Panoramic Photography

Panoramic photography essentially means photographing a wider scene (usually a landscape) mostly in a 1×3 ratio, where the width of the photo is three times the height or greater. These photographs are wider in length than their heights and can range in a ratio up to 1:10 or more and can include the entire 360° view of a particular scene.

How to go about panoramic photography

There are some easy steps to begin with in grasping the correct process of panoramic photography.

Choose your start and end point. Take your first image from starting point. Remember the centre and pan your camera until the centre of your first image is now the start point of your second image. Repeat until the desired scene is covered by the photographs.

Once you reach the endpoint, you are done with your panoramic photos! These images will then need to be post processed and merged to make the final panoramic shot.

Places to experiment with panoramic photography

Panoramas are useful for creating a wide-eyed view of the desired scene and are commonly created in landscape photography. Even though we mostly see this type of photography in natural landscapes, here are a few other places in which you could use to experiment with your panoramic photography skills.

Astrophotography

Merging astrophotography with panoramic photography can certainly produce an exceptional result! Astrophotography is about photographing the depths of the night sky. So why not join astrophotography with panoramic views and create a wide-eyed ultimate view of the milky way! One can set up with your telescopic lenses and tripods at any high-levelled place from where the night sky is visible.

Museums and art galleries

Producing a panoramic image of a particular wall of a museum or an art gallery can be a great asset for their promotion. You can also photograph a wider image to include most of the artefacts and get a complete 360° view. These types of photographs would also work well for collaboration with similar places, and it will also add a unique side to your portfolio.

Similarly, you can also cover a 360° view of any famous attraction such as temples, churches, monuments, forts, etc.

Cityscapes

Covering cityscapes with this genre of photography brings out the essence of any city in a photograph. You can try covering regular city life with lots of crowds and busy roads or you can also photograph from an angle from high above and cover the entire city skylines.

The wind is the enemy!

While photographing outdoors, it is important to understand the direction and strength of the wind. During panoramic photography, as we are essentially melding a series of photos into one long image, it is important to keep the frame and its overlapping objects consistent. You will need to keep in mind that photographing an outdoor panorama in windy conditions may result in all the trees and bushes blowing haphazardly which may not produce a precise join when stitch the images together.

However, we can make this enemy into our friend too! This may take more time than expected but you can also photograph an aesthetically beautiful scene while all the objects in your frame such as trees and bushes are moving in the direction of the wind synchronously.

Tripod saviours

Panoramic photographs are never easy! You may be standing for long hours at the spot while you wait for the right time to take the series of photographs. So, remember to always carry a tripod with you on panoramic photo shoots. A tripod will help you in keep the camera stable and it will make panning across for each photograph much easier. It will also result in much easier post processing.

Test photos

Taking test photos before the shoot is recommended! You need to set the correct camera settings with the right shoot modes.

Light

Test photos will help you understand the quality of what you are about to capture, especially if there are differing levels of light across the panorama. If you are spending a whole day photographing at different times of the day, then keep an eye on the sunlight and remember to adjust the camera settings to suit the changing light.

Always use manual mode

In panoramic photography you should always photograph in manual mode, including fixed (not auto) ISO. You want all your photos to stitch and blend well, and if you have any auto settings enabled you may end up with photos of differing exposures which will look odd when stitched.

Making money with panoramic photography

Panoramic photography merges well with a lot of subtypes such as landscape photography, wildlife photography, astrophotography, cityscapes, skyline photography and a lot more. This is the plus side of this type of photography.

Selling pictures on stock photography sites or approaching galleries and exhibitions is the best way to sell panoramas with landscape and wildlife photography. Online websites such as Alamy or Getty are good platforms for you to monetize your panoramic photography skills be selling images. You can also tie up with magazines and editorials that require such skills and can monetize panoramic photography in those areas.

For more photographic exposure, panoramic images can be uploaded to your website and on your socials such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

Remember to stay updated with all the upcoming panoramic photography trends in the market and stay at the top of your game with creative and out-of-the-box panoramic photography ideas.

Panoramic photography challenges

There are a lot of challenges in panoramic photography including distorted images, problems in post-processing, inappropriate gear, to name a few. However, with enough practice and with a regular routine of photographing panoramas you shall master it in no time!