Aug 31, 2010

Applying Google Earth Tours to Outback Photography


Nasa, navstar, camera in the sky, google earth tours

Source: NASA
The Photographic Society of America defines travel photos as images that "express the feeling of a time and place, and portray a land, its people, or a culture in its natural state." Travel photos have "no geographical limitations."
In 2005, Dr. Leroy Chiao was an astronaut circling the globe every 92 minutes. When taking pictures from a moving space station, timing is everything. Propped on one hand, with one foot strategically wedged between hand rail and wall to keep from floating away in low gravity environment, Dr. Chiao would carefully position telephoto lens of his 6 MP digital camera over one of three small windows. As his target came into view, he'd have just a split second to snap a photo.
According to Chiao, "Since Earth is moving past at 17,500 mph, one must pan the camera as shutter is released, otherwise the image will smear - out of focus." But, he did shoot the Great Wall of China. Source: Eyes on the Sky II, Week 9, Chiao
Google Earth (GE) was in its infancy in 2005…

January, 2010, saw the first integrated presentation of Eyes in the Sky II – a geospatial information technology course for teachers in high school science and technology. The objective – show teachers how to teach students the fascinating use and exploration of spatial data. In geological terms, geospatial data is study of Earth from a terrain satellite. Their last module involved Google Earth. The theme – introduction, getting to know, then using GE. Let’s focus on the last category – using Google Earth to create a dramatic tour!

Google Earth, described as "a view of the world on steroids", is a free tool for exploring geo-spatial data in an interactive 3D environment. In its simplest form, you choose your local and view it in 3D. If you use GPS, a waypoint becomes a placemark. You can title, describe, and use a limited list of icons to show where that special place (placemark) is. A simple description might be, “Monument Valleys’ Mittens are world famous.” You can put GPS routes on GE. You can even geotag your photos from a trip, then post them on GE.
In a more advanced stage, GE provides tools to customize your icon, logo, and placemark balloons. Here is where your branding becomes far stronger. Show your own photography. Create a custom Icon to differentiate your images from the thousands placed on Panaramio. Write the dramatic story of capturing a memorable icon in sunsets rosy glow using elaborate HDR images.

Landscape photographers are somewhat slower to adapt to using a birds-eye view of scenes they love to shoot. To date, they principally use GE as a tool just to estimate trails to a wilderness outcrop; or gauge shadows for a locale near Magic Hour.
With many highly treasured nature shots either already shot or at disposal of a limiting bureaucracy, photography is getting less easy in search of that exquisite Earth landscape icon.

But _and it’s a big BUT_
With advent of GE Tours in February, professional landscape and nature photographers can add inestimable allure by creating tours and enhancing their presentations.
They can learn to manage a space camera as “a video-on-steroids instrument capturing their treks, scenes, and emotions amidst exuberant story telling”! By using Google Earth’s Tours function, a photographer can make a video to tell their story. They can captivate you with an exciting sense of actually trekking into gorgeous wilds, outback, or wilderness.
Google Earth both provides a way to show where you want to go and show your photos at each locale. BUT, its expanding technology now lets you tell the story of why you sought the most fascinating, yet to be ‘filmed’ shots our ever-smaller Planet holds…
And, yes, you do it with Goggle Earth Tours!
Enjoy…

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