sure how many pics you're supposed to take to put together a pano, so I just kept shooting away. I agree about the tripod. That's something on my list of things to get. I just ran out of cash.

I will keep practicing.
-Lee Ann

[indiawala]

My first attempt at a sunset too actually. I just wish the clouds had remained horizontal to the horizon instead of tapering into it...if it was horizontal/parallel...i think this sunset photo would have been more impressive. Please critique it and help me become better

[indiawala]

damn...why the heck does my compressed file look like that? It looks fine in my folder...but on here...wow...horrible. Any pointers on how to fix this...how to reduce file size without really losing much quality?

[indiawala]

Here is a better version of the past sunset...hope it works this time.

[indiawala]

This must be a curse on me or something...here is my last try :confused:

[indiawala]

Phew at least it worked that time...here is one more try at today's sunset.
seth

[24Peter]

Very nice Seth, keep up the good work! :)

[bryanbendo]

those look really good, are you using the archsoft software that came with the camera?

[indiawala]

I used the Panorama Maker software that came with the Camera...The images have been resized to fit this forum but other than that they are both handheld shots. I just made sure to overlap enough of the image to get a good stitch.

The second shot is the one in which I used a faster shutter speed to get the effect I wanted. The sun was still pretty bright and exposing everything a little too much so that I had to use a shutter speed of 1/1000 to get the effect that you see. This speed also helped me by making it easy to take a handheld shot.

hope this helps

seth