Panowalking

I went for another photowalk today. My goal: Practice using "Pano," an iPhone app for creating panorama photos. In my last post, "Photowalking for Panoramas," my product review of Pano was less than favorable; in the interest of fairness, I decided to reevaluate the app based upon more field experience. I shot four panorama photos during a rather long walk; one out of four photos turned out O.K. That's either a 25% success rate or 75% failure rate, depending upon whether you're a person who thinks the glass is half-full or half-empty.

The first panorama photo was taken on the grounds of Saint Louis Catholic Church, overlooking Hybla Valley. Notice the slight ghosting of a tree that appears about one-third of the way across the photo, looking from left-to-right.

The second panorama photo was taken alongside U.S. Route 1 (near Cherry Arms Apts.), looking south toward Hybla Valley. Notice the ghosting of overhead utility lines that appears about one-third of the way across the photo, looking from right-to-left.

The third panorama photo was taken on the grounds of Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. Hollin Hall, a colonial estate house on the grounds of the church, appears on the upper-left side of the photo. This photo shows some slight ghosting that is almost unnoticeable.

The fourth panorama photo was taken in front of Hollin Hall. This one was SO CLOSE to perfect! Notice the ghosting of the far left dormer window.

Let's be clear: I tried hard to make Pano work. But at the end of the day, what did I have to show for my efforts? One O.K. panorama photo and a few flawed ones. Not a very productive day! So what's the bottom line? Neither AutoStitch Panorama nor Pano works perfectly every time. The $3.00 question, so to speak, is which app gives you more options for success -- AutoStitch Panorama or Pano?

When you choose to make a panorama photo using AutoStitch, the worst possible outcome is you end up with a flawed panorama photo and a collection of overlapping photos, some of which may be useful for other purposes. Using Pano, either it works or it doesn't; when it doesn't work, all you end up with is a flawed panorama photo. AutoStitch features a built-in cropping tool that you may be able to use to edit a slightly flawed panorama photo; Pano does not. And you can retake one- or more photos, then use AutoStitch to restitch a flawed panorama photo. Using Pano, the only do-over is to start from scratch.

So as they say in the sports world, "After further review, the ruling on the field stands." For my money, AutoStitch Panorama still gets the nod over Pano.

Tech Tips: "Pano" builds panorama photos from left-to-right (the "semi-transparent guide" appears on the left side of the camera viewfinder), so plan to shoot photos by turning the camera clockwise. Pay careful attention to the "guide" -- be sure there is always some overlap between consecutive photos.