Nowadays, everyone has their smartphones to hand to capture any moment. From stunning shots to pixelated pics, it’s certainly led to a massive increase in budding David Attenborough’s filling up our Instagram and Facebook feeds with their amateur nature photography.
The Galaxy S10 and S10+ both have next generation cameras, with five different lenses, that let you shoot like a pro without needing any experience. In particular, the 16 mega-pixel Ultra Wide Lens offers a 123-degree field of view, almost as much as the human eye, which makes it perfect for impressive landscape shots, big panoramas and even fitting your entire extended family reunion into one photo.
To make sure you’re getting the most out of your wide-angle camera lens and to make your landscape as good as it can be, we’ve broken down some easy to follow panoramic photography tips for you.
How to take panoramic photos
Landscape photos can be given an extra dimension, both vertically and horizontally, when you select the Wide-angle or Ultra Wide tools on the S10. Once selected, hold the phone vertically for a horizontal panorama, or horizontally for a vertical panorama, or ‘vertorama’.
Once you’ve tapped the shutter button, slowly move the camera to capture the full scene, tapping the shutter button again to finish. Vertoramas are perfect for capturing a towering tree, waterfall, or building, and panoramas are ideal for taking an extended family photo, or capturing that endless mountain range or glittering skyline.
Making the most of the S10 wide-angle camera lens
Most people think that wide-angle lenses are only meant to be used for panoramas, and although they’re certainly great for that, they can do more than just capturing scenic views.
The Wide-angle and Ultra Wide tools can also create an incredible level of depth to photos. By sharply focusing on objects in the foreground and blurring those in the background, the wide-angle lens creates striking, professional looking shots that can really emphasise the distance and size of certain objects.
Up close and personal
One way of utilising your S10’s Ultra Wide function is by getting as low down and close as possible to a subject. The lens will naturally distort its size, making it appear much bigger than objects in the background.
When looking at the picture on your phone screen you’ll notice the subject of your photo appears much larger than it does in real life, which you can use to create exaggerated perspectives. This works especially well when framing the subject in front of its natural environment, for example an individual flower head in a large field.
All about the angles
Just as getting close can change the look of a wide-angle lens photo, so too can shooting from different angles. By pointing your camera upwards at a skyline for example, you’ll notice the clouds appear to point towards (or ‘lean into') the centre of the photo.
Similarly, if you point your camera downwards towards an interesting floor pattern, like at sand dunes for example, the wide-angle lens will naturally distort the perspective to accentuate their angles. This makes them appear to spread out away from the camera, for a more dynamic looking shot.
Level headed
If you’re looking for a less distorted panoramic shot, like perhaps if you want to capture that once in a blue moon family reunion, then the Ultra Wide feature will work wonders. But, you have to make sure not angle the phone up or down, and to keep the camera level with the ground so there is minimum distortion around the edges of your photo.
Learn more about the S10’s incredible panoramic Wide-angle and Ultra Wide photographic features here.
Samsung Galaxy S10 & S10+
