Gigapans are extremely large, high-resolution files created by digitally stitching, in these cases, hundreds of photographs together to form a complete whole. The process involves proprietary software, coupled with a robotic camera platform which measures, aligns, and moves a camera in precisely defined steps, and a viewing platform which allows for panning and zooming, all designed by GigaPan Systems.

Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin

16th Hole, TPC Scottsdale during the 2010 Phoenix Open

Kyle Field, College Station, Texas

The process creates unique viewing opportunities–the detail available is amazing, but it also presents its own set of challenges. Think of each gigapan as a set of tiles, shot one at a time, starting in the top left corner, working down to the bottom left, and then moving up to start a new column, then shooting down again, and so on. To obtain maximum detail, long focal lengths are used, as well as minimal apertures, which, especially for interior shots, lead to long shutter speeds. Combine that with the amount of time it takes for the camera to work its way from one side of the panorama to the other, and you get interesting things happening–like someone being in the picture twice, or perhaps missing a pair of legs because they moved in between individual exposures. For interior shots with people in them, there’s also a good deal of motion blur present as there would be with any long exposure. I consider these all inherent traits of a gigapan image, and leave them there intentionally, because sometimes they’re just as much fun to explore as the other, more “normal” parts of the image.

Smitty’s Market, Lockhart, Texas

The Garden City Golf Club, Garden City, New York