Any photographers out there?

After many years in the low light level niche (it used to be a big deal to push process film to ASA/ISO 1600, but digital cameras trump that by miles), I would like to start doing panoramic photography. That is… when I am well enough.

I ask for tripod head recommendations. I would like a head that allows both landscape and portrait layouts and, importantly, can be set for rotation around the mid-focal length of the lenses instead of rotating around the axis of the camera body base. Spirit levels to set true horizontal and vertical are also desirable.

I will also use the head for macro focus stacking.

I was pleased to discover that software I already use for my website, Photoshop, does image stitching of panoramas and focus stacking. Any comments on how well Photoshop and Lightroom work for these purposes?

Mark, the pros seem to rely on Photoshop and Lightroom. I am no pro, I use Paint.Net and Darktable and get by.

For stitching panoramas I use a free program called Autostitch.

I can't recommend a good tripod head, I'm inbetween good tripods. I got rid of my heavyweight aluminum classic, and now have a mistaken cheapie purchase that's wobbly with a metal gimbal. I setup a gimbal with a macro rail to try to get panoramas adjusting for that special turning point to avoid distortion. All too heavy and unstable for the wobbly thing. 

Most people nowadays seem to prefer the ball heads as being best due to convenience. I like things that smoothly turn instead, but it all gets very awkward and shin bruising rushing out to get a shot with a big tripod setup. So I mostly don't use a tripod at all and just try to hand guesstimate the turning point for quick panoramas. If they don't work out it's fine, my regular photos are fine enough. And while I have a nice macro lens, I never quite got into focus stacking for macro. Though I did try astro stacking for awhile, the light pollution is just too much here for me to get anywhere with it, I really wanted to get into astro but just have to focus elsewhere -- man proposes God disposes. :)

I mainly just do cloud and sky photography and birds, which occassional flowering plants season permitting.

In the meantime you can do your best with backyard birds, flora and skies.

There's a lot to be found in the clouds.

Even in the best of times and health it can be hard to travel for photos after all.

'Let everything in creation draw you to God. Refresh your mind with some innocent recreation and needful rest, if it were only to saunter through the garden or the fields, listening to the sermon preached by the flowers, the trees, the meadows, the sun, the sky, and the whole universe. You will find that they exhort you to love and praise God; that they excite you to extol the greatness of the Sovereign Architect Who has given them their being.'

St. Paul of the Cross

Good advice and nice pix.

You composed that shot real nice Mark, near and mid and far and farthest. Nice one!

Looking at those rocks and that water down below I bet there are a lot of great shots with falling water right around there. You can't see that kind of red brown landscape around here. God's landscapes.

I really should get out more, at least as far as the local pond and try and shoot some fish with the camera. I never use the one polarizer I bought, I should sell it or actually use it.

I don't think I've seen lighted rock like that down here, or at least one in a long time on the east coast. Thanks for bringing back some memories with that shot. I used to live down by the shore. Always a magnificent spot for photos when you live oceanside. You could just go down to pray and it immediately gave you that sense of awe and immensity.

But I only rarely took photos back then, always had something special to it for me to capture some beautiful scenes and share that, but it wasn't a regular hobby yet. So no dark room for me, I missed out.. Still I should scan some of the rare quality photos from back then. 

I'd like to do the darkroom someday still, wallet allowing, at least while it's still possible, they just regulated out another old film due to 'environmental regulations'. I'd like to get an old medium or large format camera, try something special.

I got into photography seriously only a couple of years ago with a Sony A3000. That really let me let go and get serious, since I didn't have the limitations of a small roll of film, and it was an ILC. Before ILCs my shots were just not ones that paid any attention to depth of field, which is normal enough. Once depth of field and bokeh clicked and the other benefits of an ILC, I knew I had a nice part of my recreation covered and I could take it seriously finally.

Then I stepped up to an A7RII, so I could find photos in photos. With a modern lens, I find birds and planes and things in sky photos I didn't know were there when I took them, and this adds some fun surprises, rather like unexpected developments with film. Happy accidents. Deo gratias.

Here's the full sized shot I later recomposed to be a closer up of the bird. Still dark without detail on the bird but you can't have it all, especially with accidents. I'm still happy with it.

BEEEAUTIFUL!!  And what perspective harmony!

If you check it out, and as far as I can tell as of today the link is fine, check out the 'dimensions' he specifies on those images.