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This is a big gigapan I shot on Saturday evening. It's a huge Gigapan and took 16 hours to stitch. 47 images wide X 23 images tall totaling 1081 images.
I missed some of the balloons on the first pass so I backed the unit up and reshot a section. The lighter background in the sky was caused when I readjusted the exposure during shooting. The sun was setting fast and light was fading. EDS Credit Union Plano Balloon Festival - Plano, Texas - September 19 - 21, 2008 http://www.planoballoonfest.org/fest-facts.html Enjoy the "Lofty Visions" as 70 magnificent, colorful, hot air balloons fill the skies over Plano Friday at 6:00pm, Saturday at 7:00am and 6:00pm, and Sunday at 7:00am and 6:00pm (weather permitting). Fun for all ages, are the Special Shapes that attend the festival. This year, the special shapes include: High Jack, Miss Daisy, Pandy the Panda, Oggy the Dragon, and Woodrow C. Greenleaf. |
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This is just a tiny piece of what happened in Crystal Beach, Texas during Hurricane Ike. Even though it has been many months since the storm came ashore, the destruction is still evident. In this shot alone, a pre-storm panorama would have included dozens of beach houses. The puddle of water just in front of the collapsed house WAS a road called Blue Water Drive, but the beach has encroached an additional 20 or so feet on that section of the penninsula. Google maps has good pre-storm imagery of the shooting location at http://tinyurl.com/bolivar-pano. On the map and facing north, the collapsed house is third from the right of the intersection of O'Neill Rd and Blue Water Dr.
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There is a parable in Matthew 25 that speaks of feeding the poor. I believe that these words from 2000 years ago, as well as words from other religions of the world, create a foundation of the rich giving food to the poor and of wealthy nations providing sustenance to the poor nations that are in need. I am impressed by what Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church is doing and have created this panorama to show others what some people in Houston are doing on the local level to give nourishment to those who are in need. Since this church is across the stree from Rice University, I have added it to the collection of Rice GigaPans, which can be accessed via this link: http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversity For this hand-held panorama, I used a Nikon D70 with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens and was stitched with the GigaPan Stitcher. The photos were taken over a period of two days. |
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This hand-held panorama (0.08 gigapixel) compares to a robot GigaPan (0.23 gigapixel) taken in August, 2008: http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/8215/
The Mecom Fountain is a Houston icon. This hand-held panorama was taken with a Canon SX110 camera and was stitched using the GigaPan Stitcher software. Additional details can be found on Stitcher Notes with information there concerning the GigaPan Stitcher run. Note: This gorgeous panorama can be seen in Google Earth as a curved panorama on a curved surface by clicking the link, View in Google Earth (assuming that you have Google Earth installed on your computer). |
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Walking around the Texas Medical Center provides lots of surprises as well as nice moments when first meeting people on a common ground. Both happened today: the un-named statue and then meeting a very nice woman from Venezuela here in Houston doing her Residency. There are many panoramas as well as wonderful people to be found in the Texas Medical Center, Hermann Park and Rice University and today, I found both.
This hand-held panorama was taken with a Nikon D70, using a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lens. The sunlight was nil, but all-in-all, I am very pleased with this effort, especially not knowing at the time that the exposure was right-on the button. |
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View of the southwest corner of the capitol building. |
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Kilgore661 has always been an inspiration for me and one of his most incredible GigaPans, View From Above (http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/7536/), has always been at the top of my list for exceptional panoramas. I have been to Bath Abbey *numerous* times, but never got to the top as he was able to accomplish. However, I have been to the Top of Texas (http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/34909/). Based on Kilgore661's panorama and my panorama, I am sure that there are many others from all over the world, that can be sub-titled, View From Above; however, I feel that Kilgore661 has nailed the title of View From Above already, and although my selection is a View From above, it is not *THE* View From Above.
It is my request that those that want to participate submit their unique view from above (as an example(s), a panorama from the highest place in your City or State or Country). The primary snapshot is the view from the edge of the roof of JPMorgan Chase Tower looking down at the Hilton Hotrel from where I took this panorama: http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/30986/ As can readily be seen, this is a small GigaPan... it would have been larger had it not been for electronic interference or user error. It was taken with the Canon SX110 attached to a beta robot and stitched using the GigaPan Stitcher. Additional details can be seen when clicking Stitcher Notes. Viewing in Google Earth is a true visualization of the scene. |
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The Sam Houston Museum and park has several architectural exhibits, including both of Houston's Huntsville homes, his law office, and kitchen. From the website http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/Tour/: 1. The steamboat house: In the far left side of the panorama, the steamboat house was Houston's home after returning to Huntsville during the Civil War. As the intended resident refused to occupy the home, it was a squatter's pad until the Houston's arrived. Since Sam had opposed entry into the Confederacy, he lacked the resources or influence to buy back his old home so his family occupied the steamboat house. 2. Woodland Home: Houston's homestead from 1847 to 1859. It is a simple log cabin with a facade of wood siding. Two children's rooms upstairs, one bedroom downstairs, a family room, and dining room round out the structure. The rooms are all decorated with period furnishings and can be viewed from the doorway. Entry into each room is restricted by a plexiglass barrier that seals the doorframe. 3. Houston's law office: Used for his law practice. Entry was forbidden to women and children. Houston's personal slave Joshua was allowed in to clean. 4. Replica kitchen: Located on or near the site of the original and built with period tools. The kitchen is also furnished with period cooking utensils. You can't see it in the panorama, but the path between the kitchen and home was apparently called the "Whistle Walk," as slaves were sometimes required to whistle while carrying food so they couldn't chew stolen morsels. |
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This gigapan is 18 images high and 22 images wide, a total of 396 images that took over 10 hours for the GigaPan Stitcher to stitch (not very well I might add). "Blueprints" at Addison Circle is located in Addison Circle at Quorum Drive and Addison Circle Drive. Located in Addison Circle, this unique four-story sculpture offers a vision of Addison's past, present and future. A vase-like structure containing poles that reach out over the street are topped with five floating art panels, each a blueprint tracery of a phase in the town's development. - Stands 45 feet high and 140 feet across. - Blueprints art piece weighs 410,000 pounds, each pole weighs 9,000 pounds. It took more than 650-gallons of custom-mixed, Sherwin Williams "Sharpie Blue" paint for the piece. - Artists: Michael Van Valkenburgh and Mel Chin. Van Valkenburgh is a professor in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. Chin is an artist, originally from Houston, now living in Burnsville, North Carolina and has been an artist in residence at University of Georgia and Stanford University. - Grand "Unveiling" event: April 13, 2000 - Total cost for the sculpture is 2.1 million dollars For more info go to - http://www.addisontexas.net/what_to_do/Attractions/blueprints.asp |
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Site of the Kennedy assasination. For a labeled map see http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/plazao.jpg. Funny thing about taking a tripod and some weird mount (gigapan robot in this case) out in public... I get a lot of looks while shooting in crowded places, but at Dealey Plaza I was approached by a few people who wanted to know if I was "taking measurements." The atmosphere is different there... |
