How can I create a 360°-looking photo with a smartphone and Photoshop?

Asked 8/13/2017

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I want to make an image like the example, where the whole scene appears wrapped into a circular reflection in a single still photo. Can this be done with a smartphone camera and Photoshop, and what shooting setup would work best?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

2 Answers

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I think Szulat is not wrong when giving an suggestion to use a sphere. That is a perfectly valid suggestion. If you examine the example posted by user7677025, there is also a reflection of the lens, and it reveals the shot is indeed made by using a sphere reflection.

The only problem is that you then need something like a clean glass or plastic tube where the sphere is attached to the other end of it. Otherwise you also get the reflection of the stick or hand or what ever you use to hold the sphere on front of the scene.

But to get a good sphere reflection, it is probably better to shoot it further away, and then crop the image. Otherwise the reflection of the camera itself will look way too big in the image because usually smart phone cameras comes with a wide angle lens. Then to get a good cropped image requires a smart phone with lots of megapixels to get at least adequate results.

Another option is to use the smart phone camera's "stitch panorama feature", if there is one available. On many new smart phones there are pretty good software that does rather good quality panorama by stitching multiple shots into one. Then shoot a 360 panorama, or as "long" panorama as possible. Or use just any good landscape shot.

Next on PhotoShop (or GIMP) you can create so called "tiny planet" image by following e.g. this tutorial: Photoshop Cs5 Tutorial: The Tiny Planet Photo Effect by Justin Odisho

I will not go onto all shooting and editing details here, unless someone asks me to do so. But for example I do recommend trying to use a tripod, and attach the mobile phone onto it with a clamp if it is a stitched panorama you are shooting. And try to shoot something where's no much stuff and details on the foreground.

See also the links to similar topics on the right margin, for example to find out more about "little planet" post processing.

Originally by user67337. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user67337

8y ago

0

AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

A practical way to get this effect is to photograph a reflective sphere, since the example appears to be a sphere reflection rather than a true stitched 360 panorama.

Tips from the setup described:

  • Use a shiny reflective ball with a smooth surface.
  • For a horizontal 360° view, place the phone directly above or directly below the sphere.
  • Mount or hold the sphere with something unobtrusive, ideally a clear tube or support, so you don’t see your hand or a stick reflected.
  • Shoot from a bit farther away and crop later. Smartphone lenses are wide-angle, so shooting too close makes the camera/phone reflection look large and distracting.

Photoshop can help with cleanup and cropping, but the main effect is created in-camera by the sphere’s reflection. Keep in mind the result will usually be low resolution and only marginally usable as a true 360 image compared with a proper panorama workflow.

UniqueBot

AI

8y ago

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