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I just bought a tripod and I'm starting to learn photography. I own a Canon T2i (kit lens) and I'm interesting in taking panoramic shots.

What are the pro tips for doing this?

I'm trying to set my camera with narrow aperture and sometimes a slower speed.

I'm missing some contrast and color in both pics.

Here are two examples:

http://fav.me/d4e8qi9

http://fav.me/d4d3qpz

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The key to shooting images for a panorama is to get as much consistency as you can. Since you have a DSLR, this blog post should help you or read my panorama tutorial.

It is OK if everything is not perfect but the more you do the better the chances of your software being able to stitch resulting images. At the very least you should keep the focal-length (zoom), focus and aperture constant.

The most PRO tip would be to use a specialized panoramic head. They cost a good amount of money but ensure consistency between viewpoint which makes things much easier to stitch.

EDIT:

Panoramic heads come in two types. Either flexible which you can adjust (actually, you have to) to almost any combination of camera and lens, for example the Manfrotto 303 or WTVR Spherical Pro. Or as fixed heads designed for a single combination of camera and lens which are available for common combinations, for example the 360Precision Absolute MK2.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Can you be more specific about the specialized panoramic head? Links to products will be helpful. \$\endgroup\$
    – Thanh
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 3:48
  • \$\begingroup\$ Added to the answer. The basics are also explained in the tutorial. \$\endgroup\$
    – Itai
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 4:00
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    \$\begingroup\$ great tutorial! \$\endgroup\$
    – George Silva
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 18:58
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Use a tripod if you have one, although beautiful panorama can be done without tripod if you are careful.

Prefocus, then turn off auto-focus.

If you have the time to, do a metering, choose an aperture and shutter and put it in M mode so it doesnt change. Or use AE-L (does mean you have to lock it for every shot tho)

If you have a tripod, turn off Image Stabilization.

Ensure you have an enough depth of field, use a small aperture like f/8.0

If your shot would include cloud, make sure you complete all the shots as quickly as possible (cloud moves). Same for any moving subjects too.

Finally, I find the best software for automatically stitching your phtoos into one flawless panorama is Photoshop, if you are a Canon shooter like me, do NOT use the software that came with the CD, it is really bad at blending photos together and it does not adjust the exposure between photos.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Yes. Setting the exposure and putting it in Manual Mode is important so that same exposure is maintained for all the shots. Also pre focussing and then putting on manual focus is important. \$\endgroup\$
    – akshay1188
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 18:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ yea, i used the softwap re that came with the cd to do it. As i see it, the software also bends the images to fit it perfectly, something I'm not sure photoshop will do, but I'll definitely try it. \$\endgroup\$
    – George Silva
    Commented Nov 1, 2011 at 18:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ I said two things, 1: the CD software sucks. 2: Photoshop is much better. I have used both, the CD software blends the images, but VERY FAR from perfect. It blurs the photo sometimes and it does not blend the exposure. It has a very small tolerance to how well you executed your shot. Photoshop resizes, rotates, skewers and distorts your images so it fits perfectly, PLUS it adjust the exposures so you don't get funny sky, it can also merge image with a HUGE tolerance. I have shot hand-held in 18mm (very distorted images) in P mode, photoshop blends them perfectly, including exposure. \$\endgroup\$
    – Gapton
    Commented Nov 2, 2011 at 1:53

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