user profile

Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Gigapans: 47
Snapshots: 100
Bookmarks: 25
Last Visited: November 17, 2009
Tags: camera, large_format, graphics, landscapes, panasonic, alberta, Edmonton, industrial, photography, Canada, British_Columbia, lumix, architecture, Canada

Biography


I live and work in the Edmonton area of Alberta. Most of my work in the last 30 years has been in the field of graphic arts and photo reproduction. I'm no stranger to large cameras. In years past I worked on a large overhead Brown Admiral repro camera with a 750mm apo-Nikor lens and a film format of 60" x 96". I've also worked with the latest drum scanners from Crosfield and Fuji. I currently live on an acreage near Stony Plain , Alberta. My other hobbies include backyard astronomy, flyfishing, canoeing and gardening, specializing in growing giant pumpkins and sunflowers. I've also taken up flying and hope to have my private pilot's license soon. In the meantime I'll be taking lots of aerial photos with the digital camera.
Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/darby2

http://www.pbase.com/darby2/gigapan_panoramas

http://gigapan.org/viewProfile.php?userid=1242

Gigapan Users and Creators Group on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=12181809949
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Regarding my Gigapan images, I try to optimize the exposure and composition for detail, accuracy of colour and overall interest of the subject matter. You'll find my subject matter varied and unusual in some respects. Some images contain stitching errors because of subject movement during recording.

I'm also currently working on a project to output many of my images on a 98" wide Hewlett-Packard plotter at high resolution (1440 x 1440) with the view to having an exhibition next year. Stay tuned for further developments! The largest plotter images can be 96" high by the length of the roll (150 feet) Test results so far have been excellent. Prices and shipping details upon request.

Gear
Panasonic Lumix FZ 20
5MP, 12x optical zoom Leica lens
Panasonic Lumix FZ 50
10 mp, 12x optical zoom Leica lens 35-420mm efl
Manfrotto tripod
Model 190X ProB 804 RC2 HD
Gigapan Epic 100, used with both the FZ50 and the LX2
robotic imaging platform
Panasonic Lumix LX2 28-112mm efl (4x)
compact digital camera used on the Beta imager
Jeep Cherokee
My trusty Jeep
Duracell rechargeable batteries
I have at least 4 sets of 6 for the imager + a charger
Gigapan Beta imager
Used with the Panasonic Lumix LX2
Panasonic SDHC Class 6 memory cards
I carry cards with capacities from 2gb to 8 gb and will probably add a 16 gb as well
Macbook Pro 17" computer
Supplied refurbished by Apple Canada with 2 gigs of RAM and a 250 Gig hard drive. I've also added a Western Digital 1 Terabyte Firewire hard drive
Gigapans
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37

Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: osooyos, okanagan, wineries, orchards, anarchist, desert, bc, british_columbia, canada
Size: 2.05 gigapixels
Added: November 18, 2009
Total Views: 119
View in Google Earth 4.2+

spacer The view looking west of the southern Okanagan city on Osooyos Lake which straddles the Canada-US border in southern British Columbia. Thousands of acres of vineyards and orchards produce many of Canada's finest wines and tree fruits is this little vest-pocket desert. See if you can pick out the Dutch windmill which is about 3 km from the camera...This has to be one of the greatest panoramas in Canada...there's even a pull-out on Highway 3 where you can stop and take in the view.
That's sagebrush in the near foreground.

Composed of 405 shots (45x9), FOV 3.9 degrees, 420mm EFL, Polarizing filter

Ok, let's see how long this takes to upload on my dial-up...I'm guessing about 150 hours. ;o) Neat thing about this uploader, even when my modem disconnects after 12 hours it still keeps the upload going for about 10-15 minutes until I reconnect the modem. It must have a big buffer.
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28

Threshing wagons, Reynolds Alberta Museum
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: tractor, harvest, alberta, wetaskiwin, ram, reynolds_alberta_museum, threshing, truck, combine, wheat
Size: 0.22 gigapixels
Added: November 10, 2009
Total Views: 72
View in Google Earth 4.2+

spacer Loaded and ready for threshing, the wagons loaded with sheaves and bundles and grain truck standby to begin threshing. The steam tractor used is shown in my previous Gigapan, a Sawyer Massey: http://gigapan.org/gigapans/32121/
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18

Europa Boulevard, West Edmonton Mall
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: europa_boulevard, west_edmonton_mall, edmonton, shopping, mall, alberta, canada, christmas
Size: 0.73 gigapixels
Added: November 9, 2009
Total Views: 69
View in Google Earth 4.2+

spacer Getting all decked out for Christmas
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22

"Santa Maria", West Edmonton Mall
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: santa_maria, wem, west_edmonton_mall, sailing, ship, edmonton, alberta, canada
Size: 0.10 gigapixels
Added: November 8, 2009
Total Views: 111

spacer This is a full size replica of Columbus' ship. It's moored in the waterpark at West Edmonton Mall along with the submarines (left)

Note: This is only a test for exposure, perspective and composition. I had trouble with vibration on some frames during the 1/10 sec. exposures, also with the sun darting in and out of the clouds making for uncertain lighting. Will be doing another re-shoot shortly...in the meantime, have fun exploring!
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17

Custom Harley Davidson
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: harley, motorcycle, custom, santa
Size: 0.10 gigapixels
Added: November 5, 2009
Total Views: 98

spacer Photographed at the show and shine , Boilermakers Learning Centre, Edmonton
Thr reindeer were riding in the sidecar. :-))
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27

Aviation Hall of Fame, Reynolds Alberta Museum
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: aviation, planes, antique, aircraft, reynolds_museum, wetaskiwin, alberta, edmonton, canada
Size: 0.54 gigapixels
Added: November 4, 2009
Total Views: 118
View in Google Earth 4.2+

spacer Located in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, southeast of Edmonton, the Hall contains dozens of rare aircraft, some unique like the full size replica of the CF-105 AVRO Arrow.

See how many of the planes on display you can identify (with a snapshot)

This GigaPan was subject to some vibration during shutter release causing some slight blurring on some frames. Will be doing a re-shoot in a few months.
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22

AVRO Arrow
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: arrow, fighter, interceptor, aircraft, plane, orenda, avro, iroquois, cf_105, rcaf, wetaskiwin, alberta, edmonton, canada
Size: 0.31 gigapixels
Added: November 2, 2009
Total Views: 75

spacer This is a full size replica of the CF-105 Avro Arrow which was to become Canada's most advanced fighter-interceptor in the 1950's. Capable of a cruising speed in the range of Mach 1.5 and a top speed of 2.3 at an altitude of 50,000 feet of higher. It was scrapped by the John Diefenbaker goverment on Black Friday, Feb. 20, 1959.

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10220

This replica is on display at the Aviation Hall of Fame in Wetaskiwin, Alberta south of Edmonton.


Read more about this famous aircraft in Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Canada_CF-105_Arrow
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20

Bristol Freighter, Reynolds Alberta Museum Aviation Hall of Fame
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: wetaskiwin, alberta, museum, aircraft, freighter, reynolds_alberta_museum, bristol, ram
Size: 0.16 gigapixels
Added: November 2, 2009
Total Views: 80

spacer This is one of several famous aircraft on display at the museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.

The Bristol Freighter has been described as "40,000 rivets flying in close formation" :o)
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62

3 Antique Cars with USM, test file,
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: flying_quail, hot_rods, cars, antique, V_8, Ford, Chev, show_shine, USM, Unsharp_mask
Size: 0.15 gigapixels
Added: October 28, 2009
Total Views: 213

spacer Shot in Edmonton, Alberta at the Boilermakers Learning Center. I stitched this and then applied an unsharp mask to the tiff file to enhance the sharpness. (Radius 1.5 pixels, 200%, threshold 0)

GigaPan Stitcher version 0.4.3865 (Macintosh)
Panorama size: 154 megapixels (22686 x 6832 pixels)
Input images: 40 (10 columns by 4 rows)
Field of view: 88.8 degrees wide by 26.7 degrees high (top=3.9, bottom=-22.9)
Settings:
All default settings
Original image properties:
Camera make: Panasonic
Camera model: DMC-FZ50
Image size: 3648x2736 (10.0 megapixels)
Capture time: 2009-08-29 11:22:23 - 2009-08-29 11:26:04
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure time: 0.005
ISO: 100
Focal length (35mm equiv.): 130.0 mm
Horizontal overlap: 41.4 to 45.5 percent
Vertical overlap: 50.1 to 55.3 percent
Computer stats: 2048 MB RAM, 2 CPUs
Total time 34:59 (0:52 per picture)
Alignment: 2:12, Projection: 3:52, Blending: 28:54
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48

Badlands of Drumheller, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta
Author: Dave Belcher (Darbs)
Tags: coulee, drumheller, hoodoos, badlands, alberta, dinosaur, provincial_park, erosion
Size: 0.54 gigapixels
Added: October 25, 2009
Total Views: 293
View in Google Earth 4.2+

spacer This is the Wilson Creek Coulee badlands near Drumheller, Alberta, part of Dinosaur Provincial Park. Many of the fossils in the Tyrell Museum have come from these badlands.
There's a young girl peeking out from behind one of the hoodoos. ( I'll let you find her and do a snapshot of her)

High resolution large format view in Google Earth: http://maps.pbase.com/darby2/image/113204546#
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Snapshots
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New grapevines

Created: November 20, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 2

Newly planted vines should bear fruit in a few years. Since the area receives only about 12" of rain a year, most of the vineyards are irrigated.
USA

Created: November 20, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 3

The American side
Penninsula

Created: November 20, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 1

it juts out more than 1km across the lake
Richter Pass

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 2

Highway 3 (the Crowsnest highway) climbs steeply toward Spotted Lake( hidden on the left behind the ridge) and Richter Pass and goes west towards Cawston, the Similkimeen Valley and Keremeos. More information and a picture of Spotted Lake: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/7bed2/#TL
Teepee

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 4

Teepee located on the Nk'meep winery
Mount Kobau

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 3

With it's clear skies, this site was once chosen for the 150 inch Queen Elizabeth telescope. Many amateur astronomers still use it as an observing site. It's around 6000 feet above sea level. http://www.mksp.ca/
Dutch windmill

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 8

It's part of the amusement park. If you look carefully while driving by, you can see Elvis in the upper window!
Nk'Mip Cellars winery

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 9

It's the first Aboriginal Native owned and operated winery in North America. It's wines are outstanding and the setting is idyllic. http://www.nkmipcellars.com/
Cherry pickers

Created: November 18, 2009
Taken From: Osooyos, BC from Anarchist Mountain summit
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 16

Picking the crop of cherries, Bings, Lapins and many others
Low Level Bridges

Created: November 15, 2009
Taken From: Edmonton city skyline from MacDonald Bridge
Comments: none  -  add a comment
Total Views: 0

Twin bridges carry traffic across the river from the downtown area to the south side
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Bookmarked Gigapans




































AVRO Arrow
AVRO Arrow by: Dave Belcher (Darbs)

Snapshots: 1