Panoramas - Elevation - A World Wide Panorama June, 2008 All photos Copyright , 2008

The World Wide Panorama began in March, 2004, and has now become a quarterly series of events. Photographers all over the world are welcome to participate. The rules are simple: photography must be done during a specified time, follow the given theme, and the final VR panorama must be in QuickTime VR format. The events are scheduled on the solstices and equinoxes. There are no loosers (all are winners), or prizes.
For summer of 2008 the theme was Elevation.
Of the panos below, the first is my contribution, the other was also done the same day. These panoramas show views from the top of the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel and Spa, one of the tallest buildings in Lisboa at almost 100m. In fact, it was the tallest from 1972 and for some 28 years, until it was surpassed by the local twin towers built by the Tagus river, the Torres de S. Gabriel e S. Rafael. However, since the Sheraton sits on higher ground, it commands a much better view of the city, with no higher man-made structure in sight. In fact, I found the view to be even better than I expected, and I'm hoping to return some day.
It is a pleasure to gratefully acknowledge the colaboration of the Sheraton Lisboa Hotel and Spa, in particular Francisco Nogueira de Sousa for permission to photograph from the top of the Hotel, Paulo Figueiredo for the initial contact and liaising, and Marco Faria for his efficiency and sympathy, during the actual shooting.
Each of the files linked here is about 2MB, so if you are on a slow internet connection, beware (this link has a smaller file, about 600KB).
To view these panoramas you need QuickTime. Chances are, it's already installed on your computer, otherwise you can obtain it (free, for both Windows and Macs) from Apple.
To fully enjoy the show, you should click and drag the panoramas to your heart's content. Don't forget to look up and down too!