Month: November 2012

Before construction of the Shangri-la Hotel Toronto was completed, I was already given permission to shoot a gigapixel of the view from the one of the top floors.

After the BC Lions 2012 CFL Western Finals game, Ashley (Drody) and I flew to Toronto. We stayed at the Shangri-la Hotel as well.

We arrived during the early hours of November 19, 2012 and on that same day, we went up to the unfinished Penthouse on the 65th floor. However, upon seeing the place, it was obvious that we would not be able to shoot a decent panorama from this unit was not possible because all sides were obstructed with glass panels. To our unexpected delight, we were escorted to the roof (yes, the roof!) which was the 68th floor. It turned out to be one of the best places to shoot a gigapixel photo. Unfortunately, it was very hazy. We were told that on a very clear day, one could see as far out to Lake Ontario and even Rochester, New York.

Ashley and I spent the whole afternoon up on the roof, taking as many photos as we could and enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime access to such a view. We even waited for the sunset! Below are Ashley’s gigapixel images of Toronto (North and South views) from the roof of Shangri-la Hotel.

Special thanks to Hweely Lim of Westbank.

Ashley (Drody) and I had the opportunity to shoot the BC Lions CFL Western Finals vs the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place on November 18, 2012.

I shot a BC Lions game last year from the stairwell during the re-opening of BC Place. But for security reasons, the stairwell is no longer accessible during events. With the help of Duncan Blomfield, Marketing and Communications Manager of BC Place, we were able to find a good and perfect location.

I’ve been wanting to create a full 360° gigapixel panorama of Vancouver for a very long time now. It hasn’t been done before. I also wanted to shoot it from one of the tall buildings in the downtown core.

On November 9, 2012, with clear blue skies, I was able to execute this project from the roof of Shaw Tower in Coal Harbour.

The image was created in 4 sections – a panorama set was captured from each of the 4 corners. These 4 sections were then merged together to create the full 360° view. The 5,396 megapixel image is made up of 676 photos. However, because the glass panels of the building were in the way, not much of the view looking down towards the city was captured.

Special thanks to Hweely Lim, Stanley Chan, Jason Harmston, and Chris Chan of Westbank.