360-degree panoramics for ESPN.com

I just got back from working on a couple of projects for ESPN.com.

The first project was covering the 2008 NFL draft at Radio City Musical Hall in New York City. Sean Hintz asked me to shoot 360-degree panoramic images of the draft from various angles. I was able to get eight different shots in all and made a virtual tour of the event.

Click here to view the virtual tour.

Next up was a virtual tour of the ESPN studios in Bristol, CT. This movie is from the Mike and Mike show. It's a work in progress and will most likely become a part of the ESPN.com website.

Click here to view the 360 of the Mike and Mike show.

I've been playing around with these 360 degree VR pictures for a little over a year now. I shoot them with a Canon 5D and a Sigma 8mm lens. You take four pictures every 90 degrees and stitch them together to give you a panoramic picture. The picture is then converted into a cube. When viewing the image, you are actually in the center of the cube, looking out.

TGIF - TNEDG

Well, it's not quite Friday, but I'm celebrating anyway. 

Yesterday, after driving 562 miles, I finished working on the new issue of the Tennessee Economic Development Guide.

Good Guys Get Drafted

I recently shot an assignment for the Sporting News on Vanderbilt offensive lineman Chris Williams. He is probably one of the nicest athletes I've ever met. Very humble and, what every photographer likes, very accommodating. 

I met Chris as he was working out with some of his former teammates.

After working out, we headed over to his place where I photographed him, his fiance Marissa and their dog Bam Bam.

All in all, a super nice guy that will probably be a first round draft pick.

Can you say....Kankakee?

I've been in Kankakee, Il, for a few days working on a magazine for the Kankakee Regional Chamber of Commerce.

If you're ever in the area, you've got to check out the John Deere tractor William Munyon hoisted on top of a silo along IL 114 just east of Momence.

Mark Hollis recently graduated from Olivet Nazarene University and the pole vaulter has his sights set on the Olympic Games. Hollis has been training in West Bend, IN since graduation and hopes to make the US team during the Olympic Trials in June.

Can't visit the land of Lincoln without seeing Lincoln. 

Mary Murphy is a former LPGA golfer and current golf pro at the Kankakee Elks Country Club.

I also had a food shoot at America's Bistro in Kankakee.

Here's my secret lighting technique.

But America's Bistro's claim to fame isn't their food, it's they're Barry Manilow connection. Turns out Barry held court at the restaurant for about two and a half years in the late sixties.

TNEDG

For the past week, I've been crisscrossing the state working on the Tennessee Economic Development Guide. TNEDG is a yearly publication put out by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and showcases some of the leading industries doing business in Tennessee.

The project has been pretty diverse in featuring some of the movers and shakers in Tennessee; from one man operations to major industries.