In today’s day and age, taking a picture has become more of a daily activity that has attached itself with online photographic services like Instagram and Flickr. These days, a picture is taken more for social networking sites rather than the artistic side of it. Also, with the coming of cheap and easy to use cameras, photography is accessible to all; but even with a point and shoot camera, people can create stunning photographs, one of them being the wide-angled panoramic pictures. Many new age cameras and phones come with a panorama feature built in but you truly desire to take a full length professional looking panoramic picture, the use of a computer application is a necessity. If you have a DSLR, it’s even better because most DSLRs don’t come equipped with a panorama feature and the use of a computer application paired up with the DSLR’s high resolution imaging has the ability to make a truly breathtaking panorama.
To create a panorama, two stages need to be performed. The first is taking pictures that stitches up to turn into a panorama; and second, the act of using those single pictures and stitching them together to create a long seamless panoramic image. Since a panoramic image uses single images that lengthen into a long wide-angle image, a normal DSLR with the kit-lens (18-55mm) should be enough; but even if you don’t own a DSLR, a normal point and shoot camera should also suffice. But before beginning, make sure to turn off all automatic features on your point and shoot because if there is any change in the brightness or the color of the picture, the panorama will be a mixture of varying colors.
The first stage of making a panorama will involve taking single shots of a wide view. Frame your shots in such a way that it begins from one side and keep taking pictures till the end of the view. But make sure that there are ample areas that overlap with each other, this makes it easier for the software to recognize vital points in the pictures and matches it up with your second picture. While using a DSLR, one vital point would be to shoot in Manual mode because automatic settings will not change and you will get the same feel throughout your series of pictures. One trick to getting the right exposure throughout the series would be to set up your camera setting to the best exposure on the brightest part of your panorama and then locking them.
Once you have your series of pictures, the second stage begins with you importing your pictures onto your computer. There are many applications that can help you out here but two of the best ones would be Microsoft Research Image Composite Editor (ICE) and Hugin. Both of these software are free of cost but Microsoft ICE is only Windows based whereas Hugin is a cross-platform open source application that will run on Windows, Mac and Linux. Also to ensure that these applications work perfectly with your computer, you also need to install an additional application called AutoPano. Macs have this application pre-installed but Windows and Linux users may have to install it separately. AutoPano is a script that helps your computer recognize the control points on your pictures that help connect them together.
Among these two applications, Microsoft ICE is definitely the easier one to use but is quite restricted when it comes to features. Using ICE is easy with a very straight forward interface and most of the work you need to do to create a panorama is already done for you and there is little you can do to change that compilation, except change the crop and a few features. When the application starts a simple interface will greet you and all you have to do is collect your series of pictures and drag them to the application windows and the application will do the rest for you. After the panorama has been stitched, you will have the option to change the camera motion and give it a range of different looks and the crop tool that gives you the option to save only a select part of the picture. Apart from these two options and an export option, there is little you can do to change your panorama within this application. The second option, Hugin, in contrast, is a powerhouse. So, if you happen to be a beginner to cameras and camera concepts, Hugin might be a little confusing for you but even though, using Hugin for basic stitching is easy. Much like ICE, Hugin comes equipped for basic users as well with an assistant, much like a wizard, to help you through the process. There are many options within the application that you can explore through but if you want to stitch a panorama together, the assistant is the easiest way. The assistant is the primary tab that greets you once the application is open. Hugin will ask you to load your images as step one. After Hugin is done with analyzing the picture, a second option button titled ‘Align’ is focused. Aligning the picture will take some time but will create the panorama for you, after that a third option of ‘Create Panorama’ will help you save you image. A simple panorama with very little input from the user can be created in this way in Hugin but there are a plethora of options to help you get that perfect panoramic image if you are aware of what you are doing.
Photographers use many software to bring that extra edge to their photos. High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography is made possible by application on the computer and even photographic post-production is heavily dependent on application on the computer. Photography is art, so experiment with your camera and take pictures that come out as pieces of art.
