aik kian photography+: Barcelona + Panorama

It is always good fun taking panoramic images, be it stitching automatically on a point-and-shoot camera, smartphone, or taking a series of overlapping photos and preparing for unity in post production. There are times when no lens seems wide enough to embrace the environment we see. While a fisheye lens could offer a comprehensive 180 degrees picture angle, the distortion might not be what we want.

Whenever possible (or if I remember), I will take a series of sweeping images of a place for panoramic stitching. Firstly, a panorama image presents a significantly better impression about a place as compared to a single wide angle image. Literally, you could bring back the entire three-dimensional space if you wish to with the right technique and software. Secondly, a stitched panorama image contains much higher resolution than a single image, hence offering more details.

Of course, panorama images are not meant to replace a good single shot image where composition and technical skills are key. However, if you are just too greedy and wanted to bring back everything you see, panoramas are probably a good, easy and fast option, to capture and tell a long story.

Don't forget to get a few panoramas during your next holiday.

Tips:

Always allow more overlapping from frame to frame.
Watch out for differences in lighting condition across the entire sweeping angle. Go on manual exposure mode or lock your auto-exposure after determining the optimum exposure value.
Try shooting vertical (portrait) from frame to frame. It would require more shots but would result in more details and less distortion issue during stitching.
Avoid using super wide angle lens. I prefer maximum 24mm to minimise stitching issues.
Avoid including objects that are too close to the camera, e.g. dustbin, railing.