Start of Procession in Nda Mariam Orthodox Church
Asmara, Eritrea, Africa
November 30, 2009, 10.00 am
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© 2010 Jan van der Woning, All Rights Reserved.
Caption
Each Orthodox church has a particular day during the year when a Saint's day is celebrated. This holiday is known as "Nigdet." For the Nda Mariam Orthodox Cathedral in Asmara, dedicated to the Saint Mary, the date for Nigdet is November 30th of each year. The neighbourhood is fully mobilized to welcome guests and worshipers. A festival atmosphere prevails, contacts are renewed and friendships are further strengthened. Families visit families, with gifts, as a gesture of goodwill and love.
It gave me a good taste of the devotion and the beliefs of the people. At the moment the panorama is taken the procession just started.
Around noon the ceremony finished and the people returned to their houses to celebrate Nigdet with their family, drinking suwa and sharing a meal.
Location
Lat: 15° 20' 23.41" N
Long: 38° 56' 40.47" E
Elevation: 2050 meter
Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.
Equipment
Nikon D70, Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye, PTGui Pro, Photoshop CS3, Pano2QTVR, Flexify
Behind the scene : how this panorama was made
I was invited to be ready at 8 o’clock a.m. and was driven to the church. I did not take a tripod or my other gear, only my camera with a 18-70 zoom and the 10,5 Nikor fish-eye. I was guided into the church by Paulo and could make panoramas in guerrilla style during this event. That is rotate on the top of my foot, carefully positioning the camera above the rotating point. Making more overlap (10 pictures instead the normal 6) then normally, made it possible to match the mismatch. After stitching in Ptgui with layers and retouching the layers in Photoshop this panorama could be finished.
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