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Tristan Greszko took these photos with a Pixel 9 Pro; he\u2019s a photographer on the Pixel development team who focuses on overseeing video and image quality. Tristan, who loves panorama shots, hiked to the very top of a summit in the Tetons with a friend to grab these photos. \u201cIt was more mountaineering than hiking,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd since we went up for sunset, we had to head down in the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says it was worth it. Tristan loves outdoor and panorama photography, and he was part of the team that worked on making it even better for Pixel. \u201cPreviously, panorama mode worked via video \u2014 which is how most panorama modes work,\u201d says Tristan. \u201cWith video mode, the camera is scanning the scene as you\u2019re moving.\u201d Tristan\u2019s idea (at one time a \u201cpipe dream\u201d as he calls it) was to use Pixel\u2019s HDR+ pipeline and its photo pipeline to create stitched photo panoramas that take better advantage of Pixel Camera\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith video, you get a lot less data than you do with photos,\u201d Tristan explains. \u201cWhen you use photos, Pixel can stack all those photos and all their data together to come up with a really amazing image.\u201d Here, Tristan gives a few tips on how to get the most out of Pixel\u2019s upgraded panorama mode.<\/p>\n
“Rather than rotating your whole body when taking a panorama, just rotate the camera as much as you can while standing in place,\u201d Tristan says. By doing this, you\u2019ll eliminate perspective shift \u2014 or those jagged edges you can get when each transition doesn\u2019t quite line up \u2014 and create a smooth stitch. He also suggests trying to keep your movement as consistent and steady as possible by using Pixel\u2019s level indicator.<\/p>\n
For Night Sight panorama shots especially, you want to move as little as possible. \u201cThe more still you are, the higher quality your image will be,\u201d Tristan says. Other than that, you don\u2019t need to think about things too much, Tristan says: Night Sight Panorama turns on automatically when it\u2019s dark enough. His advice for great Night Sight pano shots? \u201cJust be patient, pause on the dot, be as still as possible and then move to the next dot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
When taking regular photos, you\u2019ve probably tapped at the brightest spot on your display so that your camera focuses or balances the light of a scene. You don\u2019t need to do this in panorama mode because Pixel software will take care of it for you. \u201cThere isn\u2019t any tap to focus or tap to expose in panorama mode,\u201d Tristan explains. \u201cThe camera is designed to balance the light and expose it correctly.\u201d Plus, tapping would disregard tip two!<\/p>\n
Tristan suggests trying different things with your pano shots, like using panorama mode\u2019s full 360 capabilities to capture the entire scene around you or even shooting something vertically \u2014 he\u2019s seen some shots where people bend over backwards to capture a vertical panorama. \u201cIt opens up a range of wild perspectives,\u201d he says. \u201cPanorama lends itself to experimentation really well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n