Hi, Margaret asked me to post some additional details on what we are doing with our high resolution imagery. As you may know, we shoot with a Canon 5d, II, with a shift lens; that means we take photos with about 40 million pixels. We've wanted to showcase our images on the Internet for a long time.
It's a nice image, but I surely want the web viewer to be able to see that awesome ocean view out the windows near the sink and beyond the dining room. With the image as it is, you can get the idea. BUT CLICK ON THE PHOTO (or this link) and you will REALLY see what I am talking about. When you open up the page, zoom in a bit and then click on the RED FULL SCREEN link and see the image as it was meant to be viewed!
OK, so everyone wants to know how we do this stuff. Originally, I started using Google Maps, and I think Margaret made a post to one of those pages. But there is an easier way to do this, and so that's how this page was created, and this is how we'll be doing it from here on out.
In Photoshop CS3 and above, there's an Export option called Zoomify. It takes the photo and chops it up into pieces at many different resolutions (i.e., tiles, just like the map tiles that Google uses, which is why that's where I started). Then, I went to Zoomify and purchased their designer option, and created my own custom full screen viewer, which is what you are looking at. That's the magic part. I also had to upload all the image tiles to my server, along with the Zoomify files and create the relevant web pages and XML pages. But, the result, in my opinion, is impressive. In about a week, I'll be pasting relevant links together to create a custom web page for a listing where nearly all the photos displayed will be high resolution images. This brings the full potential of a high resolution DSLR (like a Hasselblad or my Canon with its shift lens) plus editing in HDR to the Internet. NOTE: This isn't "easy" in the sense that it is pushbutton easy, but it doesn't require a web programming degree either. You will need to have some web server space where you can upload the image tiles in an easy way.
I do not mean to suggest that every image or every home we shoot will get this sort of technology. But, we go to a lot of effort to create spectacular interior shots, and so this will help show those images off for the benefit of our sellers. PLUS, it will really show the pole photography for all that it is worth as well.
John Hokkanen
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