Majestic Falls (revisited)

This is Majestic Falls, the main waterfall at McDowell Creek Falls county park. It is basically the same picture as my "Best Of 2022" entry. In fact, that entry is technically better in some ways.

However, this is my personal "Best Of" for 2024 because it represents a big change and step forward in making spherical photos, and also a bigger project to explore a different way of using them.

The ultimate goal is to create experiences that start with a standard printed photo, typically hanging on the wall, provide a way for viewers to see the picture on their phone, then launch them into the interactive sphere. Since printed pictures are often created with different aesthetics than interactive spheres, this allows the two photographic interpretations to be compared.

The entry sequence for this waterfall picture can be seen here. Click on the picture when it loads to enter the sphere. Obviously, the whole experience, including a printed image, has to be experienced in person.

Learning this has been challenging for me and has also led to the refresh of all my hardware in order to meet the requirements of both standard and spherical photography in a way that visually aligns them. Although this picture is still a prototype, I wanted to use it this year as a personal celebration of the progress so far. 

An earlier attempt to create something like this was taken at the rose garden used for most of my Wrinkle entries this year, although at a different spot. It starts with more of an artistic close-up rather than a slow shutter, and can be seen here.

USA-Canada / USA-Oregon

Lat: 44° 28' 5.2" N
Long: 123° 41' 28.301" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon Z7, NIKKOR Z 24-70mm f/4 S at 24mm, Nodal Ninja 5, PTGui, Photoshop