While it is possible to create a panoramic image by cropping a photo so that it is narrower, your resolution won't change so your panorama won't be sharp and you won't have as much detail. Instead, try creating one from a series of images and joining them together using Photoshop. Continue on to learn how I created this image!
Here are the five individual images I made with this project in mind. Notice that each image overlaps the next one a little bit. We do this so Photoshop will be better able to align them when it creates the panorama. Also, I wait to do any editing until after the image has been stitched together. That way, there won't be any differences between each image in regards to color, contrast, vibrancy, etc.
This window will open where you can set the parameters and load your images. In the layout section on the left side, I left it on Auto. This usually does a pretty good job. Also, in the middle bottom, I checked the Blend Images Together option. Next, I clicked on the Browse button to import the images I wanted to use.
Here is the panorama cropped to my satisfaction. Next, I decided to do a little bit more editing because it looks a little dull. On a side note, you might notice the Layers panel on the right has each of the five images as layers and the mask shows which part of each image was used for the final panorama (the white areas).
In the previous step, I mentioned the layers. Before I edited the image, I decided to go ahead and bring everything into a single layer. To do this, I went to Layer > Flatten image. To finish it up, I adjusted the contrast and upped the vibrancy a little. I hope you found this useful and will explore creating your own!
Making long exposure images is a fun and interesting project. As you might expect, there are several things you'll need to keep in mind before trying it. First, you'll need a tripod. Or, at least, a very stable surface. On one occasion I actually used a wall. The point is that it is pretty much impossible to hold a camera perfectly still for even a couple of seconds, and even a little camera shake can ruin your image. Next, I suggest using your camera's two second timer. By doing this, you once again reduce the risk of camera shake. Third, you'll need to decide if you want to shoot on Manual or Shutter Priority mode. Many find it easier to use Shutter Priority. That way, you can just set your exposure time to five seconds, for example, and let your camera figure out the rest. This usually works pretty well, but it has been my experience that sometimes parts of my image end up overexposed. Last, don't be afraid to experiment and have fun trying it out on your own! Please click on the next button to see some examples and learn the settings I used for each of the images.
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This image was made at the same location as the first at about the same time. So, I didn't need to change any of the settings. Another reason I like doing long exposure images is that they bring out more detail than most normal shots. In this shot, for example, you can really see a lot of the textures that make up this scene.
Aperture: f/32 Exposure Time: 4 sec. ISO: 100
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Here we have another water image using long exposure to smooth out the motion. Even though I made this one early in the morning and in a shaded area, I still had to go with as narrow an aperture as possible. This location as also a little tricky because too long an exposure actually smoothed out the motion too much.
Aperture: f/32 Exposure Time: 5 sec. ISO: 100
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For the next few, we'll look at long exposures at night. When shooting in dark situations, you can try a more mid-range aperture. This will give you much more flexibility. For example, in this shot at the county fair I also made another image with a narrower aperture and a longer exposure. By doing that, the motion smoothed out much more, but the colors blended together more than I wanted. So, I tried a couple more with wider apertures and faster shutter speeds.
Aperture: f/16 Exposure Time: 5 sec. ISO: 100
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One of the most common uses of long exposure photography is to capture light trails from traffic. With these I actually started with my shutter speed. I timed how long it took for vehicles to pass through my frame and set my shutter speed. Then, I adjusted my aperture to match.
Aperture: f/11 Exposure Time: 5 sec. ISO: 100
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Typically, I like to use a landmark to use as a background to the trails. I think this adds a little familiarity to an otherwise unique scene. Also, you might try setting up near a traffic light. By doing this, you can usually guarantee that the vehicles won't be moving through the frame too fast to be captured.
Aperture: f/11 Exposure Time: 5 sec. ISO: 100
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This last one is a little different, but the principles are the same. Pratt had a major power outage on the night of June 16th. So, I decided I'd try to do something that would be impossible if all the street lights had been on. I set my focal length to infinity and set my aperture as narrow as the lens would allow. Next, to get the long exposure time, I set my camera to the bulb setting. On some cameras, this comes after the 30 second setting. Others will have it on the Mode Dial. The bulb setting will expose the image as long as the shutter button is pressed down. There is no way to hold down the button for 20 minutes without camera shake, so I attached my remote shutter release. As an added bonus, I was facing north and the moon was in the south. This illuminated the church quite nicely.
Aperture: f/22 Exposure Time: 20 min. ISO: 100
As you can see, the setup is pretty simple. Just a black backdrop, an incense holder, a stick of incense, and a couple of lights. These are special table top lights that I use for product photography, but I have also used an ordinary desk lamp which worked pretty well. Just so long as you have a way to direct the light onto the smoke. I placed the incense holder this way so that I could move it as it burned down in order to keep the smoke between the two lights. Focusing can also be difficult. The auto focus doesn't work very well because the smoke is constantly moving around. So, what I did was place my hand between the two lights were the smoke would be, pressed the shutter half way to focus, then switched the lens to manual focus to lock it in. Hit the next button to see what settings I used to capture the images.
Here, I have set my camera to Manual mode. You can also try Shutter Priority if you would like to concentrate on shutter speed and not have to worry about the rest.
Next, I like to keep my ISO as low as possible to avoid digital noise on my images. It might be tempting to set your ISO very high in order to get a fast shutter speed, but you also risk overexposing your image because the light being reflected off the smoke is very bright.
I suggest your open your lens to as wide an aperture as possible. I used my 50mm lens, so I was able to go all the way to f/1.8. This allowed me to shoot at 1/1000 sec. Plenty fast to stop any motion in the smoke.
Continue on to see a few images from this shoot.
To get the smoke to form patterns, all I had to do was lightly bump the incense holder. I hope you have enjoyed this lesson and will have fun trying it on your own!
To see all of the images from this shoot, please visit my Facebook page.
In addition to using a tripod, I opted to use my shutter release remote. They are fairly inexpensive and very useful. However, you can also set your camera's two-second timer. The idea is that you don't want to be touching your camera when the shutter fires. The slightest movement can ruin your shot.
2. To hold the water, I picked up a betta fish tank for about $5 at Walmart. I wanted it to be as clear as possible, so I used filtered water and filled it up as close to the top as I could without it spilling over. You might have noticed the tonic water in the background. I used that later, but we'll get to that.
5. Because a high shutter speed is required, I also placed two studio lights on either side. Now, this is quite a bit of electricity in close proximity to water that is going to be splashing around. Please be sure to not place the lights too close to the tank and that any extension cords or plug-ins aren't exposed.
6. Finally, the camera set up. First was the focus. I placed my strawberry in the water about where I would drop it and focused. Then I switched to manual focus to lock it in. Next, I needed as wide an aperture as possible. With this lens, that was f/5. I bumped the ISO up to 1000, which allowed me to set the shutter speed to 1/6400 sec. Click the next button to see the final images.
