4 tips from a photographer on using Pixel's new panorama mode
With the launch of Pixel 9, Pixel introduced a new panorama mode. Thanks to this update, panorama mode has a new, easy-to-use interface and delivers higher-quality panorama images — for both daylight and night time shots. When we first announced it, we used this image to demonstrate its capabilities.
Tristan Greszko took these photos with a Pixel 9 Pro; he’s 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. “It was more mountaineering than hiking,” he says. “And since we went up for sunset, we had to head down in the dark.”
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. “Previously, panorama mode worked via video — which is how most panorama modes work,” says Tristan. “With video mode, the camera is scanning the scene as you’re moving.” Tristan’s idea (at one time a “pipe dream” as he calls it) was to use Pixel’s HDR+ pipeline and its photo pipeline to create stitched photo panoramas that take better advantage of Pixel Camera’s capabilities.
“With video, you get a lot less data than you do with photos,” Tristan explains. “When you use photos, Pixel can stack all those photos and all their data together to come up with a really 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
"Rather than rotating your whole body when taking a panorama, just rotate the camera as much as you can while standing in place,” Tristan says. By doing this, you’ll eliminate perspective shift — or those jagged edges you can get when each transition doesn’t quite line up — and create a smooth stitch. He also suggests trying to keep your movement as consistent and steady as possible by using Pixel’s level indicator.
2. Stay still
For Night Sight panorama shots especially, you want to move as little as possible. “The more still you are, the higher quality your image will be,” Tristan says. Other than that, you don’t need to think about things too much, Tristan says: Night Sight Panorama turns on automatically when it’s dark enough. His advice for great Night Sight pano shots? “Just be patient, pause on the dot, be as still as possible and then move to the next dot,” he says.
3. Skip the screen tap
When taking regular photos, you’ve probably tapped at the brightest spot on your display so that your camera focuses or balances the light of a scene. You don’t need to do this in panorama mode because Pixel software will take care of it for you. “There isn’t any tap to focus or tap to expose in panorama mode,” Tristan explains. “The camera is designed to balance the light and expose it correctly.” Plus, tapping would disregard tip two!
4. Get creative
Tristan suggests trying different things with your pano shots, like using panorama mode’s full 360 capabilities to capture the entire scene around you or even shooting something vertically — he’s seen some shots where people bend over backwards to capture a vertical panorama. “It opens up a range of wild perspectives,” he says. “Panorama lends itself to experimentation really well.”
