i thank both of you for your responses. i took my 4 year old Kodak digital
camera, 4 mega pixels, and took several pano sequences, overlapping about 50
percent (15 degrees). first my nice stitched 2 of them in her trial photoshop
program, then i ventured into Hugin to try it myself. next i want to save the
results in a size which i can send to costco to print, so that i can evaluate
the picture quality.

is it my imagination? one series included the straight fence in my backyard,
which i guessed would present as as series of straight lines, but they appeared
to be a continuous arc as i would expect from my LipariRama.. it was a pleasant
surprise.

when i open the Hugin program, there is a slideshow of tips for pano
photography. i am certain that one of them said to rotate the camera about the
aperture for best results, but this advice contradicts my prior knowledge that
the camera should rotate about the rear nodal point.