Keeping size in proportion for panoramics .

[Lia]

Is there a best size for panoramic shots to keep them in proportion/useful ? This one is 6628x2053 , (don't look at quality )and i cropped some of the road away.Then i have one that is ridiculously super long and naturally way to thin at 14973x2505 ..is there an ideal pano size?and then while i'm here what is the setting in photoshop photo stitching for landscapes do you prefer to use , as in spherical etc. I quite often find that by the time they are merged together i need to crop a fair bit because of empty spaces up top and underneath.

[rjd]

Whatever size is right is right! that at 3:1 is good. I've printed 8:1 on canvas..

I mostly dislike how photoshop stitches.

Always better to over shoot and crop than undershoot and be left with something useless.

[RPM]

Is there a best size for panoramic shots to keep them in proportion/useful ? This one is 6628x2053 , (don't look at quality )and i cropped some of the road away.Then i have one that is ridiculously super long and naturally way to thin at 14973x2505 ..is there an ideal pano size?and then while i'm here what is the setting in photoshop photo stitching for landscapes do you prefer to use , as in spherical etc. I quite often find that by the time they are merged together i need to crop a fair bit because of empty spaces up top and underneath.

You are the artist Lia, if the scene makes sense I don't think there is a perfect size. Yes you do end up cropping away a lot afterwards but thats the nature of stitching images together taken from a single vantage point. Robs recent vertical pano's are an example if it looks good and works then do it. Maybe if you have a pontential customer in mind you could think ahead of where they would hang it in regards to size.

[riley989]

Where I print non standard sizes cost an extra $10 as they have to special order the wood in that size. The only standard size panoramas they do is 3:1 which is twice as wide as the standard 3:2 that your camera produces. I tend to stick to the same ratio when printing so they they look better on wall, rather then having lots of different size/shape photos, unless this this means having to crop a key element out of the photo.

For web, pretty much whatever you like goes, but remember, most people use 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio screens, so the wider you make it, the smaller it will have to be to fit on the screen.

[Lia]

Thanks guys , photoshop is all i have and i do try to overlap big time when i'm thinking of doing a pano. What don't you like about using it for stitching Rob ? I don't really have any customers Raymond i'm just doing this 'coz i'm interested and liking it . (I'm no shining light when it comes to landscape photography ) and Riley , thanks for that ..and that has been the annoying thing ..upload a panoramic shot and it becomes the size of a long postage stamp and you can't even see any of the detail. I'm trying to sort them into being higher and less longer , easier said then done

[Josh Whitcombe]

wait, PS can stitch photos for you?? I have always done it with the eraser tool :L

[riley989]

Thanks guys , photoshop is all i have and i do try to overlap big time when i'm thinking of doing a pano. What don't you like about using it for stitching Rob ? I don't really have any customers Raymond i'm just doing this 'coz i'm interested and liking it . (I'm no shining light when it comes to landscape photography ) and Riley , thanks for that ..and that has been the annoying thing ..upload a panoramic shot and it becomes the size of a long postage stamp and you can't even see any of the detail. I'm trying to sort them into being higher and less longer , easier said then done

Lia, if you want to try some other programs, Microsoft ICE and Autostitch are both free programs, Ice is easier to use, but when you can get it to actually work I find autostich to produce better results.

[Lia]

Thanks Riley , i'm so reluctant about subscribing to programs especially free ones ..some of those ones seem to come with a barrow load of crap attached and i'm just surviving with my oldie but goody computer ..it coughs and i nurse it ..we have an understanding

[rjd]

autostitch is ace, very lightweight too.

Shame it doesnt do raw.

[Jos]

upload a panoramic shot and it becomes the size of a long postage stamp and you can't even see any of the detail. I'm trying to sort them into being higher and less longer , easier said then done

One very good trick is to shoot your panoramas with your camera in vertical mode (tipped on it's side) you'll need to take a few more shots but they will be taller. It also makes the vignetting you get on wider lenses less noticeable as it then happens along the tops and bottoms of the photos, not the sides you are wanting to stitch. You should only overlap by about a third, any more and it can get real hard for the software to stitch well. Keep the horizon dead in the middle so you don't get too much curve that makes you trim the top and bottom off and thus makes the final result much skinnier than needs be.
I find Photoshop (CS6) does a great job myself.

[Lia]

Thanks Jos and that did cross my mind after i had already shot the horizontals . I tried to subscribe to autostitch today but there was a hickup and i didn't have the time to muck around . However there is an autostitch for the iPhone available ..much quicker