The Joy Of Six, or Maybe Seven

As I told you all during the course, it’s always worth experimenting. If you get an idea worth pursuing, it’s fun banging off a few extra frames with some kind of wacky exposure or something.

To that end, I think it would be good for you to experiment with panoramas. You might be surprised at the results.

The way to do these, in my opinion (and please let me know if you disagree), is to shoot a series of vertical shots, rather than horizontal ones.

One of the brilliant things about panoramas is the file sizes you end up with; massive files with fabulous quality and fine detail.

After I have processed my RAWs into JPGs or TIFFs, I use the Photoshop command “Photomerge” in its automatic function. I then correct any problems with the horizon and play around with the sky until I’m happy.

That is obviously a condensed version of what I actually do. I can run a class if you like!

Normally I use a wide-angle for these shots, ending up with a sort-of-but-not-quite-fish-eye effect, like this.

I was recently in the Pacific Northwest region of the US, staying with family, watching ships glide gracefully past me on the Columbia River when I thought I’d have a go with a long lens instead.

I used a 70-200mm and shot seven vertical frames. I didn’t have a tripod with me, so I just shot and hoped for the best. I am pretty happy with the result.

Go on, give it a go yourselves. It's fun and, as with all these kind of things, you will always learn something, even if it's not what you were expecting, or even wanting, to learn.