Capturing the Dome - Panorama Inside St Peter’s Basilica

🏛️ Inside St. Peter’s Basilica: Panorama of the Dome & Ceiling | RAW Edit + Travel Tips What do you do when your lens isn’t wide enough? You make a panorama. In this video, I stitch together a 4-frame ceiling + dome panorama inside St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome using a Canon R5 + 17mm tilt-shift lens. Along the way, I’ll show you RAW edits, projection choices, Photoshop fixes, plus share practical tips for visiting and where to stay nearby. 🎯 What You’ll Learn • Why a panorama was essential under the papal altar • RAW edits before stitching (exposure, contrast, clarity) • Choosing the right projection mode (spherical vs cylindrical vs perspective) • Masking & exposure balancing for detail • Fixing stitching anomalies in Photoshop • Final before/after reveal ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – What to do when your lens isn’t wide enough 00:20 – Visiting St. Peter’s today & dome entry info 00:59 – Scale & challenge under the papal altar 01:33 – Shooting 4-frame panorama (Canon R5 + 17mm TSE) 02:06 – Exposure settings & technique 02:59 – RAW adjustments before stitching 03:22 – Adding contrast & clarity 03:45 – Noise + ISO 1600 considerations 04:08 – Panorama stitching intro 04:37 – Projection modes explained 05:00 – Choosing the best projection 05:23 – Merge, crop & output 06:28 – Masking under the altar (brightening) 07:46 – Refining masks & edges 08:09 – Radial gradients on the cupola 08:51 – Softening edges & corrections 09:14 – Subtracting masks for clean edges 09:41 – Dropping highlights with radial mask 10:26 – Exposure tweaks & light balance 10:45 – Global adjustments & polish 11:04 – Brushwork for highlights 11:44 – Warming mosaic details 12:07 – Brightening pillars 13:41 – Before/after global finish 13:56 – Into Photoshop for stitch fixes 14:14 – Warp & clone stamp corrections 15:40 – Final composite & cleanup 16:37 – Finished panorama reveal 16:47 – Where I stayed: Residenza Delle Arti 17:10 – Dinner tip: Vin Allegro & Roman food highlights 18:03 – Five classic Rome travel tips 20:10 – Wrap up + call to action 🏨 Where to Stay Near St. Peter’s (3 Price Levels) 💶 Budget: Residenza Delle Arti, Trastevere – boutique guesthouse with character & great breakfast. (Check pricing as it may be more expensive now) 💶💶 Mid-Range: Le Boutique Hotel (design-forward, near Vatican) | Hotel Paolo II (quiet 3★ courtyard setting). 💶💶💶 Luxury: Villa Agrippina Gran Meliá (spa, gardens, luxury) | Starhotels Michelangelo (elegant, walkable). (Later you can swap in affiliate links here.) 🍝 Food & Drink in Rome Cacio e Pepe at Da Felice – Rome’s iconic pasta. Amatriciana at Armando al Pantheon – classic Roman sauce. Fiori di Zucca (fried zucchini flowers) – unmissable Roman street food. Wine + tasting platters at Vin Allegro, a great spot near Vatican. 📷 Gear & Software Camera: Canon R5 Lens: 17mm Tilt-Shift (TSE) Software: Lightroom / Adobe Camera RAW / Photoshop 📅 New video every Saturday – travel photography edits, tutorials & tips. 🔔 Subscribe and join me as we process the world, one image at a time. 🌍📷☕️ https://buymeacoffee.com/michaelevans 🔖 Hashtags #TravelPhotography #RomePhotography #PanoramaTutorial #StPetersBasilica #RawEditing #PhotoshopTips