Panoramas

Joseph C. Dovala · Issue 49, Jul/Aug 2009 · pp. 43–46

Products mentioned: Panorama Maker 3.5, Panorama Maker 4.0, Photoshop, Subal ND2 housing, Nikon D2x, Nikkor 10.5mm Fisheye

The extensive wide angle view in paintings, known as the panorama, has been around a long time. Irish painter Robert Barker has been given credit as the first artist to coin the term “panorama” in the late 18th century. Less than 50 years later, in 1844, the first successful photographic panorama camera was invented by photographer Friedrich von Martens. Since these early pioneers, there have been countless cameras and techniques utilized in the pursuit of the wide format view. Of course, the digital age has now brought the often tedious and challenging procedures to just a few clicks of the computer mouse. Well, maybe a little more effort is required than that but anymore it doesn’t take a skilled artist to produce interesting images – even underwater! Not too long ago wanting to shoot panoramas automatically meant using a tripod. While this option produces the best results, especially …