Who doesn´t know the virtual trips where you can move around in a picture in all directions just by moving the cursor? Several DZs present their facilities on their website in this way. My idea was to create a virtual tour of a canopy ride. Via a hobby photographer´s website contact was established to an expert in the field of panoramic photography: Bernd Dohrmann. After a first meeting it became clear: It should be possible and we give it a try! However, Bernd had to jump out of an airplane for that, take note that it was to be only the second jump of his life ! After we found a way to stow his equipment freefall safe the jump was made in Itzehoe, Germany, on a clear afternoon in September 2008. At 10 grand Bernd was under an open parachute with his tandem instructor Andreas Licht and created the world´s first hyperbolic panoramic view during canopy ride. He was using a digital SLR with 8 mill wide angle lens, mounted on a collapsible 5 ft one-legged tripod, holding the extended pod straight forward and level. Now everytime after he turned the pod by 90 degrees he triggered the camera by remote. A complete series is made up out of 4 photos: straight up, right, straight down, left. Bernd took a total of six series, everytime changing aperture and shutter because light conditions changed significantly during descent. He stored the files in the Raw format, to have the best quality material for later manipulation. After an uneventfull landing he went back home and with the aid of the PTgui software then assembled the frames and erased small imperfections with Adobe Photoshop. You can find the stunning result and more on www.360bilder.de
