PanoBlog

I found myself on Mill Mountain this past Saturday (3-Mar-12), thought it to be a good candidate for a pano, so I set forth to produce one. I hadn’t made one in a long time so I was slow and methodical in my preparations. My new camera (Canon 5D Mark II), has a “Live Preview” feature, so being lazy, I simply glanced at the back viewer before I shot the sequence. I shot 3 or 4 pano sequences from different places on the overlook. My audience was very intrigued with my apparatus and methods. I wanted to appear to be the professional that all my equipment begged for, therefore I didn’t check my work on-site.

 I got home, downloaded the pics and …. WTH?????? I didn’t have full frame shots, I had circular shots!!!!! Dummy me took the lens cap off the 15º fish eye, BUT forgot to take off the conical sleeve that it fit onto … The shots I took looked like I was shooting down the barrel of a gun!.

I did throw together a few of the images and “worked” on them to come up with a static “flat” pano of downtown Big Lick.

This is a link to a panorama of the “homestead” after the Christmas snowfall of 2010 (I put a little bit of myself into this one … hehehe).

For some unexplainable reason, I still feel the need to clean off the driveway after every snow event. I suppose it’s the “work ethic” lingering in the back of my head. This snow event was much “better” than the late snows/ice storms we encountered just before Spring of 2010, in that it was only ~3″-5″ deep. I worry though, since this is the second snow of the year, that the ground will remain white & frozen until next Spring when we immediately begin the 80° days…

Alas, there’s only a couple of things I can do about it. 1. Become a racing “Snowbird” and go to Florida. 2. Clean off the driveway each time it snows this year … Hummm, I’ll get back to me on which I decided on.

TO “START” the PANO, CLICK IN THE RECTANGLE. AFTER PIC  HAS LOADED, HOLD DOWN LEFT MOUSE BUTTON & “DRAG” the CURSOR AROUND (before or after the “auto pan” kicks in).

Here is a panorama of where I spent my 2010 birthday.

This is Turn 5 at Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, WVA. Summit Point is ~15 miles east of Winchester, VA. This is the track that I began flagging at in 1984, it is a 2 mile track that is host to the Washington DC Region of the SCCA.

This was taken on June 27, 2010, right after lunch, when temps were well into the high 90′s. Caught napping, before the action resumed, were Dan Zane, Josh Cockey (again …) Ray Hall and AFC Dale Ferril.

TO “START” the PANO, CLICK IN THE RECTANGLE. AFTER PIC  HAS LOADED, HOLD DOWN LEFT MOUSE BUTTON & “DRAG” the CURSOR AROUND or just wait for the auto pan to kick in.

Here is a panorama of Poplar Forest Golf Course in Forest, VA.

TO “START” the PANO, CLICK IN THE RECTANGLE BELOW. AFTER PIC  HAS LOADED, HOLD DOWN LEFT MOUSE BUTTON & “DRAG” the CURSOR AROUND.

The course is in the front yard of Thomas Jefferson’s “country home“. It was taken 7-Feb-2010. The practice green had ~ 8″ of snowy ice on it. This past week (17-Feb), the practice green still had 7″ on it and the “guys” were shagging balls off a mat “herding” the ice skating geese!

This pano is not too well made, it was shot off one foot and didn’t mesh well. It did give me the opportunity to manually “touch up” a couple of mismatches (now I no longer see them).

This is a test of QTVR in WordPress.

Just wondering …

WOW … dis is what I’m talkin’ about!!!! Been waiting for this … yeah! You can even drag the lower right corner to increase the view …. time to get busy …

Ken Conger visited Lynchburg last night and gave another super presentation of his most recent pics taken in Alaska. The presentation is the second I have attended at monthly meetings of BRPAS (Blue Ridge Photographic Arts Society).

Ken was in conservation enforcement for over 30 years and has now devoted his time and efforts to his love of photography … and it shows!

Ken both inspires and embarrasses me by humbly showing off his photos. After the presentation I attended, I told Ken “I hate you!”, just to let him know I was very envious of his talent and body of work.

His “Most Popular” shots can be viewed at: http://kenconger.smugmug.com/popular/#60948552_nLkH5

If you EVER have the chance to attend one of Ken’s presentations or see his works framed, up close and personal …. DO IT!!!!

… sigh …

This is a “distortion” of a small panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains Peaks and FlatTop Mountains. The original shots were taken a couple of days after the “big” 15″ – 18″ snow just before Christmas ’09. Was just playing with the pano and stretched it a bit and kinda liked it! I don’t normally like stuff like this but since I know what the source looked like I deem it “acceptable” (for me anyway).

The 2009 SCCA Run-Offs at Rd. America.

Thursday 09-24-09, Turns 6, 7 & 8 shot from Driver’s Right, beneath the huge leader board.

This is a great viewing location. Cars are prone to end up in the sand traps at Turn 6 (Driver’s right), Turn 7 (Driver’s Left), if they make it thru those turns, Turn 8 has a great wide run-off area that leads into an unforgiving sand trap (Driver’s Right).

This complex of turns will definitely get one’s attention.

** Click on the Mirrorball to see a 360 x 180 Pano of the turn **

The beach at the Outer Banks Beach Club, the Fall of 2009. The annual fishing tournament began today and the beach was “covered up” with four-wheelers … and a couple of sunbathers.

Many blues were being taken on the Nags Head pier tonight after the North wind subsided … and after a great meal on the pier!

Beautiful day!

CLICK on the image to view a panorama (360 x 180 degrees) of the beach.

Run-Offs 2009 at  Rd America T6, 7 & 8  Pano Mirrorball.

Turn 6 is at the top of the hill on the far right, Turn 7 is a right hander leading downhill into the left hand Turn 8.

CLICK on the image to open a “.mov” pano file of Turns 6 thru 8 at Rd America during the 2009 SCCA Run-Offs.

This was shot in the dark, from the rear of my camper. The “Covered Grid” is on the right. Drivers waiting to be released to the track are gridded beneath the “roof” (good in the sun or rain!).

The “Grid Barn” is the structure on the left. This building is a restroom with showers attached to the outside wall. This was the first “Flag Shack” the SCCA and the track workers used to store and dispense equipment from (radios and flags) to the Flaggers. As all the other structures at VIR, the Grid Barn is built in a rustic style with exposed beams and naturally finished lumber and timbers. The upper floor is now “living quarters” for VIPs … sweet …

Drivers paddock (park their cars & “rigs”) in the area this is shot from and to the right.  Turn 17 (the final Turn) is just over the hill and the front straight is to the far right.

Roebling Road Raceways Turn 4. Friday of the July 2009 Double National.

** Click on the Mirrorball to see a 360 x 180 Pano of the turn **

Nags Head 5-09 Pano Mirrorball.

Click on the image to open a “.mov” pano file of the beach at the Outer Banks Beach Club. In the pano are a red bi-plane, two fishing piers, a kite and the moon.

This was a beautiful cloudless day!

Something a little different.

This is a mirrorball image of the Flag Station at Oak Tree (Turn 11) at VIR.

This is what the bugs see …

I had to crawl out on the limb to get this pic

A 360° x 180° panorama of the flag station at Oak Tree (Turn 11) at VIR. The Oak Tree is the “signature image” of VIR. With their back to the front right fender of the cars rounding the turn, the Flagger watches incoming traffic from Turn 10 on the right and outgoing traffic to Turn 12 on the left, past the South Paddock. A great place to watch the racin’. The stands outside the fencing, is a favorite of spectators and many photographers lurk inside the fencing. This pic was taken the weekend of the April 2009 Rolex race.

<Click on the pic to open a new window with the interactive pano>

VIR South Paddock Pano. Here’s what the South Paddock looks like on a lonely night.

2008

Swannanoa is a huge mansion located on Afton Mountain. I “stumbled” upon it after finding a dirt road that went up (dirt roads are somewhat hard to find these days), it turned out to be the back door into Swannanoa. A beatiful place. I hope to return to spend more time taking additional photos.

The Inn at Afton on Afton Mountain is located at the cross roads of Route 250 and I 64. It is the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the southern end of the Skyline Drive. Waynesboro, VA is to the left (west).

South Lynchburg from Candlers Mountain range at mid afternoon on Jan 21 2009 . COLD …! The airport is on the left and downtown is around the corner on the right. The Peaks of Otter and Flat Top Mountains of the Blue Ridge Mountain range can be seen to the west

VIR Lodge “Motel 5 & 6 “. Early January view from the 3rd floor balcony of VIR’s Lodge overlooking Turns 5 & 6. A wonderful place to stay at VIR. Normally my view is back this way from the flag station at Turn 6.

St Pete 07 GP Turn 5. The St Pete Grand Prix is a super race event held early in the year in a WARM local … just in time for all us northern types who NEED to up their vitiam D intake. A lot of fun.

Roebling Road Turn 6. The flagging oasis of Roebling Road Race … one of two flag stations that has shade. Drivers … DO NOT launch yoursevles Driver’s Left around this turn … it ain’t purty.

Roebling Road’s Front Straight. Early Saturday am Flag Meeting is going on. This was one of the SeDiv’s July 4th Double Nationals. This evevt is one of the most fun gotta do events. Worker break every day at 3pm for thunderstorms!

Summit Point Turn 10. The “other” gravel trap. Get this turn right and you can take a nap getting down the front straight to Turn 1. Get it wrong and the best thing that could happen is you get “fished” out of the gravel … the worst …. do you remember the “junkyard”?

Summit Point Turn 5. About as fun as a flagger can have without takin’ their clothes off. After drivers open their eyes after going thru Turn 4 without planting themselves in the tire wall, it’s STAND ON THE BRAKES they may still have and jerk it left! A great turn ….