| Surround
images, also known as QTVR, Virtual Reality, Full Circle, 360s, and
several other names, are created by shooting a panoramic series of
images and "stitching" them together into a seamless (or
almost-so) image that renders in a viewer. Because technologies and
techniques have evolved since the first onces I produced (as Apple
QuickTime Virtual Reality, or QTVR, for the Galapagos),
the quality and plug-ins for these images are diverse. If you get
an "active content" error message, just allow the script
to play, these are harmless (honest).
For
Slate magazine's Well-Traveled,
I followed the Outlaw Trail and the Blues Highway, with writers
Alexandra Fuller and Tim Cahill respectively. Here are a several
of my favorite Surrounds from those trips. These
use Microsoft's early Surround Video technology, known as the "Carpoint"
tool. Again, you should be able to zoom in/out by using the CTR
(or Apple) and Shift keys with your mouse.
In
Panama on assignment for MSNBC, I produced several panoramas at
the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal.
These are displayed with yet another technology, from iSee media.
Again, this is a JavaScript plug-in that may ask your permission
to load or play.
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Monument
Valley, Utah
©Christian Kallen
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Safari
Lounge, Wyo.
©Christian Kallen
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Crossroads, Mississippi
©Christian Kallen |
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FROM MSN AND MSNBC
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“Panamanaramas” - Surrounds from the Panama Canal
For
Virtual Galápagos, a signature trip for the now-defunct TerraQuest,
I visited Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in 1996. Among the photography
I produced were the two panoramas below; they are based on Apple's
QTVR technology. You should be able to zoom in/out by using the
CTR (or Apple) and Shift keys with your mouse.
If you don't have the QuickTime player go
here to get it; if your browser automatically ask approval for
the plug-in, say "Yes." (In the QT "upgrade"
window, say No or Later.) These should work on both PCs and Macs.
Isla Bartolomé, Galápagos
(240k)
©Christian Kallen
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Equator Monument in Ecuador
(800k)
©Christian
Kallen/Denise Rocco
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