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Gallery

Create the perfect photos

Posted on 27 Jan 2010 at 11:23

The secret to a successful panorama isn’t to rely on software to mangle the shots together – if they’re too different, the stitching will be obvious. There are three things to bear in mind when you’re taking a panorama sequence. First, don’t take the shots with the camera zoomed fully out: the distorting effect of the lens will make it harder to stitch. Zoom the camera in so it’s around midway, which will reduce perspective distortion.

Second, make sure there’s a decent amount of overlap between the shots – about a third of the frame should overlap. Finally, in an ideal world the camera’s focus and exposure settings should be set manually, to avoid variations between shots. If that isn’t possible or you don’t feel confident doing this, see if the camera has a panorama scene mode, which should deal with this.

Now you can use Windows Live Photo Gallery to stitch the shots together. There are no adjustments – just select the photos you want to stitch, then click Make | Create panoramic photo. That’s it.

Show off your shots

Spending time on photography means you should also spend time showing off the results. Placing shots on Facebook is certainly quick and easy, but there isn’t much point in a 10-megapixel camera if you show your shots at web resolutions. If you’ve never seen your shots physically printed, you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise. But be prepared for a bit of trial and error. You might find some shots that seem punchy and bright on-screen look flat or lacklustre in print. There’s an inherent difference between screens and prints, but you can compensate to a certain extent.

Online print companies such as Photobox will send you a test print with your first order. What you need to do is download that same test image from the website, then compare the on-screen version with the print. This process shows any mismatch between your monitor’s setup and the printer.

If you want more professional results, you could invest in screen calibration hardware, although simply comparing a test print with the on-screen image and tweaking your shots before you upload them to your printing service works wonders too.

So, for instance, if the print is a bit dull compared to the on-screen view, try increasing the brightness and contrast by about 10%; if the colours are flat, do the same with the saturation. This might sound crude – and it is – but it often does the trick for getting that extra bit of punch into the prints.

Author: David Fearon and Ben Pitt