Panoramas allow you to go wide, even if you don't have a wide-angle lens

        Baltimore Harbor, as seen from the ramparts of Fort McHenry.

     Panoramas are probably one of the oldest types of photos, dating back to daguerreotypes with sweeping views of cities.

    It is a format that's especially good for landscapes or if you're capturing something really large. Photographer David Bergman has done "gigapans" where he captures ultrahigh resolution panoramic shots where you can zoom in on individual details in the photos.

    There have been special cameras made for panoramas, including some that had rotating lenses that would cover multiple frames of film to capture the image. But a more common way to do it is to put multiple pictures together, which is how the originals were made.

    In this day, it is fairly easy to make panoramas regardless of what camera you use, especially with computers doing the stitching seamlessly.

    If you have a cellphone camera, you most likely have a pano feature built into the camera. All you have to do is press the shutter button and move the camera in the direction shown on screen to capture a panorama.

    The key to a successful one is to keep the camera steady, not jerking it around up or down, which will ruin the photo.

     If you have another type of camera, be it a point-and-shoot, bridge, mirrorless or DSLR, there are ways to create panoramas. It involves taking a series of pictures and then stitching them together in a computer.

    To get the best results, you want to shoot in portrait (vertical) orientation, as this will make assembling the panorama easier, as there will be fewer awkward edges that will have to be cropped out.

    You also want to lock your exposure to ensure the pictures have a uniform look, or the finished picture is going to look awkward, unless you spend extra time balancing out exposures in post. You should have some overlap, about 10-20 percent, to make it easier to join them and avoid any gaps.

    There are a few options for stitching them together.

    One way is a bit more artisanal. Basically open the pictures in your photo editor and line them up, doing some cropping and masking to eliminate seams.

    Some photo editors, such as Adobe Lightroom Classic, will automatically stitch the pictures together into a seamless panorama.

    There are also free software options that will stitch your photos together. One of the best is Hugin, which runs on both Windows and Mac, that lets you stitch traditional 180-degree and 360-degree panoramas.  

How to get extreme close-ups with the camera you have

     I've always said that photography can show you things that you can't see, as well as record the things that you can see.

    One of those ways is macrophotography, where you can go in for extreme close-ups of various objects. This allows you see details that may not be readily apparent to the naked eye, as well as create a new perspective on an otherwise mundane object.

    There are dedicated lenses for macrophotograpy, as well as filter-like diopters you can use to magnify the image in your lens. There are also extension tubes and even bellows that can put the lens farther out to create a close-up image.

    But if you don't want to invest in that gear, especially if you're trying out macrophotography for the first time, there are a couple easy solutions.

    If you're using a cellphone camera, you can use a simple magnifying glass to get a closer look. Just put the glass in front of your lens and you might have to move your camera back and forth to bring it into focus.

    That's how I got this photo of a coin commemorating the 75th anniversary of the B-17 "Memphis Belle" completing 25 missions over Europe in World War II.

    If you are lucky enough to have a camera with a removable lens, there's a way to get a great macro shot. It's a tip I first learned in high school back when we were still shooting film.

    Take off your lens and hold it up backwards against the camera's lens mount. You'll have to hold it tight to prevent a light leak and then move back and forth to get the image in focus. If you're using a lens where the camera sets the aperture instead, you'll have to hold your finger on the lever that adjusts the aperture to get it to stay wide open.

    I took this shot using a 50mm f-2 Rikenor lens that I reversed.   

    For perspective, here's a shot of the same coin, taken with the 50mm properly mounted on my camera.

PVC stand attachment provides extra "hands" for using poster board reflectors

    This post is a bit of a two-for-one deal. Two DIY projects in one post.

    The first one is a DIY reflector to bounce light on to your subject. You can use these indoors or out.

   There are expensive models, but a couple of photographers, including Joe Edelman and Daniel Norton, recommend using white poster boards. Norton calls the ones he uses "Brooklyn Reflectors." The boards are inexpensive — you can get them for $1.25 a piece at the so-called dollar stores, or your usual big-box store.

    With it being back-to-school, you may be able to get them on sale.

    Here's Edelman's demonstration with one.

   
    You can use the reflector with a voice-activated lightstand — also known as an assistant — but if you're shooting alone, it could get tricky trying to take the picture and hold the reflector yourself.

    Edelman proposes building a PVC holder for the reflector that lets you adjust it and put it on a lightstand. This allows you to use it hands free, and the rig can also hold flags (the light-blocking variety, not the state or national emblems) and Gobos, which go between a light source and a subject to create a pattern of light, say simulating light coming through a Venetian blind.

    Edleman's plans are in this video, although I would probably also use a joint to mount it to a PVC lightstand.

Manage where your flash goes for about $1

     Light, obviously, is an essential part of photography, which means "light writing" in Greek.

    While we spend a lot of time and energy on putting light into a photo, there are times when you want to keep light out, or remove it.

    For example, when you want to keep light from your light source, be it a flash or continuous light, from spilling over onto the background or into your lens.

    (Unless you're J.J. Abrams, then knock yourself out with that lens flare.) 

    One way to do that is with a flag, basically a black device that you can put on or next to a light to keep it from spilling onto a background or a wall and scattering back into the photo.

    You can buy flags in a variety of sizes, some requiring stands to use. But you can make your own for a fraction of the price, using velcro and craft foam.

    Youtuber Spyros Heniadis demonstrates how much of a difference a 6-inch-by-9-inch piece of foam attached to a flash head can make. His method allows you to vary the size of the flag and its shape to best sculpt your light. 

    With the low cost, you can make flags for all your flashes. You could also use it for continuous lights, but I would recommend doing that directly on the light only if you're using LED or CFL bulbs, as incandescent or halogen bulbs would get too hot.

 

MyTracks offers efficient way to track where you took photos

    My first tip on this blog was using an old cellphone to generate a GPS tracklog for tagging your photos.

    At the time I wrote it, I was using GPSLogger II on a BlackBerry Bold.

    Since then, the BlackBerry finally got to the point where it won't run most apps anymore because its operating system is antique (in computer terms). I switched to using my regular phone, until my wife upgraded our phones and I retired my Samsung Galaxy J3 to GPS logging duty, which it does quite well.

    But in recent months I switched over from GPSLogger II to MyTracks.

    MyTracks, by Daniel Qin, is available on both Android and IOS, and has a companion desktop app for the Mac. I've found it better than GPSLogger for a few reasons.

    First, starting and ending a track is a one-click operation. I've lost a few tracks on GPSLogger because I forgot to click the dialog box asking for the track name. Likewise, GPSLogger asks if you really want to stop.

    Second, I found it has tracked well, whether I'm inside a building or outdoors. I've been able to generate decent tracks in the basement of the county jail.

    Finally, exporting the track file is much simpler with MyTracks.

    I can simply export the track directly into Google Drive, where I can access it from my photo-editing software.

    GPSLogger, on the other hand, did not offer a simple export to my Google Drive. Instead, I had to email it to myself, then transfer the file from my email account to the drive and extract the track from the zip file before I can use it.

    It's a lot of work.

    The only drawback is that if you use the free version of the program, you have to watch a video ad before you can export once the trial period is over. But the features still work, and it's something I can live with for the time being.