How to take panorama photos at Disney parks
We’ve talked before about how to take a good photo with your smartphone at Disneyland or Disney World. Now, let’s take a look at a great feature added to the iPhone: panoramic photos.
It has always been possible to take panoramic shots using a variety of apps, but with the new iOS 6 you now have the built-in ability with either your iPhone 5 or iPhone 4S.
The iPhone creates a 240-degree image, adjusting for camera shaking using its gyroscope. It also produces a large file — up to 28MB — so be aware if you plan to e-mail or post the picture.
Here are some tips and things to think about when making a panorama:
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| © Steven Liebman |
Getting Started
On your screen there will be a strip and an arrow pointing to the right. That tells you to start at the left and pan towards the right. Now, tap the camera icon in the middle on the bottom of the screen. This starts the process. Slowly move the phone to the right. You will see the arrow move. Make sure the arrow follows the middle line as closely as possible; this is what tells you how steady you’re holding the phone. When you get to the end, the phone will automatically generate the panoramic photo.
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| © Steven Liebman |
Steady Hand
It’s very important to keep your hand steady when moving the phone. If the arrow spends too much time above or below the line you will see parts of the photo cut off. It’s also important to go slowly. The application will prompt you if it feels the camera is moving too fast.
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| © Steven Liebman |
Stable Background
The best panorama photos are those in which everything is clear and stable. But Disney parks usually have a lot of movement, and when stitching together the individual photos into the panorama you could find that movement means parts of people may not show up. Take a look at the photo below and see how the back half of the woman walking is cut off.
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| © Steven Liebman |
Watch the Light
The same rules used when taking a normal photo works for panoramas as well. Keep the light behind you as much as possible. This is more difficult when moving the camera 240 degrees because you will most likely not get even light. So make sure you don’t move directly from shade to bright sunlight.
Stop When You Want
While you do have the full 240 degree area to play with, you can tap the camera button and stop whenever you want. The program will stitch the photos to the area stopped.
