DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

How to shoot and edit panoramic landscapes with the Syrp Genie Mini and Photoshop

Nov 25, 2016 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

shoot_and_edit_panoramics

A couple of months ago, Syrp updated the firmware on the Genie Mini to add a couple of very cool new features. One of those was the ability to automate the shooting of panoramic still images for stitching. It’s not a difficult process to accomplish, but there are one or two gotchas and things you have to look out for.

In this video from The Slanted Lens, Jay P Morgan explains the whole process, from start to finish. With the New York cityscape as his subject, Jay walks us through setting up the Genie for the sequence, shooting the images, and then stitching them together in Photoshop.

As you can see, it’s pretty straightforward. But, you do need to make sure you enter your camera’s details correctly. Sensor size and focal length are both huge factors in how much the Genie Mini moves between shots. If those are entered incorrectly, you may find that you have far more shots than you need. Worse, you may discover that your panoramics are ruined because the shots didn’t cover the entire scene.

Jay prefers shooting panoramic stitches with the camera in portrait mode. Shooting with the camera oriented this way has been a common panoramic technique for a long time. It allows for much more height and resolution as you pan across the entire scene.

portrait_orientation_panoramic

As with shooting any type of photograph, the first step is to figure out your exposure. You’ll want to be in manual mode, so that you get consistent exposure across the entire scene. After dialling exposure settings into the camera, the rest of the process is controlled through an app on your phone.

The app lets you quickly set your start and end points, and has a fast preview mode to spin the camera around and see exactly where the sequence will begin and end. This quick preview allows you to tweak the settings and ensure you’re covering the entire scene that you want to capture.

syrp_genie_panning

After the images are shot and you’re back on the computer, it’s time for stitching. Jay brings the images into Adobe Camera Raw through Bridge. Loading up all of the images together means that he can easily process them all identically. Simply make changes to one, then select all, sync, and then open them in Photoshop.

acr_sync

Once loaded into Photoshop, you can choose Photomerge from File menu, and add the open files. There are several different stitching methods, but Photoshop’s pretty smart, and Jay often tends to find that “Auto” does the best job. The trick is making sure you have enough overlap between images. Jay suggests around 40%.

Then it’s just a case of cropping and using, the healing brush, Content Aware Fill or similar tools to fill in any small gaps in the sky or foreground. Depending on the sequence, there might be a little perspective distortion that needs correcting, but that’s easily fixed with Photoshop’s transform tools.

panoramics

Such images aren’t that difficult to create, but as you can see, there is a general process to help ensure good results.

Are stitched panoramics a common subject of yours? Have you upgraded the firmware in your Genie Mini yet to help you with them? How have your results been? What other panoramic tips can you offer? Let us know and share your own panoramics in the comments.

 

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

You can now shoot Panoramas and 360 degree photos with the Syrp Genie Mini Syrp Genie Mini ReviewDIYP reviews the SYRP Genie Mini – A Clever camera motion solution We are giving away a super cool timelapse device, the Syrp Genie Mini Syrp’s Genie Mini II upgrades connectivity, adding WiFi, more reliable bluetooth and USB Type C

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: Genie, genie mini, jay p morgan, Syrp Lab, The Slanted Lens

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Nikon 14mm vs Nikon 16mm Fisheye + Lens Correction
The $2,500 21,600fps Chronos camera smashes its Kickstarter goal on day one »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Photographer’s Block? Here’s how to get out of a creative rut
  • Zhiyun MOLUS G60 & X100 LED lights are tiny-tiny powerful LEDs
  • Three new full-frame and APS-C Sigma lenses coming soon
  • Sony launches DSC-HX99 retinal projection kit for the visually impaired
  • DIYP Quiz: AI or photo?

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy