Panoramas seem simple, but half the time, they end up warped, blurry, or just ugly. Turns out, it’s not the camera, it’s knowing the right tricks. Follow a few simple rules, and your panos will actually look good.

6

You’re Moving Your Camera Too Fast

Moving your camera too fast is one of the easiest errors to make when capturing panoramic photos. While you typically need to move it around, many people mistake this for having to try to beat the world record for spinning their device.

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When you move your camera too fast, you won’t capture the most important details. You know that you rushed your photo, and it will be just as evident to everyone else when you try publishing it.

The solution to this is very simple. Rather than trying to get the picture over and done with as soon as possible, move much slower than you think you need to. Your device will then be able to capture everything with fewer issues.

To give your camera more stability, you may want to consider using a handheld stabilizer instead of going handheld. Doing so will reduce the amount of camera shake, leading to a clearer photo.

5

You Aren’t Thinking About Your Composition

The golden rule for all types of photography, including panoramic pictures, is to consider what you want to include in your images. Without taking this vital step, you’ll end up with lots of photos on your camera roll but none that you like.

Look at the entire scene in front of you. Decide on the main focal point and anything else you think would be useful for taking the best possible picture. Then, combine these.

Just as importantly, you should think about everything that you don’t want to have included in your photo. While you can remove some of these in your editing software, it’s better to eliminate as much as you can before that point.

4

Your Camera Isn’t Bringing Each Section Together

Another issue when taking panoramic photos is that your camera sometimes won’t bring each section together. In some cases, you might notice a picture where it looks very clearly like there are three separate places, even though this wasn’t your original plan.

When your camera does this, others can clearly see you’ve taken a panoramic photo. Furthermore, it detracts from the scene overall.

Incorrect stitching can come from multiple factors. Sometimes, it’s because you’ve moved the camera too quickly. But in other cases, it might be the result of you leaving too much space between each picture you take; this happens more on DSLRs when you need to stitch the photos together.

The best hack to solve this problem is by moving your image panoramically in the smoothest way possible.

3

There’s Different Lighting in Each Section

When used artistically, different lighting in each part of your pictures can make your images look fantastic. But if you didn’t intend for this to happen, it can make your image look sloppy.

Having different lighting in each section can be a big problem when taking landscape pictures, especially around sunset. However, it can also be an issue when capturing images indoors, especially in rooms with varying levels of light.

If you aren’t trying to capture different light in an artistic way, you’re better off looking for scenes where the lighting is consistent throughout. If it isn’t, it’s much better to capture individual images and use them as standalone pictures instead of trying to stitch everything together.

2

You’re Using the Default 1.0x Lens

Don’t limit yourself to the default 1.0x lens; you can use your phone’s other lenses to shoot panoramas too. The default lens often results in you moving the camera too soon, and it may also lead to some of your main subjects looking further away than you might like.

1

You Aren’t Making the Most of Your Surroundings

Besides considering the subjects you want in your photos, it’s worth looking at the extra things you can include from your surroundings. For example, one of the best ways to make your framing more unique is by using unique objects, such as doorframes.

Thinking outside the box will usually improve your panoramic images. While you’ll sometimes still have some duds, the ones that work will be particularly great. You can experiment with different objects to get the results you want.

Panoramic photography is one of the most difficult types to get right, but with a couple of simple steps, you can instantly improve the quality of your pictures. Sometimes, changing your camera mode can help, as can thinking more creatively about the types of images you want to capture.