Uploads from nip2655

The Plantation Parlor

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 10:42:23 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

This is a 360° panorama of the parlor in the main house on the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site in West Columbia, Texas. Originally built in the 1840's, the main house still stands intact.

You can stand in the middle and get a better feel for the parlor here.

The Barn on the Plantation

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:40:00 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

The original 1840s barn at the Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site in West Columbia, Texas. You can stand in the middle and view the barn in immersive 360°.

Donated to the State of Texas in 1957 by Miss Ima Hogg, the property was purchased in 1902 by her father, Governor James S. Hogg, as an investment. The property was originally the home of Martin Varner, one of the Old Three Hundred and a veteran of the Texas Revolution. At 4,600 acres, Varner's was the 19th land grant offered in Stephen F. Austin's colony.

In the 1830s, Columbus Patton bought the property from Varner on behalf of his father, John Patton. The Pattons were a well-known early Texas family and one of them, William, was aide-de-camp to General Sam Houston and part of the group that guarded Santa Anna after his capture at the Battle of San Jacinto. In fact, Santa Anna was briefly held at the plantation in the days after the battle.

After Governor Hogg's purchase of the property, he and his family grew attached to the land and the Governor's hopes and expectations of oil underneath the property. While James (Jim) Hogg died in 1906 before any oil was discovered, he was vindicated a few years later when the vast West Columbia oilfield was discovered, being brought online in 1920.

And for the record, while there was an 'Ima' Hogg, there was never a 'Ura' Hogg. In fact, the name 'Ima' was supposedly derived from a poem written by the Governor's brother, Thomas Elisha Hogg, and wasn't an attempt to be funny by the Governor.

Sunrise at the Menil

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:35:13 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

360° of a beautiful Sunday morning at the park across from the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.

As usual, you can stand in the middle for a little more immersive experience. You'll need Adobe Flash installed for this one.

You can also view the full scene with a much wider range of light than normally allowed on a computer monitor by going here. You'll need the HDview plugin from Microsoft, but if you get it, you can check out true HDR images using real-time adaptive lighting. The original HDR image used to create the tone mappings above is presented with a much wider 14 stops of light in the HDview version. To trigger the adaptive lighting in HDview, toggle the button at top-right that looks like a graph.

Look Into My Eye....

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:11:28 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

An almost mesmerizing deep blue thermal pool at West Thumb Geyser Basin. Dunno how deep it is, but the clarity of the water makes it difficult to judge. Usually, the pools ended up being a fair bit deeper than any of us guessed.

The late day sun was throwing long shadows and gave parts of the basin, which we mostly had to ourselves, a really neat mood.

Another good ol' fisheye shot.

The Moulton Barn

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:34:14 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

The famous and very frequently photographed Moulton Barn in Grand Teton National Park.

This is good ol' Photomatix and three RAWs, with some additional slight adjustments in Photoshop, including a little bit of warming filter (good eye, Mr. Hansen).

Get a little closer to the Tetons.

Jackson Hole from Signal Mountain

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:45:30 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

A handheld panorama showing the eastern half of Jackson Hole.

This shot was taken from the top of Signal Mountain in Grand Teton National Park.

This is a shot that really needs to be viewed large, otherwise the details are lost.

The original is 28,000 pixels wide. You can view it at full resolution here with the HD View plug-in from Microsoft.

Lone Star Geyser Erupts

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:06:28 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Our whole group is from Texas, so we had to make the 2+ mile hike into the woods to seek out the Lone Star Geyser. While not possessing the tallest eruption among Yellowstone's geysers, its relative remoteness and lack of people make it a great feature to check out in the park. Erupting approximately every three hours, with a series of minor eruptions before each major one, this bad boy shoots superheated water about 40 feet into the air. It is also located near a small thermal basin and the surrounding area hosts lots of wildlife and scenery.

Rainbowed Sunset Over Jackson Hole

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:13:20 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

After a rainy day in Yellowstone, my friend Robert and I returned to Jackson. As we rounded the last major bend into town, we were greeted by this amazing rainbow.

At first, it was a little dull and we could see only the right side of the arc. As we drove further around the bend, though, the sun started hitting the rain clouds in the middle of the bow, giving them an orange glow. Finally, the other side of the arc appeared and I had to pull over (illegally) to get this shot.

This photograph has had some sharpening and a slight increase in overall saturation. Otherwise, no editing is done at all (not even a crop). It was shot with a Sigma 12-24mm lens at 12mm.

This scene made me want to get spiritual. I'd never seen a full rainbow in my entire life. It made me wish the wife was there to see it, too.

Sunset In The Teton Notch

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 21:13:43 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

This shot is a single RAW with slight adjustment to contrast, a crop and some sharpening. There is no other editing at all.

We hiked down to Schwabacher's Landing and out to the Snake River. As the afternoon wore on and the sun was setting, I saw that if I positioned the camera just right, it might be possible to catch the sun setting right in this notch between the Grand Teton and Mt. Owen. While it took a lot of waiting and fiddling, my patience was rewarded. The sun was positioned here no more than 60 seconds, but it was a glorious 60 seconds indeed. I had no idea the flare looked like that until we reviewed the shots later.

The flare is completely real and I think this might be one of my favorite shots of all time.

Sunset Over Jackson Lake Dam

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:47:43 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Crop from 360-degree panorama shot just before a beautiful sunset over the Tetons. It was rainy all day long but as we drove home, the clouds parted and the sun shone through in an amazing display.

For a full 360 degrees of sweet a$$ Tetons sunset, click here!

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:26:07 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

A funny little blackbird who thought he was tough enough to come right up to us. He was hoping for some food, it seemed. Too bad, as you're not allowed to feed any animals in the parks.

The Crew on Tombstone Ridge

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:51:27 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Check out the 360-degree panorama from the top of the ridge.

This is our small company's core family at the top of Tombstone Ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park. It's about a 2-mile hike along the famous Ute Trail to get here, and the route includes a heck of an elevation gain and some non-technical climbing for a short distance, but it was good fun and worth the effort.

We had the funniest and most curious marmot as company the whole time, too. He was very friendly and inquisitive and kept following us to see what we were up to.

Folks, get out and see these places while we still can - before the irreversible and dramatic changes that are taking place are finished. The green, beautiful, rare wilderness spaces and places that still exist need our help. I also believe they provide some primal connection to our past as humans. They're worth the effort to get out and see them.

As we played on the ridge, storms began to move in and we had to high tail it to lower elevations, but there's nothing like having 40-50 mph near-freezing wind buffeting you at the top of the world!

Check out the 360-degree panorama from the top of the ridge.

Home Away From Home

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:08:06 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Chillin' in our Denver home away from home - the Hotel Teatro. We HIGHLY recommend this hotel as the rooms are awesome, the service impeccable, and the location unbeatable. The price isn't bad for the quality of experience, either.

Of course, this is only where you stay when you're on a working road trip and in between photo safari stops in national parks and recreation lands!

Chill in the hotel room with us in interactive 360 here.

For family and friends, you can follow the blog at http://thematsumotos.blogspot.com . Amy is writing and I am shooting the photos.

Where the Sun, Sand, Snow and Sky Meet

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:13:18 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Between Medano Creek and the base of the dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park. My wife and I hiked to the top of the dunes. At 750 ft. elevation above the creek, it is no small feat. It was a long, slow, sandy and windy slog. By the time we made it to the top, we were ready to come back down. However, it was worth every step.

Stand in the scene with us by viewing the interactive 360-degree panorama found here.

Almost to the Top

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:43:50 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

About 200 feet from the top of the dunes in Great Sand Dunes National Park. Throughout the day, storms were passing through the area. The interplay of clouds and sunlight on the sand was creating interesting shadows and quickly changing light conditions, which provided neat photo opportunities but required very fast fingers (not to mention camera and memory card) when shooting the panoramas.

Stand in the scene yourself (inside an interactive 360-degree panorama) and look around here.

First United Methodist Sanctuary

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Thu, 28 May 2009 08:16:03 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

The sanctuary of First United Methodist Church's downtown campus in Houston, Texas. This room is incredible, with beautiful hand-crafted stained glass that tells several stories from the Bible. The chandelier and Aeolian Skinner organ (with more than 7,000 pipes!) are particular sources of pride for the church.

A Grand Stay

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:43:29 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Well, actually a few grand...a night. I thought Houston folks might wanna see the inside of one of the most expensive rooms in all of Texas.

I usually don't post these sorts of shots on Flickr, but I found it a pretty interesting scene myself. This is just the living room. The separate bedroom is awesome and the bathroom is pretty cool by itself (and is nicer than any 'normal' hotel room I have ever been in!). I could probably have slept in the bathroom if it had come to it.

Stand in the middle of the room and look around in interactive 360 here. You can also view the extracted still large.

Attack!

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Fri, 22 May 2009 16:09:42 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

The pepper plants in the backyard are infested with these Milkweed Assassin Bug (Zelus longipes) nymphs. They've been there for a few days and seem to be hatching new babies.

You can see the detail much better large.

Monument Au Fantome 360° - Version 3 SC Little Planet

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:41:07 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Stand inside the immersive 360° image and look around here.

A fun 'little planet' projection of a 360° panorama of Jean Dubuffet's Monument Au Fantome, located in Discovery Green in Houston, Texas. Selectively colored.

This is another version of this image.

Monument Au Fantome 360°

nobody@flickr.com (nip2655) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 08:03:02 -0700

nip2655 posted a photo:

Stand inside the immersive 360° image and look around here.

360° panorama of Jean Dubuffet's Monument Au Fantome, located in Discovery Green in Houston, Texas.