What were the lighting conditions on your shoot?
Golden Hour. Clear skies.

How did that affect your pano?
No hard shadows to erase. Even light. No problems with cloud-related bad control points.

Did you have to compromise on any shutter speed, aperture, or ISO settings to ensure balanced exposure?

Tripod + Panoramic Head.
Canon EOS M6 Mark II
EF-S10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM @ 10 mm
1 s
F/5.6
ISO 100

How did you process your panorama - which workflow/software did you use?

8 x 32MP photos @ -30 degrees
8 x 32MP photos @ 0 degree
8 x 32MP photos @ +30 degrees

Adobe DBG Converter to translate CR3 (Canon raw files) into DNG.
Hugin for stiching the 24 DNGs
GIMP for nadir patching
Luminar AI to color/style/filter

 

https://panoraven.com/en/slider/zD8oa9CyDS