Panoramas are an exceptional way to create compelling images. They’ll add detail and rich colours to a substantial print and they’re an exceptional tactic to use if your camera doesn’t have the megapixels to get the detail your after. For anyone unsure of the method for shooting a panorama: quite simply it’s taking a series of images side by side of a scene, then using computer software (Photoshop being the most commonplace) to stitch those images together to create what could be mistaken for a single image.

Predictably, they can also very easily go wrong, inevitably leading to compromise when editing or failure to be able to edit at all. Have no fear, however, there are a few strategies you can use to improve your Panoramas instantly. Below I discuss my four most tried and tested methods that I use to consistently create stunning panoramas. Apply these tactics the next time you shoot a panorama and let me know whether or not they helped.

• Use the Right Lens

Modern lenses are designed to give you the biggest back for your buck, often that means you’ll compromise in one area to succeed in another. It’s a common reason why many photographers have multiple lenses covering various focal lengths and apertures. Panoramas are as demanding as any other kind of photography type, so lens choice is important.

For my panoramas I will seek to use any lens with a focal length 35mm and above. 50mm is my personal preference, however I’ve had success with my 200mm f2.8L, similarly I’ve shot as wide as 28mm. These are the focal lengths for this blog post’s cover image.

The reason we want to have a larger focal length is because the smaller the focal length the wider the lens needs to be able to see (hence wide angle), this is achieved by curving the front element of the lens creating a perspective distortion. When stitching the images together, photoshop (or your preferred editing software) will seek to match the images across as an average, and having too wide a lens will force an unnatural perspective. Unless that’s your intention, of course, I’d recommend a mid-range focal length. 35mm lenses are typically flush enough with the sensor that you can get a happy medium of width-to-perspective.

• Bring me the Horizon

In the interest to minimising distortion between images, a second tactic would be to keep your camera level. to the ground If you have an internal level in your camera and a tripod this will be a simple fix for you, if you don’t the best way I can advise you do this is to keep the centre of your image on the horizon. When shooting handheld I’d often use the central focus point in my view finder as a moderator to keep the horizon consistent throughout the individual images in anticipation of having a well composed image when editing in post.

This is possibly the easiest but most important fix of all the tips here, make this one your priority.

• Consistent exposures

This one’s a bit trickier to manage, so it may take some practice and some patience. When editing the final image, to create a consistent and coherent image the final product needs to look like it’s a single image. Meaning the individual images that compile the overall image need to be precisely consistent. Editing multiple exposures in post will become obvious across any sample of consistent tone; skies are a dead giveaway. The demarcation between images will manifest as lines in the image similar to a time splice, however it’ll appear unintentional.

The only way to achieve this is to shoot in manual mode, where each image is taken concurrently using the exact same settings. The images may look like they’re exposed differently when you look at them independently, as you will likely shoot a scene with varying light sources or intensity, but when stitching them together you’ll have one consistent exposure between images to create a seamless panorama.

• Orientation

This one is all about real estate. No panorama is perfect and the likelihood that you’ll need to crop the final image before you publish anything is 100%. Choosing the correct orientation will offer you more room for error in the post-production process, which is a priceless commodity when our panoramas can’t always be retaken after the fact.

So for this tip, I’d offer this rule to follow.: If your panorama will have a landscape orientation, shoot your images as portrait. If your panorama will have a Portrait orientation, shoot your images as landscape.

Having the additional information along your short edge will allow you crop without compromise, and will inevitably add more detail to your panorama due to the increase in images taken.

I hope these tips help you the next time you’re in the field, please tag me in your panoramas I’d love to see everyone’s progress. Beyond these, do you have a tip that could help someone that I’ve not mentioned?