I'm a retired software and systems engineer who worked in cancer research, medical imaging and chip design. I got hooked on panoramic photography in 2004, when I converted a document scanner into a rotating digital slit camera. Eventually built 5 of those; but finally realized I could only get the pictures I wanted by using real cameras and stitching software.
I got into developing open source panography software (Hugin, libpano) around 2008. In 2009, I co-rediscovered an 18th century painters' technique for rendering wide views in a natural looking perspective, and have been evangelizing it unde the name "Panini projection" (it has been implemented several times and is also called the "vedutismo" and "recti-perspective" projection). I developed and published several programs that offer new ways to control wide angle photo and video perspective, under the general name, "Panini".
My latest effort is PT3D, a helper program for stitching stereoscopic panoramas with PTGui. I hope eventually to develop a true 3D stitching tool, that can combine hand-held stereo snapshots into seamless spherical panoramas.
Please visit http://tksharpless.net
Idaho, Utah, Canyons, Rivers, Lakes, Public Lands, Desert, Geology, History
360Cities Neighbors: Florian E, Calvin J, John R, David B, James T, Jon J
Inspired By: Tomasz M
I've had a life-long interest in photography that started back in the film days. I even had a darkroom at one point. Then came digital and things really got fun.
I've always viewed photography as a way to show others as realistically as possible the beautiful places on earth. For years I felt like standard single-frame photography was like looking through a key-hole.
Then came single-row panoramas and the key-hole opened up. I could photograph to some degree what I was seeing.
Finally, I found spherical panoramas and the key-hole is gone - one more dimensional limitation removed. Now I feel like I can show the viewer what I saw.
Contact me at:
idahopano . ckmcdonald . com
