People Panoramas

One of the biggest things for me that digital photography has brought about is the panoramic photo. Programs like Autostitch and photoshop make the creation of these panoramic photos a breeze. This idea went even further with the gigapan, a device for the lazy of us who want to create massive panoramic photos.

So what is the advantage of a panorama ? Wider than the lens you have, and more detail than the widest lens you have.

26 Photos can render something like this...

10 or less can achieve this..

Why not take a picture of a person using this method. I know I will not be the first person to do this nor the last, and I am sure comments will show up saying "Sir Edmund Panorama invented the people panoramic in 1297.... Don't copy his idea...". That said, here is the basic.

So why do this ? Well I had my 90mm lens on, and couldn't be bothered changing it, and I wanted the equivalent of say a 24mm shot, but with the creamy smooth bokeh of f2.8 @ 90mm

So starting at the critical AF point, in this case Peggy's face, I locked in the settings with the exposure and focus lock. Then proceeded to shoot down her body, and then filled in the sides.

As you want it to join based on the person, you do get some defects (due to overlapping the features), if you are lazy in photoshop (like I was above... her right ear, look at the hair)

For this to work, you really only need to ensure the model does not move when you are shooting them, once you move off to the sides, with a little manipulation in photoshop, you will not notice it. Well unless they move too far, and cover some of the background. Oh and don't forget to crop the image down to hide the overlapping images, unless you want to share the method with people like I have here. :)

So give it a try. I know I will try it more, and update this post with more examples, and a better explanation.