7 Panoramic Photography Ideas To Turn Any Wall Into A Focal Point

There are endless different photography styles to experiment with, and even more options when it comes to showcasing your finished work. But panoramic photography can be highly impactful, especially when turned into magical prints to hang in your home.

Panoramic photography has been around since the days of film cameras (remember those?), when upmarket cameras included a “panoramic mode”.

Today,  digital technology makes photography infinitely easier.  Every new smartphone these days has an epic camera. Yet, at the same time, this opens up a whole new world of options! There are so many ways you can

If you would like to find out how to take panoramic photos, keep scrolling! We’ve got plenty of panoramic photography ideas to get you inspired.

What is A Panoramic Picture?

First up, what even is a panoramic picture? Panoramic photography is essentially a photo with a wide format, whether that’s vertical or horizontal. Either way, they are taken by taking a series of photos which overlap to create one single image.

By using the panoramic mode on your camera, you can achieve a much wider shot than you could achieve with a standard lens.

1. Create Panoramic Shots of People

By Jason Corey

When you’re throwing a wedding, birthday party, shower, or any other occasion that involves gathering people together, capturing the moment is important. And if you’re lucky enough to come away from the event with a series of sensational panoramic pictures, everyone will be pretty pleased! You might even be able to turn those shots into a wall display or a canvas collage.

If you’re able to line up all of your guests for one magical photographic moment, now is the time to use your camera’s panoramic settings!

2. Create Vertical Panoramas

When you say “panorama,” most people think long, sweeping horizontal images of cityscapes or other landscape views. But don’t forget that panoramic photography doesn’t have to be horizontal! Some of the most striking photos ever taken have been vertical panoramas.

Anything can be beautifully captured as a vertical panorama; a tall building, a waterfall, or even a particularly beautiful tree. Vertical panoramas are taken in much the same way as horizontal panoramas. It’s simply a matter of playing around with the settings on your camera and getting plenty of practice!.

3. Create Panoramas That Follow One Object

By Jo Ninham

Looking for super creative panorama photo ideas? Try following a moving object! This is definitely a skill that will take some honing. That said, it’s certainly achievable even for an amateur photographer. The idea is to catch a panoramic photo of an object in full flight – such as an animal running, a bird flying, a car zooming by, or even something simpler such as a bouncing ball.

With your camera in panoramic or continuous shooting mode, follow the object and piece together your results later. Panoramic photography following the movement of an object can go hilariously wrong at times. This technique is best used after some experimenting. You shouldn’t necessarily rely on it to work the first time, especially if you’re taking that once-in-a-lifetime shot!

4. Experiment with Cloning

By Björn Söderqvist

The cloning panoramic technique differs in that the object that is repeated across the final panoramic shot is stationary, and therefore looks like it has been cloned rather than looking like it is on the move. This technique is best attempted with a person rather than an animal, as speed, timing and precision are of the essence.

Begin by having the person towards the beginning of your panoramic shot, and once that area has been photographed, the person needs to move to another part of the scene (while not running in front of the camera, of course!) and prepare to be photographed again. The number of times the person can be featured in one panoramic image depends on how slowly you can get away with moving your camera while still creating the shot, and how quickly the person can move from one position to the next.

5. Use an App to Stitch Your Panoramic Photos Together

By Matthew Brown

If you rely on your smartphone to double as your camera, use apps. Your adventures in panoramic photography will be much easier if you use the right apps! For iPhone users, Auto Stitch is a popular choice, with the Android equivalent being PanoStitch. Not only will these apps stitch your regular sized photos together to create a panoramic picture, but they will also stitch panoramic images together to create a multilayered effect.

Imagine taking two or more carefully timed panoramic photos of the view from the tallest building in your city, and then stitching those images together to create a multi-row panorama. Done right, the end result will be a stunning image that you can use as wall decor in the home or office.

6. The Phone Toss (Not for the Faint of Heart)

From The Atlantic

For a more edgy, creative panoramic picture, try swishing your arm while taking the shot. If you’re really feeling adventurous, you could try tossing your phone in the air to capture shots during its flight.

Your end result will not be a seamless piece of beauty like other panoramic scenes tend to be, but will have jagged lines and areas where the images are not even remotely stitched together well. That’s the idea of this kind of panoramic experimentation; it’s raw and unique!

7. The Tiny Planet

A “tiny planet” is a photograph with a 3D effect, warping a panoramic image into a spherical shape. Created from 360° panoramas, “tiny planets” are a little bit surreal and can be very effective. To create this effect on your iPhone, you will need the Tiny Planet app, and Android users can check out Little Planet or Tiny Planet FX Pro.

After all your experimentation with panoramic photography, you’re bound to have created something stunning on your wall. The beauty of panoramic images is that they command the wall space unlike any other image. Once you’ve pieced together your photos to create a stunning panoramic, effortlessly turn it into canvas art to make any wall the focal point of the room.