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ABOUT MACHU PICCHU 16 GIGAPIXELS

The picture was made with the Canon 7D and a 400mm lens. It consists of 1920 pictures with 18 megapixel, which was recorded by a photo-robot in 1 hour and 44 minutes. 

 

With a resolution of 297,500 x 87,500 pixel (15.9 gigapixels) the picture is the highest resolution photo of Machu Picchu ever taken.

Image stitching was done on a MacPro Hexacore 2.67Ghz, 32GB Ram and OCZ 960GB RevoDrive.  Render time was 1.5hrs.

 

The image took 11.5 hours to upload to gigapan.com which is the largest upload of a .PSB file to date.

 

The software required 10.5 hours and 120 gigabytes of free disk space to read and convert the PSB file, and 1 hour to do the upload of 6.9 gigabytes.

Autopano Giga Gigapixel Machu Picchu

EQUIPMENT

  • Images: 1920 .CR2 images

  • Capture Time: 1hr 44min

  • Size: 297,500 x 87,500 pixels

  • Camera: Canon 7D

  • Aperture: f/10

  • Shutter: 1/640

  • Focal Length: 645mm

  • Lens: 100-400mm f/5.6

  • Mount: Gigapan Epic Pro

  • Tripod: Gitzo Basalt Explorer

ABOUT JEFF

Jeff Cremer is an award-winning travel photographer based in Lima, Peru. Originally from Colorado in the American West his wanderlust and search for compelling images have brought him to amazing places all over the world.Impressed by the stunning beauty and abundant photographic opportunities in Latin America he lived in Costa Rica and Colombia before moving to Peru. Jeff's work has been displayed in galleries around the world and published in numerous books and magazines. Two of his gigapixel photographs were recently published in “EARTH Platinum Edition”, the world’s largest atlas. Each page spread of this limited edition book measures a breathtaking 6 feet x 9 feet (1.8m x 2.7m). Only 31 copies were printed and retail for $100,000 a copy.

 

He also holds the record for the largest photo ever taken in Peru: a huge 22,000 megapixel panorama of the Miraflores district of Lima as well as the largest photo ever taken of Machu Picchu weighing in at 16,000 megapixels.

 

His work has been featured in:

 

  • Petapixel.com

  • Fstoppers.com

  • Wired Magazine

  • National Geographic

  • NBC News

  • Yahoo News

  • Huffington Post

  • London Telegraph

  • Techbang

  • Toronto Sun

  • as well as others

 

Combining his love of science, nature and technology, Jeff is an accomplished astrophotographer. After spending many cold nights in the high plains of Colorado using advanced equipment to take images of distant objects in the night sky he participated in the Kitt Peak National Observatories Advanced Observer Program where he used robotically controlled telescopes and highly sensitive astronomical imagers to take amazing photos of nebula, star clusters and galaxies. His astrophotography images have been featured in:

 

  • RC Optical Systems

  • Jet Propulsion Laboratories

  • California Institute of Technology

  • Astronomy Magazine

 

Jeff also published his own book documenting his travels in Peru titled “People Of The Sun — A Journey Into The Heart Of The Inca Empire.” This coffee table book explores Peru from its desert coast, high peaks and dense jungles to its vibrant culture of Quechia and Aymara campesinas. The book is a testament to why he moved to this exciting country.Jeff is also a licensed private pilot with complex, high performance aircraft and mountain flying checkouts. He is also a certified scuba rescue diver with dives all over South and Central America.

You can see more of his work at JeffCremerPhotography.com

THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO MADE THIS HAPPEN:

Jeff Cremer

JeffCremerPhotography.com

 

 

 

Eric Hanson

XRez Studios

 

 

 

Susan Kunkle Thesing

Gigapan.com

 

 

 

Paul Heckbert

Carnegie Mellon University

 

 

 

Destin

Smarter Every Day

 

 

 

Gordon McGladdery

Sound Engineer - A Shell In The Pit

Jeff Cremer, Destin, Gordin McGladdery
Gigapixel Photograph Machu Picchu

INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHER JEFF CREMER

Why do you use GigaPan?

I believe that a good photo is one that allows the viewer to see the world in a new way and gigapan does just that. I think that people get more out of the images by being able to explore them and discover things rather than just taking a quick look then moving on to something else.

 

I also like the way that gigapan combines science and technology to create art. I love computers, technology and technical things, and I also like being creative, when I use gigapan I get to use the creative and analytical sides of my brain at the same time so its really fun!

 

What inspired you to take this image?

 

As soon as I purchased my gigapan and brought it back to Peru I knew that Machu Picchu would be a perfect target. I didn't know that it would be such an adventure to take the picture!

What are your favorite parts about the image?

I think that my favorite part of the image is a person standing on top of one of the mountains in the background. Before I explored the image I never even knew that it was possible to climb up there.

 

Did you have any challenges while shooting?

 

I had a few challenge while shooting.  Some of the software that I connect the camera to my computer froze and I had to restart the camera and the software then I had to find exactly where in the image the software froze then back up and reshoot the missed images.  If I didn't capture all of the missing images the entire project would have failed.

 

I also had security guards constantly asking to see my photo permits and some of the tourists blocked my view so I had to pause shooting and wait for them to move.

 

Stitching such a big image was also a challenge because I only have a laptop.  My friend Eric Hanson from Xrez Studios did the stitching for me.  Paul Heckbert uploaded the picture for me and Susan Thesing was a great help by coordinating everything with gigapan. Without these people the image would not have been possible.

 

Any advice or tips you’d like to share with other gigapanners?

 

I think that gigapanners should go out there and shoot lots of images and upload them to gigapan.com.  Gigapan is an amazing source of high-resolution images.  I can’t wait to see what future programmers will be able to create using these images. 

 

 

Are there other images you have taken with GigaPan outside of Peru that you enjoyed taking?

 

I haven’t really been outside of Peru with my gigapan although I would like to take a really high-resolution shot of the Miami skyline.  It has already been done but I think that it just be a fun thing to do.

 

 

Was there a specific timeframe (time and season) you chose to take this photo of Machu Picchu?

 

I took this at the end of the dry season so I wouldn't get rained on.  Just as the picture was finishing the clouds moved in.

 

What do you hope to achieve by taking a gigapixel image of Machu Picchu?

 

Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and is often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

 

In 2008, the World Monuments Fund placed Machu Picchu on its Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world because of environmental degradation due to tourism.

 

Beautiful, historical and threatened, I believe that this remarkable site deserved a remarkable photo.  I think that this image can help preserve this amazing place and bring more awareness to the site, its history and its endangered state.

 

Have you had any interesting feedback about the image?

 

I haven’t shown many people the image but everyone that has seen it likes it. My parents especially like it.

 

Since many of your images are taken in Peru, what do you love about the country?

 

I moved to Peru about 6 years ago.  I was only going to stay for 2 months then move on but once I started exploring the country I just kept staying and never left. Peru has everything from some of the driest deserts on earth to huge mountains that are over 22,000 ft tall. They also have the amazon rainforest where I work giving photography tours.  They also have tons of culture from Quechua and Aymara “campesinos” in the highlands to indigenous tribes in the jungle.

 

Do you have plans to shoot more gigapixel images in the near future? Where? When?

 

 

I love hiking in the mountains so I would like to climb a mountain and take a huge panorama of the Andes.  I might do this next year.

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