I will precurse this post with the disclosure that I have taken very few panoramas in the past which I consider successful.  However, I have invested in an Acratech leveling base that now sits between my ballhead and tripod, this will offset shooting from sloped terrain.

5 image panorama taken from the parking lot of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Taken with the Tamron 14-150mm Di III Lens and the tripod mounted Olympus PEN E-PL3 micro four thirds camera.

Exposure settings for above photo: 1/10th F/10 ISO 200.  Manual focus and manual exposure utilized as necessitated.  Taken with the Tamron Di III 14-150mm lens and the Olympus PEN E-PL3 m43 camera.

This five image panoramic photo succeeds where a single frames would perhaps fail in impact.  There is a great range of colors and manageable dynamic range in the trees but the overcast and featureless sky is best minimized by a very expansive view.  Understanding dynamic range, knowing how a camera clips shadows and highlights, and anticipating how the human eye will subsequently view the capture is essential to crafting quality photographs.  What’s the shortcut to studying all of this?  STUDY ALL OF THIS 🙂