Panoramic
Prints:
How is it done?
Use the manual
setting on your camera and expose for the brightest part of your
potential panorama. Skies present matching problems, in that the
exposure can vary enormously across a large angle panorama as you get
nearer the sun.
Use as good a lens
as you can afford; minimal vignetting is a prime requisite for easy
stitching of images.
Most people say
that a sturdy tripod and an accurate level is essential for good
panoramas. My secret is that I do all mine hand held!! Whilst taking the
images, It is necessary to allow a considerable area of horizontal
overlap (15-20%)
It helps to try
and memorise that part of the image adjacent to your next shot so that
when you pan the camera, you’ll be able to allow for the overlap. Do a
rehearsal pan first to make sure that you have chosen a lens angle
suitable to include all items, nothing worse than a clipped mountain
peak…
Use a longish
focal length lens if possible. Try to avoid detailed items in the
foreground because they cause problems at image junctions. Having said
that, it isn’t usually possible, so you will just need to be aware that
foreground interest needs to be minimal.
Having loaded the
images into the PC, I open the first picture in the series, adjust it
using levels and also for colour saturation. Make a new layer using
‘copy’ and then increase the canvas size to roughly one big enough to
hold the finished panorama. Don’t worry if you get this wrong, you can
always enlarge it more later. Open the next in the series and ‘drag’ it
in and place it roughly in position as a new layer (this will be
automatic) over the first one on the ‘master’ canvas. That's the boring
bit! The fun comes in deciding where the overlaps take place, although
to some extent those decisions were made when the pics were taken.
Each image is then
carefully graded for colour matching using image adjust, curves and
colour balance. Auto balance is rarely good enough. When you are
reasonably happy that it matches the first in the series, reduce the
opacity of this image so that you can see through to the first image.
Now you can position it so that the centre of the overlap area is
(ideally) where there is minimal important detail. Once chosen, put
opacity back to 100%.
I use the 'eraser'
tool to gradually erase parts of the uppermost layer (most recently
added to the canvas) using a large (100-300 pixel) soft brush.
Experience tells me how far to go and when to switch to a smaller (or
harder) brush. I frequently click each of the layers 'off' so that I can
check how much more I can erase in any particular direction. It's very
difficult to describe in words! You may need to use the ‘transform’ tool
to ‘stretch’ or maybe rotate an image slightly to help the match. Repeat
the process with subsequent images.
Eventually, I will
crop the entire thing to remove superfluous bits, and then blend all the
layers, having saved the multi-layer image as well. The cloning tool is
then used here and there, and I may need to do some more work on the
sky. Finally, I resize the image to a size suitable for printing on
Epson roll paper.
As for the actual printing onto roll paper; that’s another subject
entirely!
And now ladies and gentlemen, before your very eyes, I give
you.......
