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Panoramic cameras have been around almost as
long as photography itself. In high school, I began my career as
a perennial sophomore by running from one end of my class behind
the group to appear a second time in the picture, taken with an
archaic Cirkut camera with a slowly rotating lens.
We see panoramas constantly through peripheral
vision. Our fascination with panoramic photos lies in the
ability to examine details in an ultrawide, framed view,
something peripheral vision can't provide.
Indeed, before the first panoramic camera
appeared in 1843, cycloramic paintings were one of the big
tourist attractions of the 19th century. Two of the most famous
surviving cycloramas are at Gettysburg battlefield and in
Atlanta, Georgia.
Panoramic photography is enjoying a new tide of
popularity through digital cameras with several applications
available to "stitch" consecutive views together into a single,
nearly seamless image. Additional, virtual reality software has
made possible panoramas that can be scrolled on-screen.
I made my first panorama in 1960 by pasting
together 18 consecutive b&w prints together to create a 260
degree (don't ask why, I don't know) view of Honolulu harbor.
This yellowing monster is nearly 4 feet long and impossible to
display.
When Layers appeared in Photoshop, I resumed my
love affair with panoramas and although I've tried several
stitching applications, Photoshop remains my favorite tool for
creating these unusual images.
Shooting For Panoramic Images
Purists claim a "perfect" panorama must be made with a tripod
equipped with a rotating, leveling head to ensure the film plane
is perpendicular to the subject. While this technique does
produce images with less distortion, the equipment can be
expensive and cumbersome to set up.
My approach to shooting panoramas is a bit more
relaxed, using a hand-held camera and matching each adjacent
view using the LCD monitor of my camera. Nor do I hold with the
concept that panorama shots must be level. Many of my best have
been shot from high places looking down. Extreme distortion may
result but that's why Photoshop has Image Transform.
I'm not trying to fool anyone into thinking what
he's looking at is a single image from the camera. I am trying
to create an impression of a peripheral vision view with
interesting detail. The three-image panorama of Niagara Falls at
the beginning of this column is a good example.
The one important rule to follow is to overlap
each adjacent image. I try for about one-third overlap from
frame to frame.
Do a dry run through your views to determine
where the center of your viewfinder should be for each image.
Look for natural places for overlap: vertical buildings, poles
and other structures are good.
It's natural but not necessary to shoot from one
end to another. In the example I'm using in this "how to," the
boat came through the bridge just as I finished my dry run so
that was the first shot. I built the rest of the panorama from
that.
Many digital cameras have a special exposure
mode for panoramas, shooting each frame with the same exposure
of the first picture. I've used this feature on my Nikon 990 and
don't find it too useful.
After you've made your exposures, review them in
the LCD in Play mode. Don't be afraid to try to reshoot a single
image if, for some reason, it's not a good shot.
Creating A Panorama In Photoshop
Once you've downloaded your images from camera/card to your
computer, segregate the panorama images into a folder of their
own. As a Mac user, I review mine in Cameraid and rename them
(Pano 1, Pano 2, etc.).
.jpg)
Step 1: In Photoshop, open all the files (or one
of the end images if you're not using version 6.0). Estimate how
long you want your finished panorama to be and then perform an
Image>Image Size to create an image with the right vertical
measurement. I used 3 inches in this example.
Use Command (PC-Control)-J to send the image to
a layer of its own, then select the background layer and delete
it (Command (PC-Control)-Delete).
.jpg)
Step 2: Then go to Image>Canvas Size and set the
base point to one end or the other (I used the right) and set a
new width for the canvas. Be generous although the file size may
grow huge: you'll crop the finished image. I chose 18 inches for
my width. It's not a bad idea to give yourself a little wiggle
room top and bottom on the canvas.
Perform a "Save As" and rename the file.
.jpg)
Next week, we'll complete the steps in creating
a basic panorama.
Last week's column on Carol Rollick's scanned
flower arrangements stirred a wave of response from readers and
other botanical scanner artists. I've no doubt that dozens of
people across the country are building background boxes for
their scanners and hoping the crocuses will pop through the
snow.
One of the more interesting responses came from
Ellen Hoverkamp of West Haven, CT, who does beautiful scans and
sells them as greeting and note cards. Take a look at Ellen's
spectacular work at
http://www.myneighborsgarden.com
Ellen's website then linked me to Mark
Charneski's Fresh Flower Scans (http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Island/6801/mark/marks.html)
where the artists offers free downloads of blossoms for personal
use only.
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