I am now a beta tester for the Gigapan robotic camera mount. It automates the process of capturing multiple images to assemble into a panorama. My earlier panoaramas were typically composed of 24 pictures and contained about 70 megapixels. Now I am producing panoramas assembled from nearly 500 images and containing over two billion pixels. My Gigapan ID is GoletaBrian.

Tour my Gigapans on Google Earth.

Load my California Desert Gigapans on Google Earth. Then load the California Desert Gigapan Tour. Playing the tour will take you to the locations of the Gigapans.

The next time you visit Google Earth, try clicking on the Gigapan Photos Layer. It's in the Gallery section.

Mojave - Kennedy Meadows, December 6, 2008

On Saturday, December 6, I started at the Mojave Airport. I drove north on the Antelope Valley Freeway to Nine Mile Canyon, which I followed to Kennedy Meadows. Above Kennedy Meadows, just past Fish Ctreek Meadow at an elevation of 7,800 feet, the road was icy, so I returned the same way.

Convair 990 N810NA NASA Landing Systems Research Aircraft isx displayed adjacent to the main entrance to the Mojave Airport from Highway 58. It was used at the NASA Ames Research Center until 1983 when it was withdrawn from use. It was stored at Marana, Arizona until it was refurbished in 1989 for use at the Dryden FRC. After serving as the Landing Systems Research Aircraft in 1993 and 1994, it was retired to the Mojave Airport.

Panorama size: 266 megapixels (19525 x 13632 pixels)
Input images: 64 (8 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 81.8 degrees wide by 57.1 degrees high (top=39.0, bottom=-18.1)

Red Rock Canyon straddles Highway 14 north of Mojave.

Panorama size: 773 megapixels (43261 x 17879 pixels)
Input images: 198 (18 columns by 11 rows)
Field of view: 215.9 degrees wide by 89.2 degrees high (top=55.9, bottom=-33.3)

Fish Creek Meadow is at an elevation of 7,300 feet in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Panorama size: 1368 megapixels (71224 x 19218 pixels)
Input images: 363 (33 columns by 11 rows)
Field of view: 360.0 degrees wide by 97.1 degrees high (top=43.5, bottom=-53.6)

Fish Creek Meadow little planet

Kennedy Meadows is reached by way of nine Mile Canyon

Panorama size: 333 megapixels (29792 x 11184 pixels)
Input images: 78 (13 columns by 6 rows)
Field of view: 360.0 degrees wide by 135.1 degrees high (top=87.5, bottom=-47.6)

Kennedy Meadows little planet

Dryden Flight Research Center, December 5, 2008

Bad weather caused the Space shuttle Endeavour to divert to Edwards Air Force Base at the conclusion of STS-126 on November 30. It was the 52nd Space Shuttle mission to land at Edwards. It will return to the Kennedy Space Center on a 747 Carrier Aircraft. On Friday, December 5 Endeavor was suspended under the Mate/Demate Device at the Dryden Flight Research Center being prepared for mounting on the 747.

The Space Shuttle Endeavor is suspended under the Mate/Demate Device as it is prepared to be loaded on the 747 Carrier Aircraft at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Canter at Edwards Air Force Base just before sunset on December 5, 2008.

Panorama size: 253 megapixels (20082 x 12628 pixels)
Input images: 56 (8 columns by 7 rows)
Field of view: 99.5 degrees wide by 62.6 degrees high (top=41.5, bottom=-21.1)

The Space Shuttle Endeavor is suspended under the Mate/Demate Device as it is prepared to be loaded on the 747 Carrier Aircraft at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Canter at Edwards Air Force Base just after sunset on December 5, 2008.

Panorama size: 713 megapixels (32852 x 21708 pixels)
Input images: 182 (14 columns by 13 rows)
Field of view: 164.5 degrees wide by 108.7 degrees high (top=68.2, bottom=-40.5)

The Space Shuttle Endeavor is suspended under the Mate/Demate Device.

Panorama size: 115 megapixels (18182 x 6337 pixels)
Input images: 24 (8 columns by 3 rows)
Field of view: 80.1 degrees wide by 27.9 degrees high (top=23.8, bottom=-4.2)

Century Circle, Edwards Air Force Base, October 23, 2008

Century series jet fighters are displayed just outside the west gate of Edwards Air Force Base: North American YF-100 Super Sabre 52-5755, McDonnell F-101B Voodoo 58-0288, Convair TF-102A Delta Dagger 54-1353, Lockheed F-104A Starfighter 56-0860, Republic F-105D Thunderchief 61-0146, and Convair F-106B Delta Dart 59-0158. They were joined recently by McDonnell Douglas YC-15 prototype N15YC.

Panorama size: 550 megapixels (45215 x 12175 pixels)
Input images: 126 (18 columns by 7 rows)
Field of view: 178.2 degrees wide by 48.0 degrees high (top=26.4, bottom=-21.6)

Panorama size: 849 megapixels (57824 x 14699 pixels)
Input images: 184 (23 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 289.4 degrees wide by 73.6 degrees high (top=36.8, bottom=-36.8)

Death Valley National Park: Lee Flat, Racetrack Playa, and Ubehebe Crater, October 6, 2008

On October 6, I frove from Lone Pine to Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley National Park by way of Lee Flar, Hunter Mountain, Ulita Flat, Hidden Valley, Racetrack Playa, and Ubehebe Crater.

Lee Flat sits between the Inyo Mountains and the Nelson Range on the western edge of Death Valley National Park. It is home to a relatively dense Joshua Tree forest.

Panorama size: 602 megapixels (42207 x 14276 pixels)
Input images: 136 (17 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 212.0 degrees wide by 71.7 degrees high (top=35.5, bottom=-36.2)

Racetrack Playa and the Grandstand. The Grandstand is an outcrop of rock in the middle of Racetrack Playa, where the rocks move when nobody is watching. It was a potential emergency landing site for the North American X-15 rocket plane.

Panorama size: 572 megapixels (50536 x 11331 pixels)
Input images: 114 (19 columns by 6 rows)
Field of view: 360.0 degrees wide by 80.7 degrees high (top=31.0, bottom=-49.8)

Little Planet of Racetrack Playa

Ubehebe Crater is a phreato-magmatic explosion crater, the result of hot magma heating ground water and triggering a steam explosion about 1,000 years ago.

Panorama size: 274 megapixels (27877 x 9840 pixels)
Input images: 50 (10 columns by 5 rows)
Field of view: 236.1 degrees wide by 83.4 degrees high (top=26.6, bottom=-56.7)

Owens Valley: Alabama Hills, Whitney Portal, and Horseshoe Meadow, October 5, 2008

On October 5, 2008, I toured the area around Lone Pine, California. I started in the Alabama Hils, drove up to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and then up to Horseshoe Medow at 10,000 feet elevation in the Sierras.

Movie Flat in the Alabama Hills has been the site of many movie productions.

Panorama size: 682 megapixels (60735 x 11234 pixels)
Input images: 156 (26 columns by 6 rows)
Field of view: 306.1 degrees wide by 56.6 degrees high (top=28.1, bottom=-28.5)

Early morning in the Alabama Hills with the Sierra Nevada in the background.

Panorama size: 792 megapixels (59150 x 13398 pixels)
Input images: 175 (25 columns by 7 rows)
Field of view: 300.0 degrees wide by 68.0 degrees high (top=25.5, bottom=-42.5)

Mount Whitney and the Whitney Portal Road. Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the continental United States with an elevation of 14,497 feet. The Whitney Portal Road was made famous in the climactic chase scene at the end of the Humphrey Bogart movie High sierra.

Panorama size: 697 megapixels (47609 x 14657 pixels)
Input images: 160 (20 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 241.6 degrees wide by 74.4 degrees high (top=35.7, bottom=-38.7)

Tuttle Creek Road runs through the Alabama Hills. Parts of the movie Tremors were filmed along the road.

Panorama size: 1013 megapixels (66148 x 15320 pixels)
Input images: 216 (27 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 331.9 degrees wide by 76.9 degrees high (top=35.3, bottom=-41.6)

Horseshoe Meadow is perched at 10,000 feet elevation in the Sierra Nevada.

Panorama size: 535 megapixels (41990 x 12745 pixels)
Input images: 160 (20 columns by 8 rows)
Field of view: 360.0 degrees wide by 109.3 degrees high (top=50.4, bottom=-58.8)

Little Planet of Horseshoe Meadow.

Horseshoe Meadcow fisheye view has a field of view of about 240 degrees.

The Inyo Mountains form the backdrop for this sunset view from Horseshoe Meadow Road at an elevation of 8,400 feet in the Sierra Nevada, high above Lone Pine and Owens Lake.

Panorama size: 548 megapixels (47254 x 11611 pixels)
Input images: 114 (19 columns by 6 rows)
Field of view: 200.4 degrees wide by 49.2 degrees high (top=23.0, bottom=-26.3)

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Wide Open Spaces of California

2009 Calendar

You can buy a 2009 calendar featuring my very wide angle photographs of eastern California, from the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley. This is a larger calendar than my previous offerings. The photos are 9-1/2" x 13-1/2".

A dozen very wide angle 9-1/2" x 13-1/2" photographs of eastern California, from the Sierra Nevada to Death Valley.

Horseshoe Meadow
Owens Valley
Whitney Portal
Alabama Hills
Cerro Gordo
Holiday Mine, Inyo Mountains
Lee Flat
Ubehebe Crater
Racetrack Playa
Ulida Flat from Hunter Mountain

California Poppies, April 26, 2008

California Poppies in the Antelope Valley on April 26, 2008.

Little planet of California Poppies.

Cerro Gorde, Inyo Mountains, October 9, 2007

360-degree panorama of Cerro Gordo Pass at an elevation of 8,200 feet. The ghost town of Cerro Gordo is at left. The Sierra Nevada can be seen on the far side of Owens Valley. The mountain at center is 9,200 feet tall. The Eureka Saline Corridor leads up to Steele Pass on the far side of the Saline Valley. Cerro Gordo Peak at right is 9,100 feet tall.

Little planet view of Cerro Gordo Pass.

Hidden Valley overlook, Hunter Mountain, October 9, 2007

360-degree panorama from Hunter Mountain at an elevation of 6,500 feet. The Nelson Range and the peaks of the Sierra Nevada are visible at left. The Saline Valley and Inyo Mountains are left of center. The White Mountains are faintly visible beyond Racetrack Playa in the middle. Hidden Valley is to the right of center.

Little planet view from Hunter Mountain.

Note the duplicated rock and background landscape near the center of the panorama.

Giant Prints

You can buy giant prints, in a variety of sizes up to 58" x 100", of my California Desert Gigapans.

Gigapan Panorama Blog

More Gigapans

Send a message to Brian.