By Chris Malinao In case you missed it, Lightroom can now do high dynamic range (HDR) and panorama processes. It used to just be able to gather those HDR and panorama photos and then we processed them in Photoshop. In the latest version, LR6 and LRCC, we can do those processes inside Lightroom itself. To do that, go to Library > Photo > Photo Merge then choose either HDR or Panorama. This presupposes that you have those material photos ready for merging into HDR or panorama. Let’s take the case of merging for panorama first, illustrated in Fig.-1. First, the shoot. Photos for stitching into panorama can be taken with the camera handheld, but it is best to have a sturdy tripod there; camera steady, straight and level. Practice the whole sweep first and determine how many frames it will take, noting that you need about 30 percent of overlap for adjacent frames so that software will have a good basis for the stitch. Autofocus may be used, but exposure must be set manually so all frames will have the same exposure setting. Shoot in Manual mode with aperture fixed for all frames, usually f/16 to f/22 for landscapes. Mark the first frame with a finger so you know where it starts, then take that first frame again without the marker, then take all the frames one by one in a steady sweep, making sure that there’s an overlap between frames. Now, the merge. After importing and cataloguing them into Lightroom’s Library, select all frames for the panorama and go to Photo > Photo Merge > Panorama. A dialogue box will appear in which Lightroom will create a panorama preview. You will have three panorama options for the projection:

1. Spherical: Aligns and transforms the images as if they were mapped to the inside of a sphere. This projection mode is great for wide or multirow panoramas.
2. Cylindrical: Projects the panorama as if it were mapped to the inside of a cylinder. This projection mode works well for wide panoramas, but it also keeps vertical lines straight.
3. Perspective: Projects the panorama as if it were mapped to a flat surface. Since this mode keeps straight lines straight, it is great for architectural photography. Then click Merge.

Auto crop is self-explanatory, but we suggest you experiment with the Boundary Wrap option. Keep it at zero or push it all the way to 100 and see where you like it. The important thing about the created panorama is that it is in DNG format, Adobe’s proprietary raw file. That means you can process it as a raw file and develop it to your heart’s content, with all the goodness of raw image data. For the HDR process, the steps are essentially the same in Lightroom: Photo > Photo Merge > HDR, but the prepared photos should be shot in the same registry, i.e., same framing with the camera on a steady tripod, but the shots are bracketed in terms of exposure. You decide how many frames is enough, from the basic three bracketed shots to a crazy 25 or 30. I find that three to seven frames of varying exposures will usually suffice. Select the frames to be merged then go to Photo > Photo Merge > HDR. In the ensuing HDR Photo Merge Preview dialogue box, you want Auto Align checked so any subtle shift in exposure will be corrected. Auto Tone is a hit-or-miss proposition at of this writing, see if you like it. If you don’t like it, you can always do the merge again, or hit Reset when you go to the Develop module which will remove the Auto Tone but leave all data intact to work with giving you the same file, as if you didn’t check the box. The merged HDR photo, it should be noted is a DNG raw file, and that’s good. Deghost Amount is when there are moving objects in the frame. These moving objects, like people passing or birds flying by, will be removed. Choose None if there are no moving objects, low for slight movement, medium for medium movement and high for lots of movement. Checking the Deghost Overlay box shows a light red overlay on the image where deghosting has done its work.