GigaLinc: GigaPixel Photography Exhibit

Comments 160 by Rebecca Bollwitt

GigaLinc photography exhibition at the Shangri-La Vancouver. This free showcase is open to the public and will feature large-scale panoramic images captured with the help of the GigaPan apparatus.


Photo by Ronnie Miranda www.gigapixel.com. First game at the renovated BC Place.
The image is made up of 600 photos (30 across by 20 down) stitched together and taken over a 40-minute span. The final hi-res file is 100,127 X 48,377 pixels or 4,843 megapixels.


Ronnie also created this timelapse of the BC Place grand re-opening event. Watch for the roof to open.

What GigaLinc Photography Exhibit.
When Thursday, October 13 to Friday, October 14, 2011 from 10:00am to 6:00pm
Where Shangri-la Hotel Vancouver, Blue Moon Theatre,1128 West Georgia, Vancouver

From the organizers: GigaLinc is an exhibition that allows participants to interactively explore large-scale panoramic images. Gigapixel images (100 times the information captured by a 10 megapixel digital camera) are digitally projected onto a large screen that allows viewers to navigate and explore the image in detail using Kinect-based hand-gestures, zooming in and out of areas of particular interest. Surround-sound adds to the multi-sensory experience. GigaLinc was developed by Samuel Cox for his Master’s degree in Digital Imaging and Photography at the University of Lincoln, UK.

Massive screens will display images captured using GigaPixel technology and the exhibit will include the Stanley Cup Game 7 crowd photo that has millions of online views to date. The instrument itself allows you to attach your camera (Canon, Nikon, Olympus, pocket camera, SLR etc.) and does all the panning work for you.

John Biehler had the chance to play with a GigaPan a few month ago and he took some great panoramic shots of the city from West Vancouver (click below to zoom-in and get the full effect).

Beautiful day to be shooting a Gigapan in PoCo Trying the Gigapan again from the Lonsdale Quay sign tower
John Biehler’s GigaPan in action with his camera.

Photo credit: John Biehler

In honour of this exhibit Ronnie Miranda, CEO of Active Computer Services and Gigapixel.com, is offering up a GigaPan EPIC 100 to one of my readers. This instrument, a $449 value, will help you capture amazing panoramic images with your camera. I gave away a GigaPan last January so if you didn’t win then, here’s how you can try again:

  • Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I entered to win a GigaPan EPIC panorama photo instrument from @activecomp & @Miss604 http://ow.ly/6NhEs

I will randomly draw one winner at 10:00am on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Update The winner is Andrew S!

Related posts: Gigapixel Fairview: Day, Night, Dusk, Gigapixel Time-Lapse of Vancouver, GigaPan Epic Giveaway (now closed), Vancouver Video Collection, Canucks Fan Time-Lapse, Vancouver Time-Lapse Videos.

Related products: GigaPan EPIC 100 Robotic Camera Mount

Vancouver Art Gallery 80th Anniversary

Comments 3 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Vancouver Art Gallery is marking their 80th anniversary Wednesday, October 5, 2011. It first opened in 1931 at 1145 West Georgia, a few blocks away from its current location in the old courthouse building, where it moved in 1983.


1931 – Vancouver Art Gallery’s original location under construction.
Archives item# Bu P401.1. Photographer: Stuart Thomson


1931 – Vancouver Art Gallery’s original location under construction.
Archives item# Bu P401.3. Photographer: Stuart Thomson


October 5, 1931 – Opening day of the Vancouver Art Gallery at 1145 West Georgia.
Archives item# CVA 99-4061. Photographer: Stuart Thomson

To celebrate this milestone, admission is by donation all day tomorrow and cake will be served at 11:00am. The current exhibitions are:

  • The Distance Between You and Me: “The Distance Between You and Me presents the work of three notable contemporary artists from Vancouver, Los Angeles and Guadalajara. Thematically, the exhibition revolves around the ideas of location and dislocation, not only in the geographical sense, but also in terms of psychological location.”
  • An Autobiography of Our Collection: “What is a museum collection? How does it reveal the personalities and particulars of an institution? For eighty years, the Vancouver Art Gallery has been acquiring artworks, and drawn exclusively from this permanent collection, An Autobiography of Our Collection considers the fascinating history of collecting at the Vancouver Art Gallery.”

The Vancouver Art Gallery boasts the largest collection of Emily Carr’s works and is the fifth largest gallery in the country. In recent years they have been pushing to relocate downtown. Follow the Vancouver Art Gallery on Twitter or Facebook for exhibit and special event information.

BC Family Day: February Stat Holiday to Start 2013

Comments 11 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Update February 2013: I have compiled a list of events and activities for BC’s first Family Day.

BC is finally getting a statutory holiday in February. The province’s first “Family Day” will be February 18 11th, 2013, reported Bob Mackin from the Throne Speech at the provincial legislature this afternoon.

Family
Photo credit: Keoni Cabral on Flickr

According to CTV the speech also discussed funding to address class composition at BC schools, promises to bring retired judges back to work to reduce overcrowding in the courts, and broadcasting the trials of those charged in the Stanley Cup riot.

The response to the Family Day announcement was already overwhelming on Twitter, just minutes after the word spread. As a couple with a wedding anniversary in February, I’m rather excited about the possibility of a long weekend to celebrate in years to come. Here’s hoping this extra day off will help us all beat those winter blues.

Update May 14, 2012: The Government of BC wants your input as to whether the stat should be the second or third Monday in February (starting in 2013). They are asking people to tweet using the tag #MyBCFD tomorrow, May 15, 2012 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm to discuss.

Update May 28, 2012: The date has finally been set for BC’s first Family Day!

It will take place on the second Monday in February starting in 2013 — so the first will be Monday, February 11, 2013. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario all have a Family Day stat holiday on the third Monday of February.

According to the @CBCSmart Twitter account: “Family Day feedback: 31146 comments, 18000 wanted 2nd Mon in Feb, 9400 wanted 3rd Mon. 3500 just want another day off!”

Turkey Trot 2011 at Granville Island

Comments 17 by Rebecca Bollwitt

The Turkey Trot is back this Thanksgiving Monday (October 11, 2011) starting off at Granville Island. Before you fill your belly with turkey (tofurkey or even turducken) head out for a 10km run in support of the Food Bank.


Photo courtesy of the Turkey Trot

What A 10km run, walk, or stroll
Where Start line is at 1360 Johnston Street on Granville Island
When Thanksgiving, Monday October 10, 2011 at 8:30am

The run is ideal for families who want to get out and support a cause together. It’s also limited to 2,000 participants so the group can get through the False Creek neigbourhood course with ease. Registration is currently open for $45 (adults) and $25 (youth & younger). Your registration includes timing chip, gourmet food and live entertainment following the Turkey Trot, prizes for top finishers, and more.

Support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society by bringing non-perishable food items or making a cash donation upon registration.

If you would like to participate in the Turkey Trot, Urban Rec Vancouver has offered up an entry for giveawy. Here’s how you can enter to win a spot in the Turkey Trot:

  • Leave a comment here with your favourite Thanksgiving dinner menu item (1 entry)
  • Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I entered to win #TurkeyTrot registration from @Urban_Rec & @Miss604 http://ow.ly/6MeQx

I will draw one winner at random from all entries on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 10:00am.

Update The winner is Emma!

Early Autumn in Iowa

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Beat the Cougars! the poster-sized sign read as it clung proudly to the front of the supply store on Main Street. I was heading to my first high school football game and it was homecoming no less. John and I spent ten days back in his hometown in Eastern Iowa and although we mainly worked and spent time with family, it was a perfect vacation. I pulled my sleeves over my hands and sipped $0.50 hot chocolate while the marching band performed a Beatles medley under the Friday night lights at half time. The first frost of the season crept closer.

Jones County

During our visit we drove the pale limestone-coloured highway to Iowa City and back a few times. The first to catch an Iowa Hawkeyes game at Kinnick Stadium and the second to visit with John’s co-workers at his old radio station. We rolled down the windows and instead of the evergreen-filtered, salty sea-air of the West Coast our noses tickled with the scent of grass and mineral-filled earth (and occasionally the less pleasant aromas of dairy farms along the route).

Iowa

Garrison Keillor spoke words of inspiration on the AM radio like a true Prairie Home Companion as we wound our way over hilltops and between a quilted pattern of corn fields. I got my usual kick of out of the American Gothic sign when you enter or exit Jones County, which is indeed Grant Wood country.

Iowa

Our last full day in the Hawkeye state was spent at the Pumpkin Festival. We admired gourds as long as Cadillacs and watermelons the size of hogs. The real jaw-droppers were the 1,000-1,400lb pumpkins on parade.

Pumpkin Festival

Pumpkin Festival Pumpkin Festival

Pumpkin Festival Pumpkin Festival

Pumpkin Festival Pumpkin Festival

Community organizations, school bands, and local businesses marched along with the compulsory convoy of classic John Deere tractors.

Pumpkin Festival Parade Pumpkin Festival Parade

Pumpkin Festival Parade

We waved to the Pumpkin Prince and Princess, children chased down candy that was being lofted from the floats, and I wolfed down my first festival funnel cake. Ten days were up too soon.

Within 24 hours we were rolling across the Granville Street bridge, flanked by familiar neon as the lights on Cypress Mountain sparkled in the twilight. The pavement smelled like rain even though a drop had yet to fall from the plump grey clouds above. No matter how bittersweet, there’s always comfort in coming home – wherever that might be.