Panoramic photography is ideal for vast mountain ranges and dramatic skylines. It’s also a challenge to do well, requiring thoughtful technique, precise planning, and editing finesse.
Coming to you from Dave Morrow, this helpful video explains essential techniques for creating stunning panoramas. It starts by highlighting common misconceptions, like why specialized pano tripods are unnecessary for most landscape photographers. Morrow shares why handheld shooting often works better and offers practical tips for using your regular tripod when needed. He also outlines his go-to camera settings for handheld panos, focusing on maximizing sharpness and detail while minimizing motion blur, even in low-light conditions.
The video also covers composition strategies that elevate pano photography. Morrow emphasizes the importance of capturing interesting details across the frame, avoiding repetitive elements that can make your images feel static. He discusses the benefits of shooting from high vantage points, which provide better perspective and depth. He critiques the tendency to include “dead space” in images, demonstrating how careful cropping can create a tighter, more engaging composition.
Another valuable takeaway is Morrow’s editing process. He demonstrates how to stitch images together using Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop, showcasing his workflow for aligning horizons, adjusting exposure, and resizing elements to reflect the natural proportions seen in the field. The video explains the importance of preserving visual integrity while enhancing colors and contrast for a final image that stays true to what the photographer experienced.
Morrow also highlights the practicality of shooting handheld panos. He explains how to ensure sharp results by adjusting shutter speed relative to focal length, balancing ISO, and focusing on stability. He offers advice on holding your camera for maximum steadiness and discusses the benefits of walking around with your camera in hand to refine compositions before setting up a tripod. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Morrow.
And if you really want to dive into landscape photography, check out our latest tutorial, "Photographing the World: Japan II - Discovering Hidden Gems with Elia Locardi!”
The stitching software is so good now, I think you still made it sound more complicated than it really is. At least when I use 'Affinity Photo 2'. "Repairing seems" between photos is also a thing we can do now with AI... Sometimes I also find, that there is a critical spot that is too soft, in the middle, that may even be a deal-breaker, and AI can maybe not fix it, or I find none of my original shots, have that spot sharp. It happens. So maybe I needed to be a little less cavalier, and more careful like in your video, but most of the time, when I'm planning Panos, which I'm pretty obsessed with lately, I don't worry too much about being that careful. I do it handheld.
I agree that there is no need to keep the super-wide photos, unless you are sweeping very wide, and the only thing that is worth keeping in your shot was that wide. The winter scene below, shot a few days ago, was a 14-shot pano... Canon EOS M6 Mark II ƒ/5 1/125 24mm ISO400
I tried to coin a phrase for these shots: Not Panoramas but Ultra-Resolution shots. As you said they are very high mega-pixel, and I usually cut them to 10000 (width) when posting, just like FStoppers, but that's a good number to use anyway.