I was out walking the other day and I found a brand new way to
shoot panoramas and if you don't know what a panorama is it's basically one
of those long thin photos that can make a scene look absolutely Epic
in the past I used to have to switch my camera to manual mode set the exposure
so the highlights weren't blown out focus and then switch to manual focus and then shoot the
Panorama but with the two settings that are in most cameras you can get Panos really quickly
and efficiently so no need to even change your mode for the Pano but first I have to find a
decent location to show you what I mean and make sure to keep watching because I've got a tip a
little bit later on to work out whether or not a scene is good for a Pano today is one of those
days where nothing is going right a full cast was quite good it was for nice blue skies like this
what can you do
ah
it's really windy today I've just come up to this Ridge line and there's so
much air blowing across it it's going to be tricky getting some good shots from here but
the cloud has lifted a little bit so I might be able to get one or two shots now I love shooting
Panos and whenever I go out I try and get one in the bag sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn't and that's the beauty with digital photography doesn't really matter if a photo
doesn't work it's more about the process of learning a technique and repeating that
technique so when the conditions are good you know you'll get a really nice shot wow
it's windy I think I might be able to get a Pano from up here
we've got the two Lakes we've got the mountain in the background and a load of wind
uh
so windy and the clouds come down even more but I'll try and show you what this setting is so the
next time you go out you can use it potentially to get a great Pano and to add some techniques
to your repertoire now I made a massive Schoolboy error today and I forgot an essential bit of Kit
can you guess what it is let me know in the comments below such an idiot foreign I think
I might have one here and even better I'm out of the Wind we have this path running down here
we've got all of these hills and mountains as layers he's a shame that there isn't a little
bit more visibility because the landscape in the background is absolutely fantastic but Beggars
can't be choosers as a wide shot like this shot that I'm shooting now doesn't really work but I
think as a Pano where it's just that little strip there it could work so that's the plan
show you the key to this technique is the AEL button it's as simple as that
you can see at the moment if I point the camera up here it's 1 500th of a second
whereas I point the camera down here it's 100th 180th so it does change through the Pano
so what I'm going to do I'm at 50 mil I'm going to point at the brightest part and
then press and hold my AEL you can see a little star has come up in the bottom
right hand corner of the screen or the top right hand corner in portrait mode
so what I'm going to do frame this up as I want it I want all of this in the shot I'm
going to focus around about there then I'm going to set it to manual focus I mean aperture priority
and then I'm going to get the exposure that I want which is about there that's the brightest part
hold down AEL and then I'm gonna shoot the Pano this locks in the exposure until you take your
finger off that button keep it pressed and then shoot all of the photographs through the sequence
I'll probably do that again at let's say 70 mil yeah let's go 70 mil so I'm going
to focus on this rock here said it's a manual focus hold down my AEL on the brightest part
and then go through the shot
back button focusing works really well with this technique and that's how I've set my
camera up the button on the back AF on is where I set my focus and then the shutter
button literally just takes the photo and if you're not sure about back button focusing
I've got a video at the end of this one now let me know in the comments below if you're
already a back button focuser it really is a great way to focus and I highly recommend it
using this method you can be shooting in aperture priority mode and not worrying
about the settings and then if you see a scene that warrants a Pano you focus hold
the AEL button and then take the Pano no need to change any of those other settings
now if you're shooting in low light conditions or you're using an ND filter to lengthen the exposure
manual mode and a tripod is the way to go with Panos but if you just want to grab a quick one and
you're shooting handheld try this technique out the AEL button locks in that exposure and enables
you to shoot the whole Pano keeping those settings exactly the same without even leaving aperture
priority mode I've started using it all the time it's really sped up my workflow it's meant to be a
mountain up here how annoying now if you struggle to find good panoramas you're not alone it is
quite tricky at first but what I tend to do is look at a scene if I've got the wide angle lens on
and the mountain range that looks Majestic to the eye looks quite insignificant in a wide shot then
this probably warrants a panorama you can also use longer focal lengths I tend to shoot a lot of my
Panos around about 50 to 70 millimeters maybe a little bit longer sometimes say for instance
in this scene got lots of boring Sky lots of boring Heather in the foreground I just want
that strip in the middle so all I'll do is get the longer focal length on I'll shoot that as a Pano
now if you're wondering why you'd want to shoot a Pano like this instead of just shooting wide
and cropping in it just means you're not losing megapixels and if it's a really good shot you
might want to blow it up print it out and hang it on your wall and when you get a really good Pano
hung on the wall it looks absolutely fantastic so I'm going to be at around about 70 mil
let's turn the camera on gonna Focus there then I'm gonna go to the brightest
part hold my AEL button focus is already there and then I'm gonna shoot the Pano
it's not the most exciting panel in the world but it shows you the technique that
I'm using to get this shot now if you want to learn about back button focusing click
on this video next in it I'll show you how to focus like a pro yeah you got there whoo