The 'Magic Waterfall': 180-Degree Panorama Stitching + Exposure Blending

Thomas Chu Photo

Author: Miller Yao (Yao Minglai)

This is a freshly finished work — a magical jungle waterfall with nearly 180° field of view, made from 6 vertical-panorama frames at 16mm ultra-wide plus 1 exposure-blended frame.

This work received many comments and private messages online — everyone was very interested in the blending and shooting techniques.

So this week's tutorial is on!

(1) A detailed introduction to the shooting thinking and stitching method for this kind of ultra-wide panorama. This work innovatively uses 5 horizontal frames + 1 vertical frame in a vertical panorama.

Panoramic stitching of horizontal + vertical images together — a slick move you've surely never tried

(2) A detailed explanation of combining panorama stitching with exposure blending — methods during capture and techniques in post.

Plus: for such extremely complex edges, how to do exposure blending quickly and precisely.

(3) Using real case comparisons, answering a reader's question: can exposure blending be replaced by the camera's high dynamic range?

Video Tutorial

Bilibili HD video link:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1oC4y147Tr