Panoramic Photography

Panoramic photography involves taking many images of the same scene at different points and stitching them together to make one large photograph. It can be very useful as you can achieve a similar effect to having a very wide angle lens. It can be achieved by using editing software to stick images together but most cameras and smartphones have a panoramic effect making it quick and easy to create. Certain smartphones have the ability to take landscape panoramas as well as portrait panoramas to add a different angle to a scene or to emphasise the height of an object, for example a skyscraper. It can be a very useful tool for photographers as it allows the photographer to include many details within their photograph that may be far apart. It is a very popular tool for city skylines or for landscapes in general as it accentuates the vastness of the scene. It can also be used to create abstract photographs by moving the camera awkwardly while taking the panorama to stitch together fragments of an image instead of a smoothly transitioned image.
Interestingly when panoramic photography was first introduced images were captured at angles of 150 degrees with moving cameras but now it is possible to take a full 360 degree image of a scene with sophisticated cameras and good timing. These 360 degree panoramas can be converted into a square photograph to produce a spherical image known as a 'planet'.

I think panoramic photography is a great tool for amateur photographers as it is an easy tool on most smartphones that allows the photographer to include all necessary details and add a different angle to viewing scenes specifically landscapes or cityscapes. I really enjoy look at panoramas of cityscapes as they capture the diversity of cities by showing the differences between areas of a city in one single photograph.However, depending on the photographer the quality of the image isn't always guaranteed to be high as timing is important.

Some of my favourites found online:

Spherical panorama or a 'planet'

Bibliography: http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photography-techniques/what-is-panoramic-photography.html#b