The Big Picture
Local photographer John Post's "Christmas Lights and Moon" photo won the first-ever GigaPan Award.
Close-up details of "Christmas Lights and Moon" by John Post.
by Andrea Ruse
For over three decades John Post has been discovering new ways to see the South Bay through the eye of a camera. Most of his images have been taken with a manual Fuji G617 large format film camera.
The G617 has long been the preferred camera of panoramic photographers because of its high resolution, made possible by its 2.25-inch-deep by 7-inch-wide film image.
Now, thanks to NASA, the Fuji G617 may be pushed aside by a simple point and shoot camera mounted on a camera platform known as a GigaPan.
“It offers a more inclusive photo,” Post said. “You have extreme detail that makes the picture a bit more interesting. That’s what it’s about. You can really zoom in.”
Last Christmas, Post used a simple 14.1 megapixel Nikon P5100, point-and-shoot camera mounted on a GigaPan to photograph the Manhattan Beach Pier. In April, the image won the first ever, International Association of Panoramic Photographers’ “GigaPan” Award at the International Panoramic Photography Conference in Tucson.
The reflection of the Roundhouse Christmas tree lights in the wet sand and the new moon hovering over the long pier make the photo deserving of recognition. But what truly distinguishes the image is that the viewer can zoom in on the Roundhouse, the moon, or even the discarded pair of tennis shoes on the beach, which are barely visible in the full image. (Click here to zoom).
The image’s remarkable resolution comes from the fact that it is composed of 72 individual pier images stitched together by computer to form a .22 gigapixel image.
“All of the individual pictures have more going on than what’s in the scene,” Post said.
The GigaPan is based on technology developed for the Mars rover. It is a robotic device that moves the camera mounted on it to points the photographer types into its memory. It can photograph 360 degrees.
“The images themselves are huge,” Post said. “I have one that takes up a whole wall.”
“The quintessential picture used by this machine was of the Obama inauguration with over a million people in it,” he added. “You could zoom in to see the detail of their faces. It was a rare moment for this kind of image.”
Using the device requires patience.
Post’s award winning image required him to stand on an eight-foot ladder at the water’s edge for 20 minutes.
“People came down to see.” he said. “They wouldn’t leave and I had to start all over. People always want to know what’s going on with this thing. They get fascinated with it.”
Because the device takes photos over a lapse of time, limbs and heads often get chopped off as people move in and out of the frame.
“It’s not intended for moving objects,” Post said. “When I shot the Six-Man Volleyball Tournament, I wound up with quite a few amputees.”
John Post sets up his GigaPan at the Manhattan Beach Pier. Photo by John Post
But for landscapes, the technology is a dream come true for panoramic photographers such as Post, who started shooting large format images in the 1980s after becoming bored with 35 mm film.
“When I read about the panoramic format, I rented a panoramic camera from a shop in Hollywood,” he said. “Then I went up in a helicopter and took shots of the South Bay. After that, I only wanted to shoot this format.”
Post’s enthusiasm for the GigaPan has hardly made his love of shooting on 120 mm film wane.
“I still like the film format better than digital,” he said. “With film, you always have a hard copy that will be around indefinitely. And shooting with the GigaPan is not as much of an art.”
Post started taking photos with a camera he picked up overseas while serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. Upon his return to the U.S., he earned a photography degree from El Camino College and planned a trip to visit family in Australia by way of Asia.
“I left the U.S. with a one-way ticket and $700,” Post said. “To kill time, I bought a bike and rode down the west coast of India for about a year, taking photos. I sold my camera in India to move on. When I got to Australia, I had 30 bucks in my pocket. That’s when I decided I was going to be a photographer for the rest of my life.”
Post moved to Manhattan Beach in 1974 and started selling his images of “distant lands and familiar beaches.” He termed his collection Anthro-graphics, after “man and his environments around the world.” He opened the John Post Gallery on Manhattan Avenue in 1996, selling his signature panoramics of the South Bay to the surrounding community, and his photos from around the world to stock agencies.
“I shoot everything from spit on the sidewalk to a pretty picture,” he said. “The pier is somewhat limited but if you get it at the right time, it’s different.”
In July, Post will begin offering two-day photography classes at the beach, which will include on-location shooting, and one-on-one discussions of the students’ images. Classes will be limited to six students.
“The goal will be to shoot only 10 pictures per class and then review them,” Post said. “With my limiting the number of photos, you have to really concentrate and focus.”
Post will focus on composition and attention to detail.
“When I get the right picture in view, I go blind,” he said. “Once it gets into the crosshairs, that’s when you pull the trigger.”
The John Post Gallery is located at 809 Manhattan Ave. For more information, visit www.johnpost.com or email johnmpost@earthlink.net. To view/zoom additional GigaPan photos by John Post, visit www.gigapan.org/profiles/8522. B