!!!Grand tour of Manhattan

by Oleg Gaponyuk,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

26 December 2012

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Today we present our largest virtual tour «Grand tour of Manhattan, New
York». There are 30 panoramas in the tour. Some of them are completely
new and some have been shown in our earlier tours: «Sunset and Dusk Time
View of Manhattan», «Day view of Manhattan» and «New York, I love you».

In 2006 I shot our very first spherical aerial panorama, from which the
AirPano project started, in the beautiful place of the Colorado and the
San Juan rivers confluence (USA):

The result was overwhelming – by looking at the large screen one had a
total illusion of flying over the canyon. And so we decided to continue
our experiments.

The next attempt was made in 2007 above the island of Manhattan. I
remember this photo shoot by one funny detail: there were no headphones
for passengers in the helicopter's cabin. I had to shout from the back
seat (while trying to overcome the engine roar that was coming from the
open door) to let the pilot know where to go. He didn't hear me anyway,
so in order to change the shooting position I had to tap on his shoulder
and then – after he looked at me – I had to point the direction with my
finger where the thumb down meant moving lower. And guess how I showed
him to go higher :) It was fun.

[{Image src='01_Manhattan, New York.jpg' caption='Manhattan, New York' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='537'}]

After that incident, when hiring a helicopter I always ask: Do you have
passenger headphones in the cabin?
And pilots are always surprised: But of course! Is it possible not to
have them?
Yes, it is possible, — I answer — In New York :)

Despite of all the difficulties, this photo shoot was accomplished,
delivering world's  first virtual photo tour above Manhattan.

There were many more flights after this one, and many like-minded people
joined AirPano project in the process. As of today we shot around 700
spherical panoramas showing over 170 most interesting and beautiful
places in all the continents of our planet including Antarctica and
North Pole. 120 of them you can view on our website while the remaining
materials are still in production. We also made virtual photo tours over
the world's most beautiful cities.

In 2011 we returned to New York to once again photograph Manhattan: this
time making it much better technically and artistically. Enjoy the large
photographic grand tour of Manhattan now.

[{Image src='02_Manhattan, New York.jpg' caption='Manhattan, New York' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='635'}]

And now there are some interesting facts bout Manhattan.

New York is the most famous city of the USA, and Manhattan is the most
famous part of New York. It all started 400 years ago when the most
famous and profitable in human history real estate deal was made: the
Native Americans sold this 'not so useful' piece of land to Europeans
for 24 dollars.

Since that time the island has changed dramatically. For 24 dollars one
can probably buy a ticket to the Empire State Building.

[{Image src='03_Manhattan, New York.jpg' caption='Manhattan, New York' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='480'}]

Present day Manhattan is the most populated island on Earth. The land
itself costs about 40 billion US dollars, and the cost of the entire
Manhattan, including its real estate, reaches over 3 trillion US
dollars.

This remarkable part of New York City is best to be discovered on foot –
not only because of the infamous New York traffic or cost of parking in
New York. There is a joke in New York that only wasteful people can
afford driving in New York, because the time one spends on finding a
parking spot sometimes equals the time it takes to drive from one side
of Manhattan to another.

[{Image src='04_Manhattan, New York.jpg' caption='Manhattan, New York' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='615'}]

New York is known to be a financial capital of the world, and the island
of Manhattan is where all the banks, offices, largest insurance
companies and corporations are located – literally one on top of
another. Basically the rest of New York, and eventually, the rest of the
United States, work for Manhattan, making sure that this gigantic «city
inside of the city» continues its mission – processing the wealth of the
whole world.

Besides a large number of museums, almost every building in Manhattan
has a historical value. Old buildings harmoniously coexist with the best
examples of the modern architecture. Most famous New York attractions
are located in Manhattan, including Empire State Building mentioned
above, Central Park and Times Square. There is also colorful China Town
and bright Broadway – they are all located on this island. It is a shame
not to bring a photo of Manhattan from your trip to New York!

[{Image src='05_Manhattan, New York.jpg' caption='Manhattan, New York' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='375'}]

We also made our modest Manhattan photo album. These panoramas were
photographed in the summer of 2011.

\\ \\
[30 Panoramas of Grand tour of Manhattan|Geography/America/United_States/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Grand_tour_of_Manhattan]










[{SET customtitle='Grand tour of Manhattan (AP)'}]                

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