Q: What is Panoramic Photography?
A: 360 degree Panoramic Photography has a width and height ratio of at least 2:1, but that is just the technical definition for this specialty. Panoramic images are most often best viewed interactively such as you can see by clicking on a category on the home page. It's like standing in one position and turning yourself around, looking up and down, letting you "be there." It is a wonderful way to show a location for marketing or just for fun. Showing your location with panoramic virtual tours allows your audience to be immersed in a seamless 360 degree visual environment that offers more realistic view than a series of static images or a linear video clip. Your audience will be wowed and impressed. We can integrate several panoramic images into complete tour package with a custom visual layout and navigation design.
Q: What is HDR Photography?
A: I am planning some video answers for this question since it is such a large part of panoramic photography. But, in a nutshell, a camera can only capture a certain range of light compared to our eyes. This means that, especially in a 360 degree images, part of the image will be too bright and/or part will be too dark. One way to get around this is to set up elaborate lighting equipment, the other is HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography (the latter being financially feasible for most clients). HDR photography consists of capturing multiple images at varying exposures, then combining them later as part of the processing of the images.
Q: Who uses Panoramic Photography?
A: There are so many great applications for this technology. Some of the uses who benefit are:
- Hotels, Resorts
- Restaurants
- Catering Spaces
- Real Estate
- Museums
- Private homes (show offs)
- Night Clubs
- Schools
- Beauty Salons
- For rent apartments
- Vacation rental properties
- Car companies
- Trainers, training simulators
- Special Effects producers
Q: How much do your services cost?
A: Pricing for photography depends on many things so I wish I could give a straight answer. However I can give some idea by noting that medium to larger jobs normally are based on a day rate and a 'per pano' price. Standard day rate is US$1,400 and US$45 per panorama. Smaller jobs are quoted after learning more about the particulars. Real estate work starts at $450 for panoramas and still images. Hosting is also available if desired. There are seldom additional costs outside of any necessary travel.
Q: Do you have information on how to create panoramic images?
A: While I intend to add tutorials and hints on creating panoramas to the Workshops Page, this has taken a back seat at the moment. There will be Panorama Network Workshops in the future and I also do one-on-one training as noted there. For those looking for a basic idea, panoramic images are 'stitched' together after taking a series of images. The camera isn't unusual for a professional photographer, and the lens choice depends on the project. Fisheye lenses are common, as well as other high quality lenses. The main special 'gear' is a special tripod head which allow rotation in a particular way.
Q: Are the interactive images on your site available for licensing?
A: Some of the images are available for licensing and more will be available in the future of course. If you are interested in licensing something that you have seen here, please contact me. Some of the images are freely available to embed via an 'embed link' and I can tell you more about that as well.
