[Ryan]

It's been a while since I've done any panoramic stitching, and am wondering if there's any shiny new tools to use.

Last pano I did was several years ago and I used a tool called Panavue. Worked pretty well, but I assume there's probably something new and better by now. I'm planning on giving Hugin a try. I tried it a few years ago and it didn't seem to work quite as well as Panavue, but it looks like it's been updated fairly recently. Plus, the price is right - free

If it matters to the answer I've got Photoshop CS5.5.

[jkleb]

I actually use the stitching tool in Photoshop

[Ryan]

That's what I get for not digging through new tools. I bought CS5.5 last summer, upgrading from CS2, and didn't know that was there. Guess I need to give the built in tool a go.

[Marian Murdoch]

I've used the CS5 program for all my panoramic photos. You can see 5 of them here: http://www.wildmaven.org/panoramas-and-night-sky.html

It's also easier for some reason to stitch them together if you take them with the camera held vertically. I don't know why that is, though.

[Ryan]

It's also easier for some reason to stitch them together if you take them with the camera held vertically.

Don't know if there's any science behind it, but that's the way I usually do it. I've had a few where the distortion to get everything lined up bubbles so that the top or bottom has to get cropped. Shooting vertical gives me plenty of space. And since the images have to get stitched anyway, it doesn't really matter how many images there are.

eta...
If you haven't already, click on Marian's link. If nothing else, you have to see the B&W pano on that page.

[Marian Murdoch]

If you haven't already, click on Marian's link. If nothing else, you have to see the B&W pano on that page.

[jkleb]

I stumbled across the same conclusion last year on shooting vertical.

[Ray Soldano]

I use Hugin.  It's simple and free.  Here are a few I've done.  http://saldo1981.dotphoto.com/CPViewAlbum.asp?AID=5535525

[Ryan]

Turns out the project I was need to stitch fell apart. Guess I need to come up with something new to do

[Nicholas Lantz]

I attempted to shoot a pano of the forest fire in AZ today. During the processing of my RAW files I realized that Aperture Pri was a really bad idea. They are all exposed differently. Wont do that again lol

[Ryan]

Yup, been there. Well, shooting an auto mode, not forest fires.

What I do is scan across the scene with my shutter half pressed and watch how it meters. I'll typically shoot for the brightest area, and assume that I can bring out detail in darker areas if needed. Bracketing helps as well if I need to pull in an area that's too dark.