Step back and admire your work...

A panoramic image is not just a photo done in "letter box" - it is more than that.

One could use a wide angle lens but to get this much in there would have to be a lot of distortion. Or, one could get further away from the subject and then crop out the top and the foreground - but that severely limits the size of the print when enlarging. But in order for me to back up on this one, I would have to leave the trail and as I moved back, more trees that were behind me would then be in front of me.

I want to get a wide view and the only way to do that is by taking four photos from left to right with the manual settings on the camera so my aperture and shutter speed stay constant. Lapping each picture by one third over the previous, I can use a photo merge program that will "stitch" the photos together.

Swamps are extremely photogenic. I've never got so many good photos from such a small location. Only about 10 acres of the swamp were accessible. It's located along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi.

So - if you want to step back and admire the view - try creating a panorama.