The images you see here are the result of an interest in panoramic photography that goes back over 35 years. As a student in the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota, one often began a project by going out to a hypothetical building site with a 35mm camera and taking a series of sequential snapshots. Then, back at the studio, with a little scotch tape and the exercise of an ability not exceeding that of laying dominoes end to end, a panorama would emerge.
After two decades of dealing with real buildings on real sights, vacations to exotic places, scotch tape, exacto blades, band aids and some unsatisfactory experiments with early stitching software, I began to look at the real thing. I began to research real panoramic cameras. In 1996 I took my first true panoramic photograph with the Hulcherama Panoramic Camera. This first effort was a bewildering 360° blur of trees and boulders near Devil's Den on The Gettysburg National Battlefield, but it was the start. Subsequently, I honed a tenuous professionalism with this subtle, high-strung camera which, when it was good, was very, very good indeed.
The panoramas displayed on this page were taken with either the Hulcher or more recently, as digital technology superseded analogue, the GigaPan system. Initially, I was going to be the new interpreter of the American Civil War, a sort of historical messiah laying open heretofore unknown truths about truly historic landscapes where the fate of a divided union was played out, if play is the word. I've taken dozens of panoramas of the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields and many others. Over the years I have expanded my portfolio to several other subjects and landscapes of interest.
You may notice that these panoramas are all cylindrical projections. Not spherical. I made this choice early on. My final work is entirely a traditional two dimensional medium...the photographic print. Although the viewing of spherical panoramas is a fascinating and informative experience, the ability to see the entire 360 degree field of vision at once in a single, unrolled, flat photographic image allows compositional and graphic advantages unavailable from a purely rotational viewing system. In fact, it's an experience not even an on-site presence will allow. You may see how I compose, print and frame the final 360 degree images in full format on my website
jamesophelps.com
I'm always interested in hearing from people interested in panoramas. You can reach me at
Sincerely,
James O. Phelps
