When I first started tracing my family history, I went to the right quarter
of a quarter section in Madison County, Arkansas. I looked around the valley
and tried to imagine what it was like for the family to live there, and to wonder
how it looked then. I took several pictures of the area, and when the prints
came back I taped them together into a panoramic view of the old homesite. I
wanted to use a picture to tell the story. None of the pictures really lined
up right. Some were closer than others, and I didn't get the edges to match
just right.
Now, you can take several digital images, and combine them into a panorama.
This is a process called "stitching," and almost every new camera
comes with a stitching assistant in the camera and a stitching program for your
computer. Let's look at those two steps and talk about the options you have.
There are two stages to making panoramic photos: taking pictures and combining
pictures.
Taking Pictures
Some cameras have a "stitching assistant." A stitching assistant is
a program that helps you line up and take photos to be used in a panorama. With
my Canon A-60, I turn the function wheel to "Panorama" and then take
the pictures from left to right. After I take the first one, the display shows
the right third of the image, next to the image I'm about to take. Using this
display, I can line up the next shot. Then the display shows the right third
of that image, and I line up the next shot, and so on until I have taken all
the images that I want. You can do this up to a full 360 degrees.
Even if your camera doesn't have a stitching assistant--even if yours is a
film camera--you can take pictures for panoramas. Take several photos and try
to get a 25%-30% overlap between each photo and the next. Be careful to keep
the photos in a straight line--if you move the camera up and down, the final
image may be thinner than you want.
Probably not every new camera has this feature, but I've seen cameras from
Canon, Epson, and Nikon that do. And the cameras that have it come with computer
software for stitching the pictures together.
Merging the Pictures
There are at least three ways you can merge the pictures.
The old fashioned way was to use a photo-editing program such as Photoshop.
Each image was pasted into a different layer, skewed and rotated into position,
and moved into the right spot. Photoshop Elements has a feature called "Photomerge"
that will automatically merge images, under the right conditions.
The second method is to use software that comes with new cameras. For example,
Canon cameras come with a utility named "Photostitch." This program
allows the user to browse the computer's hard drive, select the images to merge,
order them from left to right, and then "automagically" merge them.
The third method is to use a computer program specially for the purpose of
merging panoramic photos, such as Panorama Factory, Photosuite, or Photovista.
These programs are not expensive, costing less than $100 in most cases. If you
can, try more than one before you make a decision to purchase. You can find
links for this software at the RootsWorks site.
You can make panoramic photos without a digital camera. By taking photos with
film cameras, and scanning them, then using Panorama Factory or a similar program,
you can create panoramas.
There are genealogical applications where this comes in handy. You might photograph
an ancestral homesite. You might take a group photo at a family reunion. But
there are other reasons too.
You can get a 5-megapixel image from 3 pictures with a 2-megapixel camera.
This would allow you to make a high-resolution photo of a large legal document.
You would simply photograph the top, middle, and bottom of the page, and merge
them into a single image.
Things You Can do to Improve Your Panorama
Here are a few guidelines for taking good pictures for use in a panorama.
- It's important to have a single point of reference for the set. Don't walk
around between photos.
- Try to keep the lighting consistent. Don't turn the flash on for some pictures
and off for others, or turn off lights in the room.
- Keep the camera steady. Nothing disappoints you like finishing a merge and
realizing that the second picture was blurry.
- Keep the camera steady. If you tilt the camera too much between shots, it's
hard to match up the pictures. Consider using a tripod or a monopod.
Beyond Panorama--Virtual Reality
One of the cool things to do is to make a "virtual tour" of a 360
degree image. Using programs like Photovista can make an image that can be interactively
navigated by other users. You can put it on a website and, without programming,
create a virtual tour or a virtual class reunion. Only your imagination can
limit the possible ways you can use a picture to tell a story.
More Information
For links and more information about panoramic photos, please see the RootsWorks
site.. If you want to discuss your pre-purchase questions, please drop by
the RootsWorks Forums. Registration
is free, and I'd be interested to know what kinds of information you need before
you make your choices.
The RootsWorks series of articles focuses on genealogical applications for
generic technologies. Beau would like to hear from you. Whether you have something
to add or something to ask, please point your browser to www.rootsworks.com/
forums and discuss this or any topic related to the use of technology in family
history. Tell us about your mapping experiences. Please note that he cannot
assist you with your individual computer problems. Visit the RootsWorks
website for links to previous articles and Beau's lecture schedule.
Copyright 2003, MyFamily.com.
Ancestry Daily News
