panorama

Vincent Brady Pulled Out All the Stops to Create This Magical Firefly Time-Lapse

Firefly photography isn't a novel concept. In fact, long-exposure images of these glowing creatures lighting up beautiful forest scenes have appeared on PetaPixel a couple of times before... we've even featured a tutorial on the subject. But photographer Vincent Brady's firefly time-lapse above IS novel.

It's novel, not because it's a time-lapse of fireflies (we're sure that's been done a time or two) but because he combined many different photographic techniques to create something truly breathtaking.

NASA Releases Clearest Infrared Milky Way Panorama Ever Made, Comes in at 20GP

20 gigapixels might not seem like a lot in the world of super-high-res images. After all, we shared a 681 gigapixel image of just the moon's north pole the other day. But when you're talking infrared images of the milky way, the 20-gigapixel panorama that NASA just released yesterday is the clearest ever captured, and took them TEN YEARS to shoot.

Behind the Scenes: Shooting a Panorama from the Top of the Freedom Tower

Last year, TIME teamed up with Portland-based software company GigaPan to create something special: a 360-degree panorama from the top of the Freedom Tower (aka. The One World Trade Center). The image was supposed to represent "the rebirth and healing of Lower Manhattan," and above we have an inside look at how it came together.

Microsoft’s 20-Gigapixel Seattle Panorama is Packed Full of Fun Artistic Surprises

There's no rule against having a little fun while proving a technological point, even if you're Microsoft.

So when the software giant's research arm wanted to flex some image-editing muscle by creating a 20-gigapixel panorama of Seattle, they decided to bring local artists into the picture (literally) and encourage them to do creative stuff while the camera was clicking away.

Mars Rover Opportunity Commemorates 10 Years on Mars by Sending Home a Selfie

When the Mars Rover Opportunity landed on our planetary neighbor on January 25th, 2004 it was undertaking a three-month mission. Well, it's a full decade later and the little guy is still alive and kickin' (in a robotic kind of way).

And what better way to celebrate that achievement then by taking a good ol' fashioned, 2014-like selfie?

Bublcam: A Softball-Sized Camera Ball that Takes Street View-Like 360° Photos

Sometimes, taking a straight-on photograph is exactly what the situation calls for. But what about those moments when you want a more complete view? What happens when you want to capture everything around you, all at once, in a snapshot or video that is as interactive as Google's Street View? Well, that's when you reach for the Bublcam.

Beautiful Underwater Panoramas are Being Used to Help Scientists Save Coral Reefs

Stunning, breathtaking, gorgeous, take your pick, any number of adjectives would work to describe the world's coral reefs. But, sadly, another word would work as well: disappearing.

As a combination of climate change, overfishing and pollution is slowly destroying the reefs, one project is using panoramic imagery to catalog what's happening and help the scientific community come together to solve this problem before there aren't any reefs left to save.

New Multi-Cam Rig May Soon Let Sports Fans Pick Their Favorite Camera Angle

There seems to be a growing desire among the networks to give sports fans the absolute best angle of the action when they're watching a game on TV, but what angle is that?

Sunday Night Football is tackling the problem by giving fans every angle with the newly installed FreeD system, but researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute are taking a different approach. With their new OmniCam360, they intend to give you both 360° views as well as the ability to choose whatever angle you like best.

600,000-Pixel-Wide Tokyo Panorama is the 2nd Largest Photo Ever Made

Do you remember the 320-gigapixel photo taken from atop the BT Tower in London? That 360° panorama, shot by Founder of 360-cities Jeffrey Martin, holds the title of world's largest photo. But just because you have the top spot, doesn't mean you have to stop.

Another of Martin's creations, this one shot from the lower observation deck of the Tokyo Tower, has earned him the number two spot as well.

Google’s New ‘Views’ Site Gives Android Users a Place to Share Photo Spheres

The launch of Android 4.2 in October of last year brought with it the ability to create special 360° panoramas called "Photo Spheres." But as cool as these panoramas were, there was no real way to share them with the exception of a widget Google released a few months back.

Yesterday, all of that changed when Google announced a brand new Google Maps website called Views, built from the ground up for the Android community and their many un-shared Photo Spheres.

Bending Pixels: Fun Things You Can Do With Panorama Stitching Software

One of the great workflow possibilities that was opened up by the advent of digital photography is the ability to easily create panoramic images. It's become trivially easy to generate panorama images, so much so that it's even become an integrated feature into smartphones.

What many photographers may not realize is that there are a number of other interesting results that can be created using panorama creation software, if you just keep in mind what the software is actually doing (and what you are actually telling it to do).

The Captive Airship: George Lawrence’s Panoramic Kite Photography Rig

George Lawrence was a commercial photographer with a knack for engineering and business. Born in Illinois in February of 1868, his career reached its zenith in the early 1900s when he took to the skies, creating incredible aerial panoramas using an invention of his called the 'Captive Airship.'

Shooting a Massive Gigapixel Panorama of the Manhattan Skyline

I focus on a relatively obscure (though rapidly becoming more popular) area of photography called gigapixel-resolution photography. I use a robotic panoramic mount to capture tens if not hundreds of images of the same location and then stitch the images together to create a single massive photograph. I've combined this technique with High Dynamic Range imaging to create HDR photographs that are anywhere from 200 megapixels to 4 gigapixels in resolution size.

Immersive 360° Panorama Timelapse Lets You Experience the Aurora Borealis

If you've always wanted to feast your eyes on the aurora borealis but haven't had the time or the money to travel to areas of the world where the light display occurs, photographer Göran Strand has a treat for you. He has created an immersive 360-degree panorama using time-lapse photographs shot during a particularly active aurora. The video lets you pan around in the scene, offering a small taste of what experiencing the northern lights feels like.

4-Gigapixel Mars Panorama Created Using 407 Photos Taken by Curiosity

For a while now we've been sharing photos beamed home by NASA's rovers on Mars. From panoramas by the old timer Opportunity to selfies by the new kid Curiosity, we're starting to see more and more of the Red Planet many millions of miles away. Andrew Bodrov, however, has taken it to the next level.

A White-Balanced Panoramic Photo of a Martian Mountain, Courtesy of Curiosity

The latest panorama sent down by NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover is unique in more ways than one. Not only is it a panorama taken on another planet (still blows our minds), it's also been subjected to some post production. The photo -- a piece of which is seen above -- has actually had its white balance modified by NASA to make it look more like it was taken on Earth.

320-Gigapixel London Panorama Breaks Record for Largest Panoramic Photo

The BT Tower panorama, created by stitching together 48,640 images taken with 7 Canon EOS 7Ds, has officially broken the record for the world's largest panoramic photo. It was taken from atop the BT Tower in London, and you can see a tiny version of it at the top, but the real thing offers a massive, browsable 360-degree view of London in extreme detail.

Ricoh Shows Off Camera That Captures a 360-Degree Photo in One Shot

At the CP+ show in Japan, Ricoh is showing off a new camera prototype its developing that can capture full 360-degree immersive photographs with a singel push of the shutter. The omnidirectional camera looks like a cross between an electric toothbrush and a hammerhead shark. Lift it up into the air, press a button, and it will capture an image that shows every direction around you.

A 360-Degree Panoramic Photo Captured from the Tallest Building on Earth

Have you always wanted to see what the world looks like from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest manmade structure in the world? Dubai, UAE-based photographer Gerald Donovan was recently given the opportunity of shooting a photograph from the peak of the massive skyscraper. Not just any ol' photograph, mind you, but an immersive 360-degree panorama that makes you feel like you're actually there!

This Aerial Panorama of NYC Looks Like a Screenshot of Sim City

The image you see above isn't a screenshot from some city-building video game like Sim City. It's a panoramic photograph of New York City captured by Sergey Semenov that recently won Epson's Pano Award for most outstanding panorama captured by an amateur. Check out a high-resolution version of the image here.

Cycloramic Rotates Your iPhone in 360-Degrees Using Only Its Vibrate Feature

Part awesome party-trick, part brilliant idea, the new Cycloramic app from Egos Ventures is about the coolest thing you can get for one dollar on the iTunes app store at the moment. The app -- which will only work with the iPhone 5 -- triggers your phone's vibration at the exact right frequency to make it spin around in a perfect circle. Just stand your phone up, hit go, and keep an eye on your friend's faces (several reviewers called the reactions "priceless").

Double Exposure: A Clever Photo Prank From Half a Century Ago

When the engineering students and staff of King's College in London gathered together to take a faculty portrait, the photographer used an old camera that panned from left to right in order to capture an extremely long panorama of the entire group in one frame. It worked a bit like the panorama features on modern smartphones: start the exposure on one side of the frame, and then gradually sweep the camera across the scene while everyone in the frame stays as still as possible.

Shooting the Highest-Resolution Photo Ever Made of Machu Picchu

Photographer Jeff Cremer recently captured the highest-resolution photo ever shot of Machu Picchu, the most popular tourist destination in Peru and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. Unlike other gigapixel projects that we've shared here in the past, this one is very well documented, offering an interesting behind-the-scenes look at how these gargantuan images are made.

Google Takes Street View Photography into the Wild with Camera Backpacks

Google has already photographed quite a bit of our world using a fleet of cars, submarine-style cameras, tricycles, and snowmobiles, so what else is there to include in Street View? Places where vehicles can't go, of course. The company has begun capturing 360-degree imagery using the Trekker -- a special backpack with a Street View camera rig sticking up from the top.

A Glimpse of Google’s Fleet of Camera-Equipped Street View Cars

Ever wonder how Google manages to capture street-level photographs of entire cities for its Street View? It's done using a giant fleet of camera-equipped cars. Google employee Masrur Odinaev recently shared this photograph -- taken by a Street View car -- showing one of Google's Street View car parking lots. We see a large fleet of Subaru Imprezas that have panoramic cameras mounted to the tops.

Man Scooters Across America with a Panoramic Camera Made of 8 iPhones

Gabriel Paez is like a one-man Google Street View. On September 21, 2012, the panoramic videographer and iPhone hacker set out from Seaside, Oregon on a journey across the United States to Portland, Maine. Carrying him from place to place was Pucho, his 2005 Vespa PX150 scooter. Strapped to his back was a giant panoramic camera rig designed to capture 360-degree video footage of his adventure "for a live stage show" he's working on.

Google Street View Now Has Underwater Panoramas of the Great Barrier Reef

If you've always wanted to go scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef but haven't had a chance to, this might be one of the next best things: Google has added gorgeous underwater panoramic photographs to Street View, allowing to swim around at the world's largest coral system as if it were a street in your neighborhood.