Decades ago, when I worked in retail photography, one of the fads that was all the rage was panoramic cameras. Most of them were mediocre at best, and just shrunk the viewing area down, forcing them to be printed larger at an odd dimension (like 4×12). Skip forward a couple dozen years, and panoramic modes are a standard part of just about every camera and cell phone out there. It’s really changed the options you have when you’re out with your camera.

I love to travel to natural areas, and it seems a no-brainer to snap panoramics of some of these sweeping landscapes. A panoramic tends to give a bit more sense of scale to something that is best experienced in person. It’s not a replacement for being there in person, but it can sometimes give a bit more depth than just a standard sized photo.

As a side note, I’ve found that the iPhone has by far, the best and most capable panoramic mode of any device I’ve used. My Sony a6000 DSLR usually just doesn’t work, and my wife struggles with her Google Pixel. With my iPhone 7 I just click and turn and it all seems to work. Score one for the cell phone camera.

I’ve included a few panos that I’ve taken recently for fun. The one at the top is from this week at Pincushion Mountain, which was an amazing view that I’d encourage everyone to experience.