Shooting Your Own Panoramas

Taking a set of snapshots you can turn into a panoramic photograph is simpler than you might think. Here's a step by step guide to using a simple point-and-shoot digital camera to make panoramas.

Getting Ready to Shoot

  1. If you have a tripod, be sure to use it. It will make it easier to position the camera properly for the series of snapshots.
  2. If you have a small bubble level, take it with you when you shoot panoramas. Keeping the camera level helps.
  3. If you don't a have tripod or a monopod, you can steady your camera with an improvised "stringpod":
    • Get a short 1/4-20 bolt and tie a five-foot piece of strong string to it.
    • Screw the 1/4-20 bolt into the tripod socket on the bottom of your camera.
    • Let the string fall to the ground, and put your foot on it.
    • Gently pull up until the string is taut. Notice how much more steady your camera is.

Planning Your First Panorama

  • Some panoramas are easier to create than others. Panoramas with objects closer than about 20 feet from the camera require more skill.
  • Don't try shooting panoramas indoors until you have mastered the easier outdoor shots.

Shooting

  1. Point your camera at the object you want in the center of your panorama, and take the first picture.
  2. Without moving the camera make a note of an object near the right side of the viewfinder.
  3. Rotate your camera to the right until the object you chose is near the left side of the viewfinder.
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the object you chose in step 1 reappears in your viewfinder.

Troubleshooting

  1. Remember that it's better to overlap adjacent pictures too much than to risk having a gap between two pictures.
  2. If your camera has a zoom, start by shooting your panoramas zoomed all the way out (wide angle).
  3. If you want taller panoramas, it's easier to shoot in portrait format (camera rotated 90 degrees) than to shoot two rows.
  4. Rule 3 doesn't always work. Sometimes you just have to shoot 2 or 3, or even 4 rows to include tall buildings or high mountains.
  5. On the web, you will see articles about "rotating the camera around the nodal point of the lens" and ads for expensive panoramic tripod heads. Beginning panorama shooters don't need to worry about either of those. They address issues of parallax that only become important if you are shooting panoramas with objects close to the camera. Learn more about parallax errors.