Gear up use your head

You don’t need an expensive and cumbersome panoramic tripod head to shoot panoramas, just a ball head with a panning facility. An L-bracket with a quick-release plate will keep the centre of the lens on the rotation axis. This will eliminate any parallax distortion and make stitching easier.

Another piece of kit that makes life easier when creating panoramas is the Gitzo GS3121LVL Systematic Levelling Base (£190/$280). This will only fit Series 3 Gitzo tripods, but if you shoot a lot of panoramas, it’s worth the investment. The main benefit with the levelling base is you will not have to adjust your tripod legs if you are on uneven ground. You only twist the short column on the levelling base and adjust it using the built-in spirit level. It’s very quick and easy.