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JafferA · ‎04-18-2017

First of all, what does "Panorama" mean?

Well, after a brief search on the internet, I found two valuable pieces of information:

"Panorama" in dictionary is an unbroken view of the whole region surrounding an observer.
"Panorama" in Latin is a combination of two Greek words; “pan” that means everything, and “horama” that means the sight or view.

So, panorama means "a view of everything".

Historically, making those panoramic photos was a result of a really tedious job of sticking many cropped photos. Nowadays, most smart phones have a "panorama" mode, and that revolutionized panoramic photography, and took it to a totally new level. Smart phones have faster software engines to perform that stitching. But, in case you want more professional photos and best quality, taking single sequential photos from a DSLR camera and then stitching them through a computer software is a better option that will generate a better panoramic photo.

I'm a big fan of "Panorama" feature in my iPhone. I usually use it practically:

To show a wide beautiful scenery (e.g. above featured panorama of a historical place);
When I have many objects in the wider view or range (e.g. below panorama of a sweets shop);
If either horizontal or vertical ends contain components that are related to each other (e.g. below panorama of Bahrain Fort, and a general building);

I feel very proud of this photo, becasue its value lies with the contrast between both: our national archeology and history (Right) & modern and classic buildings (Left)

A builing in a business area in Manama city.

Logically, most of the rules for how to take a perfect normal photo will apply on the panoramic photos. That's why, I would recommend reading this article written by @AnnaDickson, which is really helpful.

Also, here are my personal top FIVE tips for best panoramic photos:

Be patient ? .. I know it seems ridiculous, but when taking panoramic photos, you WILL spend longer time compared to normal photo, especially, when shooting at night. That's when I might also recommend next step;
Use a tripod when you can, if you have time and want to shoot something unique. If you think you started to like panoramic photos, then you will probably start predicting where you find perfect spots to shoot the next photo and get ready. Otherwise, take more care and try to be as much stable as you can when shooting using just your phone, and;
Try to shoot many photos, and review each single photo after taking it. That would be more practical when you shoot in a sunny place, where your phone's screen glares and you can't see much details.

You can see how the first try is worse, but might get better with some editing, but here I preferred to take a new one. Second photo is not bad, but will need to get cropped, many objects like red car -left- will make the photo better when removed. Finally, after taking five photos, with some color and brightness corrections, I would be proud to upload something like the photo below:
Make the photo straight. Don't get confused with the straight lines of the objects in the photo! What matters is the main components being straight and acceptable. That's why I find it really useful to;
Take a break before editing. When doing a process that needs an artistic taste -e.g. editing a digital design, a professional photo, an interior design plan- you will find it really helpful to review and edit the photo after having a break -what ever duration you prefer-, then you would usually have a fresh look at it. I found that really practical.