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Creating a combined panoramic landscape

When you see a beautiful landscape with a distance, try to imagine it not in one frame, but as a series of shots from which a combined panoramic image is formed.

The panoramic format is very good for landscape photography. The best way to shoot such a group of shots is to shoot a sequence of shots by moving the camera from left to right (or from right to left). The resulting sequence can then be combined in Photoshop or Elements using the Photomerge command.

The quality of the resulting panorama is greatly influenced by the method of sequential shooting. There are several golden rules that must always be followed. First, always use a tripod. This will allow you to pan smoothly and in a straight line and also maintain the plane of the camera movement. Without this, the frames will be inconsistent, and the horizon will be crooked.

Also, position the camera vertically to make full use of its resolution. There are more pixels on the long side than on the short side, so it’s worth using the frame length as the panorama height. Its width will be determined by the total angle of rotation.

When shooting separately, it is important to keep all camera settings the same as you move the camera. This is especially important for exposure. If it changes from frame to frame, then individual shots will be different in brightness, and the panorama will turn out to be striped. It is much better to lock the exposure manually for average conditions suitable for the entire scene, and use a smaller aperture to increase depth of field, if that is important. Also, do not set the camera to automatic white balance and focus modes.

When you rotate the camera, overlap the frame by 25-30%, aiming at landmarks on the ground as anchor points. Panorama fusion programs need such reference points to align the frames correctly.