Tristan Greszko took these photos with a Pixel 9 Pro; He is a photographer in the Pixel Development Team that focuses on overseeing video and image quality. Tristan, who loves Panorama shoots, wandered all the way to the top of a Tetons summit with a friend to grab these photos. “It was more mountaineering than hiking,” he says. “And when we went up to sunset, we had to go down in the dark.”
He says it was worth it. Tristan loves outdoors and Panorama photography, and he was part of the team working to make it even better for Pixel. “In the past, Panorama Mode worked via video – which is how most panoramic states work,” says Tristan. “With video mode, the camera scans the scene as you move.” Tristan’s idea (at one point a “pipe dream”, as he calls it), was to use Pixels HDR+ Pipeline and its photoipeline to create sewn photo -tanoramas that better benefit from Pixel Camera’s capabilities.
“With video you get much less data than you do with photos,” Tristan explains. “When you use photos, Pixel can stack all these photos and all their data together to come up with a truly amazing image.” Here, Tristan gives a few tips on how to get the most out of Pixel’s upgraded Panorama mode.
1. Move your pixel, not yourself
“Instead of rotating your entire body when taking Panorama, just rotate the camera as much as you can while standing in place,” Tristan says. By doing this, you will eliminate perspective changes – or the tags you can get when each transition does not match – and create a smooth stitch. He also suggests trying to keep your movement as consistent and stable as possible by using Pixel’s level indicator.
2. Stay quiet
Especially for panoramic shoots at night, you will move as little as possible. “The more you still are, the higher the quality your image will be,” says Tristan. Apart from that, you don’t have to think too much about things, says Tristan: Night Sight Panorama automatically turns on when it’s dark enough. His advice for big night vision pano shots? “Just be patient, pause on the dot, be as quiet as possible and then move to the next dot,” he says.
3. Skip the screen tap
When you take regular photos, you’ve probably tapped in the brightest place on your display so your camera focuses or balances the light from a scene. You don’t have to do this in Panorama mode because pixel software takes care of it for you. “There is no pressure to focus or press to postpone in Panorama mode,” Tristan explains. “The camera is designed to balance the light and expose it properly.” Plus, tap would disregard tip two!
4. Become creative
Tristan suggests trying different things with your Pano shots, such as using Panorama Mode’s full 360 options to catch the whole stage around you or even shoot something vertical – he has seen some shots where people bend backwards to catch a vertical panorama. “It opens a number of wild perspectives,” he says. “Panorama is suitable for experimentation really well.”