Micro Panorama Thumbnail for Social Sharing Sites

Gardens

(June 20-25, 2006)

K,S

Sanson-goso-no-sekitei

Gerardo A. Sanchez

Garden of Children - Jardín de Niños

Páramo de Mérida, Venezuela

June 22th, near to noon

Loading panorama viewer ...
Configuring ...

© 2006 Gerardo A. Sanchez, All Rights Reserved.

Help
Caption
Garden of Children

On Thursday, June 22nd, I went to the National Observatory to carry out some work at the "Jurgen Stock" Telescope. I was lucky because I found some children playing in the yard around the telescope's dome. They were there to have a day playing with traditional toys: flying kites, playing marbles, spinning tops, etc. We became acquainted and they let me join in the games. Around midday as they were leaving, I asked if they would like to visit the inside of the dome to take a look to the big telescope, well I am sure you can guess what their answer was, a resounding Yes!!! After I got permission from their teachers we went inside to see the telescope; I started to talk about some basic astronomy and as I was talking and looking at their faces an idea came to me; why not make a panorama for the current WWP theme "Garden" as a "Garden of Children", the seeds of the future. I started to assemble my photographic equipment and their curiosity was got even bigger, everybody started to gather around my camera. Meanwhile I continued talking about planets, stars and galaxies, and I started shooting for this pano, keeping the children around me. Every single one of them though it was very funny watching me "dancing" around my tripod.

These kids live in a small village down the hill from the observatory. This town is call "Llano del Hato" and is the highest in Venezuela, with an altitude of around 3400 meters (11200 feet) above sea level. Their cheeks are dark red showing the high haemoglobin concentration in their blood necessary to compensate for the lack of oxygen at this high altitude. The National Observatory is around half an hour by car from Merida City.

Jurgen Stock Telescope outside view

Jurgen Stock Telescope inside view

Jardín de Niños

El pasado jueves 22 de junio estuve en el Observatorio Nacional realizando algunas reparaciones en el Telescopio Jurgen Stock. Ese día tuve la suerte de encontrarme a un grupo de niños jugando en las áreas verdes del Observatorio. Ellos tenían un día especial dedicado a los juegos tradicionales: elevar cometas, juegos con metras, trompos, etc. Nosotros hicimos amistad y ellos me permitieron participar en sus juegos. Cerca del mediodía, cuando ya iban a regresar a su escuela, les pregunté si deseaban subir al domo para conocer el telescopio, por supuesto ustedes podrán adivinar que su respuesta fue un “Siiii” unánime. Después de obtener permiso de sus maestros subimos a la cúpula y yo comencé a explicarles algunos conceptos básicos de astronomía. Mientras conversaba con ellos y viendo sus rostros curiosos una idea vino a mi mente: porqué no realizar una panorámica para este evento del WWP “Jardines” como un “Jardín de Niños”, las semillas del futuro. Comencé entonces a ensamblar mi equipo fotográfico y la curiosidad de los pequeños fue en aumento acercándose todos a mi alrededor. Mientras yo continuaba hablando de planetas, estrellas y galaxias inicié la toma de las fotografías para esta panorámica manteniendo a todos los niños frente a la cámara. Todos ellos estuvieron muy divertidos mientras me veían “danzar” alrededor del trípode.

Estos niños viven en un pequeño poblado colina abajo del observatorio llamado “Llano del Hato” el de mayor altura en Venezuela a unos 3400 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Las mejillas de los niños son de un color rojo oscuro mostrando la gran concentración de hemoglobina en su sangre necesaria para compensar el escaso oxigeno presente a estas elevadas alturas. El Observatorio Nacional está ubicado a una hora y media de camino desde la ciudad de Mérida.

Telescopio Jurgen Stock - vista externa

Telescopio Jurgen Stock - vista interna
http://www.merida360.com
Location

Latin America / Venezuela

Lat: 8° 47' 18" N
Long: 71° 53' 12" W

Elevation: 3600 mts. above sea level

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Equipment
Nikon Coolpix 5000, Fisheye FC-E8, home made panohead. Software: PanoTools, Adobe Photoshop CS, PanoCube

PLEASE RESPECT THE ARTIST’S WORK. All images are copyright by the individual photographers, unless stated otherwise. Use in any way other than viewing on this web site is prohibited unless permission is obtained from the individual photographer. If you're interested in using a panorama, be it for non-profit or commercial purposes, please contact the individual photographer. The WWP can neither negotiate for, nor speak on behalf of its participants. The overall site is copyright by the World Wide Panorama Foundation, a California Public Benefit Corporation. Webdesign © by Martin Geier www.geiervisuell.com