Blog
THE RUSSIAN STATE LIBRARY
During the COVID-19 lockdown, excursion department of The Russian State Library has prepared an alternative to face-to-face visits for readers and visitors – a virtual tour of the entire Russian State Library complex. Apart from the Main building, you can walk around the Pashkov House and the Centre of Oriental Literature.
CONQUERING THE TOPS OF SICILY
The first thing in my to-do list during vacation in Sicily was to conquer Etna Volcano, a symbol of the island. Upon careful consideration of current realities, I decided to remove it from the list without much regret. As it turned out, Etna became another victim of the so-called overtourism. In other words, it was flooded with tourists. When nature gets commercial, it losses its beauty and attractiveness.
KUHFLUCHT WATERFALL(S)
The Kuhflucht waterfall is one of the highest waterfalls in Germany with a height of 270 m. Although it should be noted that this number represents a total height of three waterfalls cascade at the head of the Kuhfluchtgraben mountain river. These waterfalls are the most beautiful in Bavaria. Plus, they are easy to reach – the walk from the nearest parking lot to the first waterfall takes less than half an hour.
GROWING ROCK IN USTERLING
An amazing natural attraction - a growing rock - can be found in eastern Bavaria, in the village of Usterling. It's more like a wall than a rock, because it looks like a wall. The wall has an elongated shape with curves, and its top is almost as thick as the foot. On the slope above this natural monument there is a spring from which the water flows through a narrow gutter hidden in the moss at the top of the rock. The name says it: the rock is constantly growing, by 2-3 cm every year.
HIGH-RESOLUTION INTERIOR PANORAMAS
In most virtual tours, a high resolution of panoramic images does not play a key role. For "standard" tours the resolution of panoramas about 100 megapixels (~14000х7000 px) is quite enough. Often the size of panoramic images is even less. But there are situations when it is necessary to provide a detailed image of interiors, with possibility of deep zoom without degradation of the image clarity. For such tasks, ultra-high resolution panoramic images – gigapixel panoramic images - are used.
VIRTUAL TOURS ON GOOGLE MAPS
The well-known Google Street View (GSV) feature, available in Google Maps and Google Earth map services, as well as in the form of a mobile application, needs no introduction. GSV was first launched in 2007 in several U.S. cities and has been gradually extended to other countries around the world.
ТVЕR REGIONAL ART GALLERY
Tver regional art gallery is located in the Tver Imperial Palace and is one of the oldest museums in Russia. The beginning of the gallery's collections was laid in 1866. Now it is an art Museum of a wide profile.
METEORA - A SYMBIOSIS OF NATURE AND HISTORY
Located in the Thessaly region in central Greece, Meteora is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for protection because of its important cultural and natural assets. The huge sandstone pillar-like formations that dominate the skyline are believed to have been created 65 million years ago, with earthquakes and erosion further shaping the monoliths over the course of the centuries.
DAM SQUARE - THREE IN ONE
Travelling to Benelux I planned to shoot some more panoramas, at least by one from each city. But the trip schedule was so tight (10 cities / 1200 km in one week), that there was no time and energy for it.
SARDINIA - MOUNTAINS, SEA AND STARS
It is assumed that tourists visit Sardinia mainly for its exceptionally beautiful coastline, but the nature of Sardinian inland is not less attractive. If you like hiking as I do and travel to Sardinia someday, I recommend you to visit the National Park of the Bay of Orosei and Gennargentu and the Supramonte mountain range.
360 CAR INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY
One of the most hard tasks for panoramic photographer is creating car interior 360s in magazine quality, where showcasing a super realistic picture is required. Such virtual tour represents car interior in impeccable and presentable form, where every piece of interior and the texture of materials should be visible clearly, and colors of finishing — correspond to reality.
TAVERTET VILLAGE AND ITS SURROUNDINGS, SPAIN
Tavertet village is situated in the Catalonian province, in the region of Guilleries mountains, about 900 meters above sea level. Lying above high cliff, far away from noisy resort towns, it seems separated from the rest of the world...
MORNING OVER THE DALMATIAN COAST
Vrulja cove (Uvala Vrulja) is situated between Pisac and Yakirusha villages, forty kilometres south of Split. For the motorists who drive frequently along the Croatia Dalmatian coast the place is a very familiar.
FLASH PANORAMAS ARE OUT OF PRODUCTION NOW
Since August 1, 2015 Flash format is no longer supported in my panoramas. All virtual tours are being produced in HTML5 now. The era of Flash panoramas has gone.
A HOTEL ON THE WHEELS
«GRAND EXPRESS» is a private train with destinations Moscow – St. Petersburg - Moscow. The luxury train daily operating between two capitals goes beyond the traditional notions of railway transport. With ticket price not bigger than fare of a standard train, «GRAND EXPRESS» can be called as a hotel on the wheels for its modern technical equipment, high level of comfort and good service quality, and many services in it are free.
PODOLSK'S TRINITY CATHEDRAL
Podolsk's Holy Trinity Cathedral was founded in 1819-1832 years in honor of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. In 2006-2007 years interior and exterior renovations were made: the roof of the Cathedral was reconstructed, all iconostases, ancient icons and its icon cases were restored and regilded.