VR Tour

Burning Man 2006

Burning Man 2006 was a great year. Great art, a great time, and my own projects largely worked.

Here are some panoramas from 2006. Most notably, in 2006 I arranged to be up on one of the boomlifts (cherry picker) for the burning of the Man himself. The burn is the one quintessential moment of the entire week. Almost the entire city is gathered, along with every art car with a night licence. There are many components to it, including fire dances before the burn, the fireworks as he is lit, the slower burning, the final fall of the man, and the release of the crowd to rush the man. After, there is the circular dancing around him and an orgy of fire all overy the playa into the night.

Now as I expected, shooting panoramas at night is hard, and doing it from a wobbly platform is doubly hard. In addition, I shared the platform with the lift operator and another photographer. This required me to only do short exposures, as any movement by the others would blur any time exposure -- ruining a whole panorama. In addition, I felt I couldn't have them duck every time I wanted to go around. The other guy did duck several times, though alas not for the shot that I chose as the best.

Some lessons learned could result in even more should I do it again.

To see everything in some of the shots, I decided to put up duplicates which are artifically brightened. This results in tremendous "noise" and would not be suitable for printing, but they are interesting to look at. They are at the bottom.

I also took regular photos, they will also be up later. In the meantime, enjoy the panoramas from other years like: 2005, 2004 and 2003 and all the other years.

conf22raw.jpg (5585 x 1100 - 724K) or VR/Zoom!	300° x 59° (Set) Full size is 15709 x 3094 (49 Megapix) (6' 7" x 16" at 199PPI)
Burn Circle from boomlift as Man bursts into flames

The man has burst into flames. This year, you only see his body for a few short moments before the flames and smoke from the base consume him. But here's our city, gathered around him, with all the art cars, bathing in his death light.

Some nice fire devils too. This, and all the other pictures of the burn are taken from about 10:30. Thus you can see the Esplanade in the background.

See below for a brightened version of this picture.

carp50.jpg (17217 x 1100 - 1875K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 23° (Set) Full size is 52998 x 3386 (179 Megapix) (20' 3" x 16" at 218PPI)
BRC, detailes from 5 and Esplanade, Friday afternoon

Taken friday afternoon a bit after Critical Tits, this 360 degree view from the platform in Camp Carp at 5 o'clock and Esplanade shows a flurry of activity around the city, in interesting but not too shallow light.

conclave.jpg (4393 x 1100 - 489K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 90° (Set) Full size is 10072 x 2522 (25 Megapix) (4' 8" x 14" at 180PPI)
Fire Conclave dances around the Man, from boomlift

The fire conclave dances around the Man as he prepares to burn. The entire city and every night art car gathers around him in this 360 degree super wide view.

See below for a brightened version of this picture.

burn50.jpg (16831 x 1100 - 1036K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 23° (Set) Full size is 51656 x 3376 (174 Megapix) (19' 9" x 16" at 217PPI)
People gather to burn the Man

Close-up shot of people gathered around the Man, before the burn. This remarkable shot has the whole Esplanade in it too, at night, plus you will see the cathedral and Euchronia (waffle) in the distance.

burn22.jpg (3298 x 1100 - 474K) or VR/Zoom!	270° x 90° (Set) Full size is 6628 x 2211 (15 Megapix) (3' 1" x 12" at 180PPI)
Man on Fire

A different perspective, shorter panorama with the moon more clear and different fireworks. This one has not yet be re-derived from the "raw" files so it is lower quality.

cube50.jpg (16739 x 1100 - 1260K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 23° (Set) Full size is 51616 x 3392 (175 Megapix) (19' 8" x 16" at 218PPI)
Detail shot from Sugar Cube, Sunset Thursday

A detailed shot from on top of the "sugar cube" along the promenade to the Man. In this shot you see the entire Esplanade and most playa art, as well as the Man during the bunny march at sunset Thursday.

euchronia.jpg (4525 x 1100 - 1346K)	(Guess) Full size is 9605 x 2335 (22 Megapix) (4' 5" x 13" at 180PPI)
Euchronia, the 'Waffle'

Imagine yourself laying on your back inside Euchronia ("the waffle") and looking to the ground at your left and right. This handheld pano, taken by K. inside, shows the arc from one entrance to another.

cube10.jpg (4403 x 1100 - 373K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 89° (Set) Full size is 10022 x 2504 (25 Megapix) (4' 8" x 14" at 180PPI)
Tall view from on Sugar Cube, halfway to the Man

Another shot from the "sugar cube" this time a super wide angle revealing the cube itself and its surroundings. Also they are now putting bunny ears on the Man.

dragon1.jpg (5627 x 1100 - 622K) or VR/Zoom!	150° x 29° (Set) Full size is 17501 x 3421 (60 Megapix) (6' 7" x 16" at 220PPI)
Record length Chinese 'dragon'

An attempt to set the world record for the longest Chinese-style "dragon" on the Playa.

			spoon1.jpg (2307 x 1100 - 254K) or VR/Zoom! 270° x 128° (Set) Full size is 5704 x 2720 (15 Megapix) (For example, 2' 8" x 15" at 180PPI)
Record attempt for chain 'spoon' cuddle

Another record effort, for the longest continuous "spoon" cuddle.

conflag22-bright.jpg (5642 x 1100 - 887K) or VR/Zoom!	300° x 58° (Set) Full size is 11366 x 2216 (25 Megapix) (5' 3" x 12" at 180PPI)
Man in intense fire, brightend to see crowd

A version of the above pre-burn picture, artificially brightened. I would like to have shot this bright but can't do so on a wobbly platform with other people. So I have boosted the brightness, which makes a noisy grain unsuitable for printing, but interesting to look at.

You may also like to look at either version in a darker room with the monitor brightness turned up.

conclave-brightened.jpg (4393 x 1100 - 623K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 90° (Set) Full size is 10072 x 2522 (25 Megapix) (4' 8" x 14" at 180PPI)
Conclave dances, brightened to see crowd

Another brightened version of a picture.