VR Tour

Burning Man 2009 Panoramas

This year I did a focus on night shots, as Black Rock City is truly a night city. However, night panoramas are really hard, since they need long exposures, and any movement blurs the whole shot -- ruining the whole panorama. Also moving people and lights cause even more trouble. Still there are some here you will enjoy.

Check my blog for announcements of updates and the regular photos.

I hope you got to see my "Evolution of Black Rock City" installation on the playa at 8:25 about 200' from the Esplanade this year. It featured 11 years of large panoramas on one wall.

Also check out the /brad/photo/bm09/.

Donors to BRAF may purchase large prints of these photos. I keep several on my walls, and an 20 foot long one wrapped around my staircase. Every time I go up the stairs I imagine myself in Black Rock City.

prom-50-fri.jpg (10354 x 1100 - 1370K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 38° (Set) Full size is 51403 x 5461 (281 Megapix) (12' 2" x 16" at 352PPI)
BRC from 6:40 and Esplanade, Detailed

My first work at a large-size panorama of the whole city, Friday afternoon from Prometheatrix at 6:40 and Esplanade. I'm going to redo this one, or one like it as the main "big city shot."

burn-dpw-bright.jpg (20810 x 1100 - 2319K) or VR/Zoom!	137° x 7° (Exif) Full size is 65978 x 3487 (230 Megapix) (24' 5" x 16" at 224PPI)
Central Playa with ring of art cars around Man, on fire.

A shot from 5:30 and Esplanade (DPW tower) of the open playa during the burn of the Man. He has not fallen quite yet, though some people have already left. Of course what makes this shot remarkable is the amazing array of light around the man from the gathered city and all its art cars, as well as the arms of the city to the left and right. To see what all this looks like from above, check out the 2006 panoramas of the burn.

Only the DPW built a tower stable enough to shoot from at night.

rocket-sunset-360.jpg (4780 x 1100 - 482K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 82° (Set) Full size is 26000 x 5983 (155 Megapix) (5' 7" x 16" at 386PPI)
The Raygun Rocket, at sunset

360 degree view around the Raygun Rocket with a pretty sunset.

dpw-twil.jpg (15427 x 1100 - 1110K) or VR/Zoom!	360° (Guess) Full size is 48131 x 3432 (165 Megapix) (18' 1" x 16" at 221PPI)
City at Twilight from DPW

The city at twilight, from DPW tower. The tower had a roof supported by 2x4s which obstruct the view in places. Most cities photograph at their best at twilight, and this was my first attempt at Black Rock City then (a touch later than I like, though -- equipment failure in the dust is always a curse.)

Yes, that's the full moon rising.

from-temple.jpg (11540 x 1100 - 1665K) or VR/Zoom!	325° x 30° (Exif) Full size is 58195 x 5547 (323 Megapix) (13' 7" x 16" at 357PPI)
From the Temple at night

Tuesday night from the Temple. It is surrounded by art cars and the city is lit up as I have never seen it before from so far out in the Playa. You can see a lot of lit playa art as well.

inside-man.jpg (7653 x 1100 - 1614K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 47° (Exif) Full size is 16537 x 2377 (39 Megapix) (7' 8" x 13" at 180PPI)
Inside the Man Base

360 degree view from under the Man at night.

			dynphoto.jpg (1873 x 1100 - 169K) 120° (Guess) Full size is 5584 x 3280 (18 Megapix) (For example, 2' 4" x 16" at 200PPI)
HDR of the Man

Experiment with high dynamic range (HDR) shot of the Man. Not finished yet. Not a panorama, but a blend of several images at different exposures, so it is possible to see the detail on the Man's neon with other things, when normally the neon would be overexposed in a shot that shows the base or people.

			man-multi.jpg (2103 x 1100 - 228K) or VR/Zoom! 58° x 32° (Exif) Full size is 13699 x 7166 (98 Megapix) (For example, 5' 8" x 3' at 200PPI)
Man and base

A very high resolution shot of the man at dusk. Of course you won't see the resolution here except in the slice or the gigapan.

outside-man.jpg (6097 x 1100 - 658K) or VR/Zoom!	239° x 41° (Exif) Full size is 22196 x 4004 (89 Megapix) (7' 2" x 16" at 258PPI)
The Man and base at Night

The view of the Man and part of the city from the playa.

playa-prom-mega.jpg (17085 x 1100 - 1555K) or VR/Zoom!	189° x 12° (.pano) Full size is 107359 x 6912 (742 Megapix) (20' 1" x 16" at 445PPI)
750 megapixel of the Playa

A 750 million pixel image of the playa! A lens defect adds some blur in sections. Taken Friday afternoon after the parade. For an even better shot like this look at the 2010 images, one of which goes full circle at almost this resolution and the other of which covers the main area even better than this shot. Also available as Gigapan of Burning Man 2009. As for most of these shots, I recommmend you enter fullscreen mode and pan with your arrow keys.

prometh-wide.jpg (4656 x 1100 - 589K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 73° (Exif) Full size is 25547 x 6035 (154 Megapix) (5' 6" x 16" at 389PPI)
Tall shot on Esplanade

Wide angle shot of the city and playa from Prometheatrix on Thursday afternoon.

by-slide.jpg (4810 x 1100 - 804K) or VR/Zoom!	360° x 71° (Exif) Full size is 26033 x 5953 (155 Megapix) (5' 8" x 16" at 384PPI)
The Slide + My Art Car

A 360 degree view near the slide, as Leeloo Dallas (Tasha) poses with Multipass in my art car.

await-burn.jpg (5160 x 1100 - 583K) or VR/Zoom!	237° x 46° (Exif) Full size is 25246 x 5382 (136 Megapix) (6' 1" x 15" at 347PPI)
Art Cars await the Burn

The crowd awaits the burn at 6 o'clock. Full of blurry moving people due to 1/2 second exposure.

dpw-burn-hdr1.jpg (7493 x 1100 - 731K) or VR/Zoom!	127° x 18° (Exif) Full size is 17410 x 2556 (44 Megapix) (8' 1" x 14" at 180PPI)
Bright BRC at night, with Man on Fire

A wider and brighter version of the close-in burn shot found above, this one to become part of a high-dynamic-range image when I get that working. (HDR photography allows shots with both bright and dim objects in them.)

			temple-sunset-150.jpg (2057 x 1100 - 412K) or VR/Zoom! 34° x 18° (Exif) Full size is 13318 x 7122 (95 Megapix) (For example, 5' 7" x 3' at 200PPI)
Temple at Sunset

Close up 94 megapixel shot of the Temple at sunset. The full res slice will give you a sense of what a print would have in it, or try the gigapan to zoom in.

Comments on the panoramas can be left at this blog post about them.