Shooting Macro Panoramas

Combining the macro capabilities frequently built into digital cameras with the panorama stitching abilities of software lets photographers create beautiful macro panoramas. While somewhat complicated to shoot, the results can be well worth the effort. It is recommended that a photographer have experience with both macros and panoramas before shooting a macro panorama. In addition, the technique for cloning seams on the cloning tips page is used extensively in macro panoramas.

A macro panorama is shot in much the same way as a traditional panorama, with a few differences:

Pictures need to be overlapped by one half to two thirds of the frame or more. This is to be able to get multiple shots of the same area with different parts of the area in focus. Too many photos is better than too few, since extras can go unused, while trying to go back and fill in a spot that wasn't in focus in any photo in the series can be very difficult.

Since the shot is using a macro lens, the tripod must be moved in the direction of the panorama instead of rotating the head (which puts the subject too far to be in focus when shooting the ends of the panorama). In vertical panoramas, this means starting with the tripod in a fixed spot and extended to start the panorama at the top or bottom of the image. The height of the head is then raised or lowered without rotating it as the image is shot. In horizontal panoramas, this means starting with the tripod at a fixed height and positioned on the left or right end. The tripod is then gently dragged toward the other side without rotating it as the image is shot.

Stitching Macro Panoramas

Once the series is shot, some trial and error is needed to discover which photos in the series are the best to use. Stitching the panorama by hand without software support tends to be very difficult.

Seam in Merged Image	Seam Fixed with Cloning	Flare in Merged Image

Ten photos were shot in the series for the macro panorama on this page, and six of them were used in the initial merged image. The initial merge has numerous seam problems, an example of which is the flower in the middle where it touches the left edge. Above on the left, is a section of that seam. The fixed version in the middle uses the seam cloning technique. On the right is an example of a seam flare in the background of the image just below that flower. This was fixed via a combination of cloning and replacing the color (using the color replacer and the red eye tool) after the image was color corrected.

The photos used, the initial merge, and final merge are below:

Original Photos	Initial Merge	Final Image