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Tips and Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks to make the most of your panoramas. Also, check out the creative ideas and advanced tips to go beyond the basics with your shots.

Shoot more than you need

Always take a larger panorama than you need to. Because stitched panoramas are rarely rectangular, you will need to crop your panorama to print it out. This could lead to a lot of lost information, especially at the boundaries.

Another good idea is to set your lower-right corner so that it´s just after the point when the number of horizontal and vertical photos increases. For example, if the Imager shows you 20 horizontal and 10 vertical images, move it lower and to the right so that it reads 21 horizontal and 11 vertical.

Shooting in different environments

Outdoors
1. Focus on an important element of the scene and turn on the Focus Lock on your camera.
2. Focus on an element that isn´t too bright or too dark, and turn on the Exposure Lock on your camera.
3. Set your camera´s White Balance to either Sunlight or Cloudy, depending on the weather. Do not leave it at Auto.
4. Make sure that the sun is behind you. If this isn´t possible, hide the sun behind an object.
Indoors

With indoor scenes, you may experience poor lighting, and/or objects that will be quite close to your camera.

Turning off the Focus Lock, and letting your camera use auto-focus, may help produce better results in indoor settings, however, we recommend that you try it with the focus locked and unlocked to see which gives the best results for your shot.
1. In the GigaPan Menu, navigate to Options > Time Per Pic.
2. Use the directional keys to increase the time to at least 3 seconds.
3. Navigate to Options > Expert Options > Button Hold.
4. Use the directional keys to increase the time to 1.5 seconds.
5. Before you begin your final panorama, take a 2x2 panoramam to test your setup.
6. In your camera´s screen, make sure that every shot is clear even at the highest zoom level.
Night shots

Here are a few tips for shooting panoramas at night. The key is to Increase the exposure time for each photo and make sure that the EPIC and your camera are free from vibrations.
1. If your camera has Image Stabilization, turn the feature off.
2. Increase the exposure setting for your camera. Preview the effect in the camera´s screen till you´re satisfied.
3. Change the ISO setting to 200 or less. This will prevent your pictures from becoming grainy.
4. In the GigaPan Menu, navigate to Options > Time Per Pic.
5. Use the directional keys to increase the time to at least 5 seconds.
6. Navigate to Options > Expert Options > Button Hold.
7. Use the directional keys to increase the time to 2-3 seconds.
8. Before you begin your final panorama, take a 2x2 panorama to test your setup.
9. In your camera´s screen, make sure that every shot is clear even at the highest zoom level.
City scenes

Capture panoramas of your hometown city or vacation destinations.

In cities, you need to be more aware of objects in motion – specifically vehicles and people. You may also find that buildings can get distorted when you stitch your panorama.

To avoiding moving objects, watch for people or street traffic that might get in the way of your shots - pause the panorama before they do and resume the panorama after they have left the frame. This may not always be feasible, so you can also retake the shot where the moving object got in the way and insert it into your image in post-production.

A few tips if you're shooting buildings:
1. Try to get as far from the building as possible to capture the full building.
2. Instead of facing the building, shoot it from a 45 degree angle for a unique perspective.
3. Make sure that the corner of the building is at the center of your scene.
Create Games: Hide & Seek

Make your panorama fun to explore by hiding interesting objects, and create a list of these things for your friends to find.

You can either hide items in your scene before shooting the panorama, or insert images into your panorama during post-production using Adobe Photoshop.

Just follow these instructions when you are uploading your panorama to turn it into a fun hide & seek game:
1. When you upload your panorama to GigaPan.com, click on Edit.
2. Check the "Is a Game" box.
3. List the objects you´ve hidden in your panorama comments.
Panoramas in Motion: Capturing a Crowd

Sporting events, races or crowds of people are great opportunities to take an epic shot that captures every detail of the moment. You´ll be sure to capture every face in the crowd.

When shooting a panorama of a sporting event that has a lot of motion, capture the whole scene and crowd, and then re-shoot the areas in motion individually. Drop these individual shots into the final panorama during post-production using AdobePhotoshop and you won´t have any "ghosts" or missing players.

Also, set your tripod above the crowd or at an elevated level to capture the full scene.
Shooting a 360 panorama
1. Taking a 360 panorama is easy and is similar to shooting any other panorama. Instead of setting the EPIC to the upper left and lower right corners of the panorama, you just have to set it to the top and bottom.
2. Use the directional keys on the EPIC screen to navigate to 360 Panorama in the menu and press OK.
3. Set your camera to its full zoom level and press OK.
4. Use the directional keys to point the camera to the top of your scene and press OK.
5. Use the directional keys to point the camera to the bottom of your scene and press OK.
6. You can preview the panorama before it begins. Press OK to preview or press X to continue without a preview.
7. Confirm whether you want to go ahead with the panorama, and the EPIC will run you through a checklist before it starts taking pictures.
8. Watch the scene while the EPIC takes your panorama to make sure it does not miss a picture and no one steps into your frame. If so, press X to pause the panorama and use the directional keys to go back to an earlier camera position.