!!!Orda Cave. The first underwater cave panorama in the world 

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

25 January 2013

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

It was no coincidence that Sasha Grek, Chief Editor of National
Geographic Russia Magazine (NGR), introduced me to Oleg Gaponyuk and
AirPano team. Giving me their contact information he knew that our
friendship could turn into something amazing. He was absolutely right -
we set off on a GRAND ADVENTURE, and with each passing day this
adventure becomes even more and more exciting.

My name is Viktor Lyagushkin. I work as a photographer in NGR
specializing in extreme underwater photography. In search for my photo
stories I go deep into the cold water, under the ice, and into the
underwater caves. My friends and teammates from PHOTOTEAM.PRO always
help me. Together we create stories about wonderful places and amazing
people that explore them sometimes balancing between life and death. It
so happens that there are only a few hundred people in the world that
work in such extreme conditions; only a handful of them can handle a
camera; and none of the extreme underwater photographers actually heard
about spherical panoramas or knows how to shoot them. That's why when
Oleg Gaponyuk told me about panoramic photography I realized that we've
discovered a whole new dimension to explore. It's very hard to capture
the beauty of an underwater cave or an entire sunken ship. With help of
panoramic photo technique this task becomes a lot easier.

[{Image src='01_Orda Cave. Main tunnel.jpg' caption='Orda Cave. Main tunnel' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

Orda Cave was our first joint project with AirPano team. It is the most
extended underwater cave in Russia. Second in length in entire Eurasia,
it is also the world's biggest underwater gypsum cave. It has the status
of the National Natural Monument of Russia. Orda Cave is located in
southwest corner of Orda village in Perm region, on the left shore of
Kungur River. It consists of gypsum and anhydrite dating back to the
Permian period. It has "dry" and underwater sections. Its "dry" section
is 300 meters long, while underwater section is 5150 meter long. One
part of the cave is considered to be the longest (985 meters) syphon in
CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Such features as gypsum
composition, low water temperature (+4 Celsius), huge underwater
galleries, high water transparency, and low opacity set Orda Cave apart
from other similar caves in the world. Unfortunately, harsh diving
conditions make this beauty unreachable for most people. In 2010 we
spent 6 months in the cave shooting its amazing
galleries. Later we published a book called "Orda Cave: Awareness
Project" describing the cave exploration process. So spherical panorama
of the Cave became the next logical step for AirPano team and us.

[{Image src='02_Orda Cave.jpg' caption='Orda Cave' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

Underwater caves are considered the hardest subject of underwater
photography. Overhead environment, inability to surface when you need
to, zero visibility, underwater narrows, you have to squeeze through,
and complete darkness - here are just a few difficulties that one faces
in cave diving; and if you plan to take pictures in an underwater cave,
the list multiplies three-fold. Now imagine that you are shooting a
spherical panorama! It is impossible to set up a tripod or a panoramic
head, which means that you won't be able to mount your camera or strobe
on a tripod. People can't stand still, but without models you don't see
dimensions of a cave. There is no light source except for the one you
bring with you. Radio synchronizers don't work under water. So all of
the above puts you in the most uncertain place for a photo shoot. Every
second every light source and every model is moving and turning
chaotically, changing light and shade pattern, and altering the
composition.

[{Image src='03_Orda Cave. Main tunne.jpg' caption='Orda Cave. Main tunnel' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='600'}]

But we wouldn't be the best of the best if we didn't know how to solve
these little problems. Thanks to Oleg Gaponyuk' and Sergey Semyonov's
expertise and good teamwork, we were able to photograph these exclusive
underwater spherical panoramas, which you can now enjoy.

Now that we have successfully completed test photo shoots, and all
"know-how" technologies are tried and true, we can say with confidence
that Orda Cave spherical photo panorama is the beginning of an entirely
new series of unique underwater virtual tours that have never been done
before in the world. Here are just a few locations that we plan to shoot
this year: Orda Cave, the Baltic, the White Sea, the Blue Lake
(Chirek-Kel) in Kabardino-Balkaria, the Tkhach Caves in Adygeya, the
Issyk-Kul' Lake, and land caves of Ural.

[{Image src='04_Photographer Viktor Lyagushkin.jpg' caption='Photographer Viktor Lyagushkin' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='900'}]

Orda Cave. Basic Passage.

Photographer: Viktor Lyagushkin

Models: Vladimir Fyodorov, Bogdana Vashchenko,

Nikon D3x, Nikkor 14-24/2.8, Subal underwater camera housing, 7 Ikelite
DS160 strobe units

We express our gratitude to Nikon, and personally to Vladimir Volkov for
their help in organizing the photo shoot.

Panorama stitching and processing: AirPano

\\ \\
[Panorama of Orda Cave, one of the most impressive underwater caves
|Geography/Asia/Russia/Pictures/Panorama_of_Orda_Cave]










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