Mika Salmi Panoramic Photographer from Finland

Panorama of Utransaari 2 supplied by Panoramic Earth

Mika Salmi recently joined the Panoramic Earth community, uploading some pictures from Finland. His photography mostly focuses on the areas around Lappeenranta, where he was born, and Joensuu, where he studied Information Technology. Photography has always been a hobby, and recently he has become much more interested in it, learning about panoramic photography and High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging in the last six years. Like most photographers, Mika says, “I'd like to think that I've done something right since some people have liked at least some of my pictures, but I'm quite self-critical about my pictures.”

While he likes the idea of HDR images, Mika recognizes that they have a specific feel about them that can feel somewhat artificial. Nowadays he is trying to use it, “more realistically and create pictures that don't necessarily look like HDR images straight away.” He enjoys outdoors, and enjoys shooting natural landscapes, which clearly shows in his work. He is also quite at home working in urban landscapes and interiors. In addition to the images he has on Panoramic Earth, Mika has also uploaded some of his work onto Flickr and 360cities. From photography, he is developing an interest in videography and has friends working in the aerial photography business in Finland.

Find Mika on Facebook

Win Camera Gear Worth £3300 with 360Precision

Enter the 360Precision prize draw  for your chance to win over £3300 worth of camera gear and software. Open to everyone, this prize bundle is ideal for those wishing to try their hand at panoramic photography.

The competition closes on October 23rd 2014 with the winner announced on October 27th.

For panoramic photographers, this is one of the most comprehensive, light weight, panoramic photography kit bundles available. It includes camera gear, software, professional panorama hosting and support. But even if you are not a panoramic photographer there is always eBay, so it is still worth entering for the resale value. The megapixel Sony A7 camera has an RRP of £1300, the lens about £270, the tripod about £450 and the 360Precision Carbone pano head about £435.

360Precision Draw

360Precision Prize Items:

The lucky winner will receive all the following:

• The awesome 24 megapixel Sony A7 Full Frame digital camera
• Samyang 8mm Fisheye F2.8 Lens
• Light weight 360Precision Carbone pano head
• Manfrotto 755CX3 Carbon Fiber Tripod
• PTGui Pro License – for Mac or PC
• Pano2VR Pro – for Mac or PC
• KRPano panoramic publishing solution
• Geopress360 WP theme
• 12 months Wordpress hosting from WPEngine

Whether or not you win this competition, if you create your own panoramas then try out Panoramic Earth for free virtual tour hosting options and embeddable content.

Panoramic Earth Moves to HTML5

It has been a while coming, but Panoramic Earth is now moving to an HTML5 panorama viewing engine. Up to now the site has been using a Flash version of KRPano. While this has proved great for several years, Flash is not well supported by mobile devices, especially if made by Apple. As the number of mobile users has increased, so this anomaly has been a growing issue.

Panorama of British Museum - Great Court from Stairs supplied by Panoramic Earth

For a while it has been possible to render equirectangular spherical panoramic images in HTML5, but not cylindrical. This meant that only part of the content of the site could be viewed with the new viewer. However, things have now moved on meaning that over the next few days all the 10,500 plus panoramas will be converted to the new version.
The viewing engine still comes from KRPano, one of the most popular panorama viewers on the market. With it come some new functions as well. Practically speaking, viewers on computers will notice little difference, but for mobile devices this will transform their user experience.

Google Maps Goes all 3D on London

Google Maps has given London a 3D makeover, allowing us to fly around the city like never before. Click on the Earth view of the map and, voilà, you are now flying through the virtual city as if in a computer game. All the buildings, bridges and landmarks within London are rendered and their perspectives change as you scroll around.

London is the latest UK city to receive the new makeover, others include Birmingham, Leeds, Reading and Stoke-on-Trent. So now you do not need to go to the top of the Shard to see what London looks like, simply pull it up on Google Maps and move around. What is more, weather will never get in your way. It is am impressive achievement, yet Google plans for more with the release of Project Tango and the desire to create a 3D map of the entire world, inside and out.

These 3D maps are an addition to the Street View panoramas (or photospheres as Google likes to call them). The later still provide the best images from street level, producing interactive virtual tours of cities, like this virtual tour of London. While amazing, the 3D rendering from Google maps looses detail at close zoom, detail which is clearly picked up in panoramas shot at street level like the one below.

Panorama of Trafalgar Square Charing Cross supplied by Panoramic Earth

© Peter Watts, originally written for Panoramic Earth.

Makarska and the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia

Makarska from the Statue of St Peter © Peter Watts 

Makarska is very picturesque town in the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia. Nestled between the Biokovo mountains and the Adriatic Sea at the mouth of the Makarska Riviera, it is a very popular tourist destination during the summer months. The whole area is steeped in history, having been occupied for thousands of years and is even written about in Egyptian and Cretan tablets. During Roman times it was called Muccurum, and remains of Roman rule can still be seen in the region, not least in Split which contains the remains of Diocletian's Palace.

The image shown here is one of a collection taken whilst on a cruise down the Dalmatian Coast. Such trips are popular as they offer the opportunity to move from one town or island to another in comfort and ease, providing a new place to explore each evening.

The panorama below shows a view from the other side of the bay. Makarska has plenty of holiday apartments and hotels to suit all budgets and is well worth exploring if you are travelling through the region.

Panorama of Makarska Bay and Hotel Osejava supplied by Panoramic Earth

Written by Peter Watts

St Martin in the Fields Church Virtual Tour

St Martin in the Fields is a famous church in London, found on the north east corner of Trafalgar Square. The current church was designed by James Gibbs in the early 18th century. At the time it was built, the church stood in a field part way between the City of Westminster and the City of London. In 2006 a Roman grave was found on the site, indicating that the site had been used as a religious place of worship for hundreds of years.

This interactive, 360 panorama shows the interior of the church. It was taken by Peter Watts in September 2013.

Panorama of St Martin in the Fields Church supplied by Panoramic Earth

Today, St Martin in the Fields is a popular concert venue, with classical concerts and organ recitals often being held in the church itself. Beneath the church, in the Crypt Cafe, jazz concerts are often held. Being right next to Trafalgar Square, the church is also a popular tourist attraction. It is also the parish church of Buckingham Palace, Number 10 (Downing Street) and the Admiralty.

Virtual Tour of The Stawamus Chief

The Stawamus Chief, most commonly known simply as The Chief, is a massive granite monolith about an hour outside Vancouver and just south of Squamish. Towering over 700m above the Howe Sound, it is a very popular hiking destination in the summer months, offering unparalleled views over the surrounding area. It is also very popular with climbers worldwide, offering plenty of opportunities for all levels.

The Chief has three peaks, each of which is accessible by foot. Most people climb to the lowest, First, peak for the views. The 360 panoramic image below is taken from the Second peak, showing the view over Squamish and the Howe Sound. From here it is a short traverse past a dramatic chasm to the top of the Third Peak, 702m above sea level.

Panorama of The Stawamus Chief supplied by Panoramic Earth

A number of routes ascend The Chief, all starting from the same trailhead near the carpark and campsite. A part of the way the trail splits with one branch ascending a very steep gully to the Third Peak directly. The other continues up for some distance more before splitting again with separate trails leading to the First and Second Peaks.

All the trails are rugged and steep, but the views at the top are well worth the effort. Panoramic Earth now holds a number of virtual tour images taken on various parts of The Chief, providing the most comprehensive virtual tour available of the second largest granite monolith in the world.

Offer of FREE Gigapixel Virtual Tour Photography for Indian Charities

Later this year (read very soon) Kilgore661 will be visiting various parts of India doing a Gigapixel photography trip. He is offering FREE gigapixel virtual tour creation for Indian charities. His current itinerary includes visiting New Delhi, Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Goa.

For more information see Kigore in India 2013 and this article here.

This kind of photography is ideal for helping promote work and inform (potential) supporters of what is going on. It is well suited for things like health clinics, orphanages, refugee work, social developments and more. Virtual photography of this kind is usually very expensive, so this is not an opportunity to be missed.

Another free offering is also being made by Panoramic Earth, which is willing to offer FREE HOSTING of any 360 panoramas that a charity already has. For an example, see what the site did for HeartKids. As the charity can also provide information to go with each image on the site, it can be a great way of creating another means for people to find out about your work. 

Phantom Flex4K Camera Shoots 1,000 fps in HD

Though not about panoramic photography I thought this one worth a mention. Phantom have launched their next generation of high speed video camera, the Flex4K. It is capable of capturing up to 1,000 frames per second (fps) HD footage at a resolution of 4096 x 2160. Showcase footage of a house fire shows of the stunning impact and potential of the camera.

- First footage from the new Phantom Flex4K - "Let me know when you see Fire" from Gregory Wilson on Vimeo.

The film was made by Brendan Bellomo and cinematographer Greg Wilson
 using a prototype camera and working with the Hebron Fire Dept. and the Glastonbury Fire Dept. in Connecticut.

For the technical, this is a true 4K RAW camera capable of shooting 1,000 frames per second (fps) in 4096 x 2160 resolution. It can shoot anything from 23.98 fps up to 3,000 fps but at the higher end the resolution drops from 4096 x 2304 to 1280 x 720. At high speeds it shoots in 5 second bursts, which does not sound like a long time, but when replayed at 24 fps this extends to 3 minutes viewing.

Such a system does not come cheap, starting at £109,000 and rising to about $165,000 when all the extras are added on.

Gigapixel 360 Panorama from Gale Crater on Mars

The Curiosity Rover on Mars has been busy taking pictures. About 405 of them with the two cameras on the vehicle's mast. These have been combined to produce a spherical panorama measuring 90000x45000 pixels (or 4 billion pixels). The result is a stunning spherical, gigapixel image of the Gale Crater

For those who want the technical details, this was taken betwen Martian solar days 136-149
using both the 100mm Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), and 34mm Medium Angle Camera (MAC). Though not the largest Gigapixel image ever produced, it is probably the most amazing in terms of technical achievement. 

Though you may not be able to produce an image of this kind, you can get yourself a bit of the Mars mission. Ok, so it would be in Lego, but someone has put together plans for how to build your own Lego Curiosity Rover and landing stage

360 Panorama of London from The Shard

London has a new viewing platform, on level 72 of The Shard, the second highest building in the EU. To celebrate this The Shard has produced an interactive 360 virtual tour panorama showing the view over London. Taken from 245m above ground level, the panorama is peppered with hotspots giving information about various landmarks and places of interest. 

Also within the image are links to various sounds recorded around the city as part of the London Sound Survey Project. There is the famous peal of bells from St Paul's Cathedral, monkeys from London Zoo and MP's (sounding much like the monkeys) from within Parliament.

The Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom. It is fully 309.6m (1,016 ft) tall with 95 floors topped out with a spire. You can find out more about it on Wikipedia.

This is not the biggest panorama of London. That honour goes to the massive 320 +Gigapixel image taken from BT Tower, which was the largest ever created in the world. However, I prefer this one for the interactivity and clarity of landscape.

So what is your favourite part of this image?

Largest Gigapixel 306 Panorama Ever Shows London from BT Tower

BT now own the largest 360 panorama in the world. Taken from the top of the BT tower during the London Olympics in 2012, it shows of the heart of the city. To mark the event BT have hidden 3 images of their Buzby mascot within the image. The lucky finders will receive prizes. It beats the 80 gigapixel image of London released in 2010 by quite some distance.

This 320 gigapixel image was created by stitching together some 48,640 individual frames taken with  four Canon EOS 7D cameras. It is hosted by 360 Cities. The image is most impressive in the mid-distance range as the day on which it was taken is quite hazy resulting in loss of clarity at long range. As with all images of this kind, there are increasing stitching errors as one gets closer to the tower, and the office buildings nearby are suffering some a degree of 'flexability'.

All the landmarks are clearly visible, and by the looks of the scarring on the lower end of Regents Park, it would appear that an exhibition event has just left the park. 

A collection of over 300 panoramas taken around the city, linked to Google Maps, can be found on this London virtual tour map.

Visiting Tagaytay and Taal Volcano in Philippines

360 Panorama View of Taal Volcano © Peter Watts

The City of Tagaytay is of the most popular places to visit in the Philippines. It is perched on the ridge or the Taal Volcano caldera, making the small city is much less humid and a little cooler than the surrounding lowlands. Nearby are the Tagaytay Highlands, which has some of the most expensive housing to be found and a large, popular park.

On one side, the city has views over the lowlands and Manila. On the other are dramatic views over Taal Volcano and the caldera lake surrounding it. It is this volcano that is the main tourist attraction in the area. That and the casino. On the ridge is the beautiful, 5-star Taal Vista Hotel. Aptly named as it offering some of the best views available over the lake and volcano from its luxurious grounds.

Panorama of City of Tagaytay supplied by Panoramic Earth

And then there the Taal Volcano itself, the main tourist attraction in the area. Visiting the volcano takes at least half a day, starting with a windy, thirty minute drive down the steep caldera cliff to resorts that line the lake edge. This is followed by an outrigger-canoe ride over Taal Volcano Lake and then either a walk or donkey ride up to the edge of the crater.

This volcano is active, and has erupted in recent times causing fatalities in the surrounding villages. The crater lake is boiling in some sections and steam vents can be found on the rim and hillside. On clear days there are great views over the massive caldera, itself formed when the father of Taal Volcano blew up around 100,000 years ago. Those not concerned with polluting the area can pay to drive a golf ball into the lake below.

As with anything in Asia, it is always worth bargaining for better prices, and travelling as a group will get the best deals. Visiting Tagaytay and Taal Volcano make for a very memorable trip.

Ricoh Displays Single Shot 360 Spherical Panorama Camera

Ricoh have been working on a very small, portable device that takes a spherical 360 panorama in one shot and sends it automatically to a smartphone or tablet. It uses two 180-dgree lenses, combining the image internally before sending the result for viewing.



At this point there was no information about image size and resolution. Currently it only takes stills, but the company is considering trying to also capture video. At this point there. As the Ricoh demonstrator explains: 

 "It has two fish-eye lenses, each of which covers 180 degrees. The camera combines the two pictures, and sends them via Wi-Fi to a tablet or smartphone for viewing. The idea is, the pictures you take arrive automatically. When viewing it like a regular panoramic image, you can also see up and down. When you pull out from the image, it finally becomes a circle, and you can also look at it as a sphere." 

"This camera represents a step beyond SLRs and compact cameras. The project began with the idea that, if taking spherical panoramic photos was easy, the results might be fun. Currently, the camera takes still photos. But we'd like to enable it to handle video, too. We're still just presenting this technology, so the specs haven't been decided yet. Right now, we're at the stage of seeing how people react. If people think this camera is fun, we'd like to commercialize it, and make it a bit smaller. We want to keep developing it, so we can offer a version for consumers." 

 "This is a project we're discussing with staff at art colleges. We think this technology could also be presented as a "panorama ball," where the pictures are stuck onto a sphere."

Supporting Heartkids Orphanage in India

Every now and again something really great happens. Seeing Heartkids use Panoramic Earth to display virtual tours of their orphanage in India was one of those. Heartkids runs a number of homes for orphans and children abandoned by their families around Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. Each Heartkids home houses up to nine children, providing them with a house-mum and a loving, nurturing environment. Because of what the charity does, every day about 150 children aged 4 to 18 find a safe place where they get food, clothing, play and education. Outside they were rejected, living hand to mouth in extreme deprivation. Inside there is life and hope for the future.

Heartkids not only provides for the children but also medical help for adults, especially those suffering from leprosy, HIV or polio disabilities. These individuals are rejected by society and forsaken. Yet through the work of Heartkids their humanity is acknowledged and some dignity restored.

Panorama of Heartkids Home 1 full supplied by Panoramic Earth

Such work always needs more support, and if you are interested then you can help, get involved and make a difference.

At Panoramic Earth, we are just grateful to have been allowed to play a part. And we would welcome this more, so if you have a worthy cause you would like to let others know about with virtual tours, then please talk to us.

Christmas Lights at Butchart Gardens

Butchart Gardens are a very popular tourist attraction near to Victoria on Vancouver Island. Every year the gardens are decorated with extensive lights, themed on the Twelve Days of Christmas. Around the gardens you will find various installations depicting the 12 days, from a partridge in a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming.

It can take a couple of hours to go around the gardens. It is often raining here, and free umbrellas are provided. While this can make for a somewhat damp evening, it does mean that the lights reflect wonderfully in the wet stone.

Taking virtual tour images under these conditions can be quite tricky. The paths are narrow and often full of people. It is dark and very long exposures are required. The best time to do photography is towards the end of the evening when the crowds have thinned out. At that time it is possible to get some stunning images, making for dramatic virtual tour panoramas as shown below.

Panorama of Butchart Gardens Christmas Lights supplied by Panoramic Earth

While these conditions can be a challenge for the photographer, the results can be dramatic and very much worth the effort.

Panorama of Butchart Gardens Italian Garden supplied by Panoramic Earth © Peter Watts

Bouncing around Stone Henge

Everyone loves a bouncy castle, it does not matter how old or young you are, jumping around on these things is just fun. Most people have also heard of Stone Henge. In the summer of 2012 these two were combined and during the London 2012 Olympics, a life sized, inflatable version of Stone Henge toured various parts of London. Turning up for a single day in any location, this built-to-scale, bouncy Stone Henge drew large crowds who queued to jump about on it. Designed by Jeremy Deller and known as Sacrilege 2012, this proved to be an instant tourist attraction wherever it appeared.

Panorama of Inflatable Stone Henge Bouncy Castle supplied by Panoramic Earth

This Stone Henge takes about 4 hours to erect, and has a capacity for about 100 jumpers at any one time. As explained in the video below, the oldest bouncer was over 90 years old. Of course, inflatable objects are, by their very nature somewhat unstable, which makes taking panoramas of them difficult, even more so when people are jumping around on them. This did not stop someone from trying though, as shown above.

Seven Sisters

Seven Sisters of East Sussex, England, are a famous series of hills and cliffs the march along the coast between Seaford and Eastbourne within the Seven Sisters Country Park. These cliffs offer dramatic views over the English Channel and surrounding countryside and often stand in for the White Cliffs of Dover for films.

Seven Sisters 360 Panorama © Peter Watts 2012

On a good, sunny day (which are in short supply at present), the Seven Sisters are a popular walking route, offering a hiking challenge as the terrain is almost never flat and totally exposed to the elements. The onshore winds here are quite strong, as evidenced by trees bent over under its force.  Most people walk east with the prevailing wind behind them, resting their legs at either Cuckemere Haven or Birling Gap. The walk also takes you up the highest sea-cliff in Britain to stand atop Beachy Head with unparalleled views over Eastbourne. More information about this walk can be found in detail on the WalkingClub website.

Panorama of Birling Gap Beach supplied by Panoramic Earth

The area can be explored on this interactive Seven Sisters Map which shows 360 panoramas and virtual tours from most of the hills as well as other significant points on this route.

Winter Walks in London

Everyone will have their favourite walk round London, and this is but one suggestion that takes in one of the best Royal Parks, stunning panoramic views, fantastic market stalls and pretty boutiques. It will take about 2 hours depending on how much time is spent admiring the views or browsing the stalls.

The walk starts at Great Portland Sreet tube from where it is a short distance to formal, laid out Avenue Gardens part of Regents Park. After this you can either continue up through the northern end of the park or make a (probably not quick) detour left to the Queen Mary Rose Gardens.

Panorama of Regents Park - Rose Gardens in Queen Mary's Gardens supplied by Panoramic Earth

At the top of the par we pass by London Zoo and then cross the Regents Canal and along Prince Albert Road to Primrose Hill. For those inclined, it is a short, but steep, walk to the top for stunning panoramic views over the city. Exit at the north-east corner onto Regents Park Road and continue north along a pretty row of boutique shops and cafes - a good place to grab a slice of cake and drink.

Panorama of Primrose Hill supplied by Panoramic Earth

Continue across the railway bridge and then head right down to Chalk Farm tube where there is a fantastically painted building. At this point you begin the return trip turning south and heading back to Camden Market. This is where you can loose a lot of time browsing the various stalls selling almost anything you could imagine, including a lot of local arts and crafts.

Panorama of Camden Lock Market supplied by Panoramic Earth

The weary can opt to end their walk here or finish it by either wandering up Parkway past the Jazz Cafe and a fantastic health food shop or along Regents Canal. Both routes end up near the north end of Regents Park and from there you head south to end up back at Great Portland Street.

London at Christmas

Once again London has geared up for the run up to Christmas. Once again the lights are on in Oxford Street and ice skating rings have opened up at the Natural History Museum, Somerset House and other venues. The Winter Wonderland has arrived in Hyde Park and thousands of people our out to find various Christmas shopping bargains, enjoy the rides or relax at the Bavarian Village (shown below).

Panorama of Hyde Park - Winter Wonderland Bavarian Village supplied by Panoramic Earth

Every year just before Christmas Oxford Street and Regent Street are closed to traffic, and them promptly fill with tens of thousands of people who descend on the shops. One of the busiest shopping days of the year, it is accompanied by various street entertainment, rides and music, making for a festive atmosphere.

Panorama of Regent Street Christmas Lights 2011 supplied by Panoramic Earth

And yet in the midst of it all on wonders if the Christian meaning behind Christmas has somehow been lost.