Panorama Photography

Panoramic photography is a format that captures images with extended fields of view. The term also refers to a photograph that is cropped to a relatively wide aspect ratio to give the effect of a larger view. Wide angle lenses offer a near panoramic image but they are not strictly a panorama shot. True panoramic images are made by taking a series of overlapping shots and using special software to join and blend them together seamlessly. You can shoot anything from high-res wide-angle shots to full 360 degree images.

One of the first recorded patents for a panoramic camera was submitted by Joseph Puchberger in Austria in 1843 for a hand-cranked, 150° field of view, 8-inch focal length camera that exposed a relatively large Daguerreotype, up to 24inches (610mm) long. Panoramic photography was later created using special cameras that would actually turn slowly to reproduce a panorama on a long strip of film.

Today most panorama photography is made using a tripd and a DSLR camera. Metering readings and setting the camera on manual mode with manual focus ensures that each individual image looks the same and can then be blended together easily to produce the wide single print.

Some panoramic photography shows a complete 360 degree wraparound. When viewed as a single print, they offer the ability to see things no conventional camera could have captured and as such they go beyond what even the human eye can see. A narrower panorama, stitching just a few shots (typically 3-6), simply lets you get a wide angle image without a wide angle lens. It also means you can get more resolution than you could even if you did have a wide angle lens because the file size becomes much larger. This results in more fine detail throughout the art print.

As such the panoramic image is the first photo to truly photograph some subjects in a manner that captures some of the experience of actually seeing them. When you stand in front of a beautiful vista, you may focus on one point, but your mind captures all your surroundings.

To enjoy a panorama in the best sense the image has to be printed on a high-quality photo printer at full length. Viewing a panoramic photograph on a screen just doesn't do it justice as your eye can capture the whole computer screen at once. A printed panorama must be scanned by the eye, simulating the real experience as if you were standing there in real life. Having your image printed on a large canvas and hung on the wall will give the best effect in a living room.

Professional panoramic photographers use special camera mounts and tripods that rotate the camera and lens around the "nodal point" where the light rays from the lens converge before diverging again to form the image on the film plane. They eliminate parallax between shots, though in some cases software can do a decent job as well.

Our collection of panoramic art prints are availble in a range of sizes as either poster art or canvas wall art to suit your walls. We also offer canvases as triptych panoramas which look stunning for this type of photograph. If you would like the image printed at a size we don't offer on the website please contact us and we will give you our best price for the bespoke item.

Take a look at our Panorama Photography for our complete collection of wide-angle photographic art prints.