Canon

As part of the Canon Pro Solution show held at The Business Design Centre in London, Canon commissioned Pan 3Sixty to create two gigapixel panoramas of the London skyline to form an exhibit promoting the new 300mm f2.8L II lens and ultra-high-resolution photography.

The brief

Canon was keen to avoid the pitfalls seen in many gigapixel panoramas they had viewed, and the brief stated:

•Image size itself, while an integral part of the project, is not a substitute for the creation of a visually exciting panorama that will attract and engage the audience.
•The finished panoramas will be technically perfect, free from stitching and banding errors commonly found in poorly executed gigapixel panoramas where size seems to be the only goal.
•The panoramas will be free from errors due to movement within the scene; no figures cut in half, no disjointed cranes, no half boats, etc. All errors are to be retouched.

Recceing the London skyline

Working closely with the client, Pan 3Sixty photographer Phil Giles surveyed many possible viewpoints around London, producing low-resolution panoramas for the Canon team to review and then decide on the most suitable location.

Both parties agreeing the iconic view from Tower Bridge overlooking City Hall, HMS Belfast, the City of London and The Shard met all the requirements of the brief. With all permissions, fees and insurance in place, all we had to do was wait for suitable weather.

Photography & post-production

Working on short notice, and with the weather looking promising, we spent 16 glorious hours photographing the London skyline. Arriving early morning and shooting until just past midnight, we created more than 6000 photographs. With a few false starts due to changes in the light, excess movement on the Thames and maintenance work on City Hall, we left with enough images for 5 gigapixel panoramas of the skyline at different times of the day, from early morning through to late night.

After checking, sorting and converting each RAW image, draft versions of the gigapixel panorama were created for the client to review, and select the best two panoramas to exhibit.

Each panorama was created from 1248 individual photographs, resulting in an image 85,130 pixels wide by 36,170 pixels high, or just over three gigapixels.

Show prints

With many hours of post-production and retouching work complete, the panoramas were printed 9 meters wide by 2 meters high and hung side by side in a 270° circular display with a circumference of just over 25 meters. The gigapixel exhibit formed an integral part of the Canon Pro Solutions show, attracting the views of many thousands of visitors who attended the show over the two days.