The scene elements you choose will determine the overall mood and atmosphere of your panorama. This means that you need to be very clear about what sort of scene you are aiming to create. Are you shooting a scene that will highlight a landscape or feature, such as a river, mountain or woodland? Or are you shooting a scene that will capture a particular mood, perhaps something emotional such as loneliness, joy, despair, sorrow or happiness? In this case it is more about the way in which you place the objects or people within the frame, rather than the overall feel of the scene.
First decide what the mood and atmosphere of your panorama is going to be. Then think about the main features of the scene. For instance, is the subject a building, a landscape or a person? Is it a wide open space, a quiet, shady garden or a crowded city street? Is it winter or summer? Is it day or night? What are the weather conditions? The time of year? The mood?
Now think about what you want to portray in your panorama. What are you trying to say? Are you illustrating a particular situation or setting, such as a family holiday, a special event, a wedding ceremony, a festival or even a party? Or are you trying to convey an emotion, such as sadness, love, peace, contentment, fear, etc.? Perhaps you are showing a particular aspect of life, such as a person’s lifestyle, a moment in history or how something came to be.
Once you have decided what it is that you want to show, you need to think about the general style of the panorama. What is the overall colour scheme of your panorama? Does it have a lot of greys and blacks, warm colours or cool ones? What is the type of lighting, natural or artificial?
Think about the location, too. Is it a quiet country scene or bustling city? Is it a calm beach or rocky coastline? A field or a busy shopping centre? Are there lots of people in the scene? Are there any crowds or are the people alone? Are they indoors or out? How many people are in each of these areas? Think about whether the people are walking, sitting, standing, lying down, sitting down, doing yoga or meditating. What clothes are they wearing? Do they have glasses or hats? Are they smiling, frowning, crying or laughing? What are they doing?
Next, think about the main object in the scene. What is it, exactly? Is it a tree, a plant, a car, a building, or a fence.