Help Baldy shoot an Epic Shot
Baldy
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We've had good success with Big prints (up to 60 feet) on SmugMug's walls, but now I'd like to try something different: the floors.
Our lunchroom is about 30x40' and my idea is to shoot straight down on something, like the financial district and waterfront of San Francisco. Have the heli pilot fly low over the skyscrapers to give a real sense of 3D.
Humans aren't used to looking straight down and I'd love to give people vertigo...
There is another element.... Has anyone shot an orthographic projection, where the camera changes position rather than swiveling? The thing about an orthographic projection is you get to see down all the streets. You walk over to one side of the room and you're looking straight down on Union Square. On the other side, you're looking straight down on the Transamerica Pyramid.
Example of a 1-D orthographic projection:
http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/multipano/images/grocery/sharpened.jpg
http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/multipano/images/cogels2/sharpened.jpg
They don't work for small prints where you just rotate your head to take it in, same as the camera shot it. But for huge prints where you walk around to see it, you want the camera to walk around with you, no?
Our lunchroom is about 30x40' and my idea is to shoot straight down on something, like the financial district and waterfront of San Francisco. Have the heli pilot fly low over the skyscrapers to give a real sense of 3D.
Humans aren't used to looking straight down and I'd love to give people vertigo...
There is another element.... Has anyone shot an orthographic projection, where the camera changes position rather than swiveling? The thing about an orthographic projection is you get to see down all the streets. You walk over to one side of the room and you're looking straight down on Union Square. On the other side, you're looking straight down on the Transamerica Pyramid.
Example of a 1-D orthographic projection:
http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/multipano/images/grocery/sharpened.jpg
http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/multipano/images/cogels2/sharpened.jpg
They don't work for small prints where you just rotate your head to take it in, same as the camera shot it. But for huge prints where you walk around to see it, you want the camera to walk around with you, no?
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Has anyone seen photo flooring? Any pointers to sources?
Is the SF financial district best, or how about the helicopter flying low over the north tower of the Golden Gate bridge and printing that very big so it's nearly life-sized. Then it's like walking just above the north tower and seeing peeling paint and rivets, then as you walk, stepping over the edge, no?
Has anyone ever seen or heard of a 2D orthorgraphic stitch?
Can you mount a rod to the heli so you can mount two cameras, one off each side to get two rows of pics per pass?
What lens?
Now for printing, I know that there are places that will do it, but I wonder why not just do 2' x 2' tiles of metal prints. Yes there would be seams but if there is a problem you can replace just one. They seem pretty durable.
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http://www.petapixel.com/2012/03/28/aerial-interior-photo-of-a-building-created-by-stitching-hundreds-of-photos/
Can't wait to see what the final product for this looks like!
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It's the difference you feel when you skydive (nervous, not terrified) versus bungy jumping (wetting your pants).
Maybe I just haven't seen low altitude aerials before but they exist?
Ok, not that low alititude.
But the resolution is getting pretty good
http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/index.php/2010/02/05/2008-4-inch-color-orthophotography/
The highest res public data for San Francisco may be here:
http://gispub02.sfgov.org/website/sfviewer/INDEX.htm
but the mapserver isn't playing well with my browser and or OS, so I'm not sure how high res it is.
I think Pictometry has super high res orthorectified air photos for San Francisco, but I can't find images of it.
What program do you use for the stitching? At that low altitude, the vertical angle distortion is huge (as seen in your test shot). You are going to have a serious problem if you try to stitch together a grid. You'll have to correct the vertical lean away from nadir, which will take away a lot of that vertigo effect you are looking for. You could keep that if you just shot swathes. Or do you have some magic up your sleeve?
Full scale heli's and planes have to stay above a certain altitude such as 500' or 1000' where the RC aircraft are limited to 400' max. Mounting equipment to an aircraft would require permits and equipment certified and installed by professionals, however, you can take the photos yourself by hanging out the side (safety harness). I also know someone that has a stick he hangs under the skids by hand and remotely photo's pano's with a multiple camera setup, or even a single rotating camera setup. This is also tethered of course.
NERVOUS!!
You want help? Baldy you got help. Send me a ticket to Fiji and I'm there for you.
Sam
And if I can add to Sam's suggestion, three people swimming in a grid will get it done much faster than 2!! Just sayin'
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Just a thought... And heck, you might like a little trip to the islands...