Where: Formiga canyon in Sierra de Guara, Huesca, Spain.

When: 18/07/2007 at 14:30h.

Why: Ignacio had been hired by Caiaragon.com to shoot a series of extreme panoramas and special events.

click here to view Extreme VR Formiga Canyon

How/Technical details: Equipment: D2x, Sigma 8mm f4, Manfrotto Monopod, Manfrotto Tilt head.

For his very difficult shooting Ignacio has been guided on location by a friend of his,
who is a professional in a rescue team.

They had to walk almost 2 hours to reach the beginning of the canyon. To reach the shooting location they even needed special climbing equipment.

The main problem was to protect the camera from the humidity. He carried two big waterproof plastic cases and put them in a special backpack. Unluckily, the backpack revealed to be of real considerable size, and it made it difficult to pass across some narrow passages. When they had to swim, the only thing he could do was to take the backpack off and let it flood in the river.

By the words of Ignacio " this solution is not practical at all, but waterproof cases are really expensive".

To shoot the VR he used the monopod technique, which allowed him to put the camera upon the "model" and therefore get a more extreme view.
In addition he had to be secured with a rope, which limited his movements a lot.

The lightning posed an additional challenge: in a deep canyon the light is uniform, but
the sky is much brighter, therefore he had to shoot multiple exposures.

When we shoot the sky, it's really brighter that the canyon... and with the tree branches I get many problems to fix it.

Ignacio and Abaco Digital are offering professional services ranging from panoramic and spherical photography sold in various electronic formats (QTVR, Flash..) or in large prints (panoramic landscapes); licensing their stock photography database with many nature, landscapes and travel images; web design and programming, using the latest technologies (database, AJAX...); as well as Interactive presentations (CD-Roms, kiosks...).

Links:
www.abaco-digital.es
www.caiaragon.com
www.barranquismo.net

Previous articles on Ignacio's Extreme panoramas:
EXTREME ICE CLIMBING PANORAMA
CANYON IN THE NATURAL RESERVE OF SIERRA Y CANONES DE GUARA, SPAIN
CLIMBING 'THE DOLPHIN' IN RODELLAR, SPAIN