25 Examples of Awesome VR Photography
| A VR (Virtual Reality) photograph, known as a VR panorama, is a panoramic image encompassing a 360-degree angle. VR photography makes it possible to represent a 360-degree view of the real world in a two-dimensional, flat photograph.
This technique is not particularly difficult to practise. At its simplest, it involves taking photos while rotating around a central point and then laying the resultant images side-by-side. At its more complex, expensive camera equipment is required, as is specialist software to carefully stitch images together. VR photography is not only capable of restructuring ordinary scenes, making them extraordinary; it empowers the viewer by placing them right at the centre of a vast landscape. We’ve selected 25 incredible VR photographs for your viewing pleasure. |
1. Stapeliad Habitat |
| A panoramic view of the Succulent Rock Garden at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden in South Africa, taken by Martin Heigan, who takes care of the Stapeliad collection there. Just in case you don’t know what a Stapeliad is- it’s a low-growing, spineless succulent plant. – Martin Heigan |
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2. Rainy Courtyard |
| The view of the courtyard of an apartment complex is given life and an interesting appeal with the use of panorama photography. – Wikimedia.org |
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3. Ground Floor |
| The burnt-out ground floor of a hospital in Aincourt, France, located a 45-minute drive outside of Paris. – Vincent Montibus |
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4. Toyosu |
| A highly atmospheric image taken at sunset, at Fisherman’s Wharf in Toyosu, Tokyo. – heiwa4126 |
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5. Northumberland Beach |
| This panoramic image of Northumberland Beach, England, was taken at 7pm on a clear April evening. The panorama was stitched together from 74 pictures, arranged in 3 rows. – workname |
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6. Akiba |
| Captured on a Kodak V705 camera and stitched with Hugin (panorama stitching software), this is a great shot of a deserted Akiba Station in Tokyo, Japan. – heiwa4126 |
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7. Outside TJ Hughes |
| A family find themselves at the centre of a virtual world. A small urban centre is re-imagined and reworked. – workname |
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8. Thames |
| This image’s strength lies in its subtlety: it’s hard to tell that it’s been doctored. It shows a 360-degree view of a lock gate on the River Thames. – workname |
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9. Glass Shop |
| VR photography often creates spectacular patterns, as is the case in this photograph of a shopping arcade in Venice, Italy. Here, curving floor tiles reveal the photographic technique used. – workname |
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10. Party |
| What better way to capture the mood of a party than with VR photography? At least you can be sure that nobody’s left out of the photos! – heiwa4126 |
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11. Hylter’s Field |
| VR photography adds a new dimension to this field of maize- a straight path seems to turn at a right angle. Apart from the slight stretching at the bottom of the image, the only giveaway of the VR technique is the sunlight emanating from both sides. – workname |
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12. Saint-Michel |
| Another clear, sunny day, this time at the beach in Saint-Michel, France. This great image was taken with a Pentax K20D digital SLR camera and a 10-17mm fish-eye lens. – Vincent Montibus |
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13. Helvellyn |
| This VR panorama, captured last summer in the Lake District, England, shows many of the area’s most distinctive features, including Helvellyn, which is the tallest summit just to the right of centre. – Wikimedia |
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14. Kitchen |
| VR photography does strange things to interior architecture. This kitchen is warped beyond all recognition. A slightly blurred figure reads at a greatly enlarged kitchen table. – workname |
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15. Cours Saleya |
| This shot of deserted cafes in the Cours Saleya, Nice, was taken with a Canon EOS 5D camera, fitted with a Sigma 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens, sitting on a Nodal Ninja tripod head. Images were stitched together and edited using Autopano Pro, CubicConverter and Photoshop Lightroom. – rolandhoffman |
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16. Balcony With A View |
| A Nikon D200 and a Nikkor VR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G lens were used to capture this fantastic panorama, which was stitched together from 4 raw images. – Smaku |
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17. Car Park |
| Ugly, perhaps, but fascinating nonetheless, this photo reworks the subterranean environment of a car park. – lrargerich |
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18. Monument Escadrille Lafayette |
| Two sides of an arch of the Monument Escadrille Lafayette are repositioned side by side, creating a mesmerizing arrangement. – pano philou |
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19. Antwerpen |
| If it weren’t for VR photography, you’d have to study a whole roll of film’s worth of images to absorb in its entirety the expansive Market Square (Grote Markt) in Antwerp, Belgium. – Thomas Heylen |
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20. Plaza de España, Madrid |
| Ghostly figures traverse the Plaza de España, Madrid, Spain. The square’s monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is clearly visible in the background. – Rufus Gefangenen |
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21. Winter |
| A 360-degree view of a wintry landscape. The frozen and stationary Schelde River, Netherlands, is visible to the left and right. – garrulous |
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22. Taxi |
| Captured in a taxi, north of San Pedro, near Lake Atitlan, southern Guatemala, this VR panorama is highly unusual, as it’s handheld. Anybody can recreate this type of image with a decent camera, a fisheye lens and basic stitching software. – Jan Vrsinsky |
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23. Ginnie Springs |
| Ginnie Springs, Florida, USA. Here, the colours of the water, trees and wooden furniture compliment each another perfectly. – Joe Hesketh |
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24. Night Scene |
| The lighting is wonderful in this atmospheric panorama. The 360-degree angle was stitched from six photographs, with an extra one for the sky and one for the ground. – baldheretic |
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25. Great Market |
| You can study this image for hours, there’s just so much going on as families and groups of tourists explore the Great Market in Brussels, Belgium. – Steve and Jemma Copley |
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Tom is a designer and writer who blogs for CartridgeSave.co.uk, a leading UK based supplier of HP Laserjet cartridges. You can read more of his posts about art and design on CreativeCloud. Related Posts
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12 Comments | Write a Comment
Hey, First of all, what a cool post! i am just doing a bit of research for my blog but i had issues reading this article as the text protruding on to the side menu…. NVM! sorry, the problems my end, it is my ancient version of internet explorer causing the bug. Could be worthwhile asking people to update. Keep up the good work.
I like your writing style thanks for the info -cheers-
amazing pics!!keep it up!!
hope you can visit philippines!!so many fantastic views!!and i hope to see it here!
Awesome, my favorite photo is the Thames, the color is so sharp and it feels little bit mystical
Great Collection! Thanks for sharing.
If you like panoramas have a look at http://www.panogio.com. A lot of panoramas from around the world.
For example no 22 on this list, Jan’s taxi ride:
http://www.panogio.com/guatemala/21090520181
That’s really cool!
Fantastic work especially the taxi image!
The station’s name is Akihabara, the whole neighborhood is called in slang Akiba…otherwise, great photos…
fantastic photos