Bohonus’ career as a web developer began with a big scoop in 1994 when he put the first professional sports team on the Internet, Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners. That opened the door to other websites such as The New York Yankees, The Atlanta Braves, International Motor Sports Association and many others.

click here to view "VRSeattle"

Today VRSeattle contains close to 1,000 panos of Seattle and surrounding area and another 400 of Washington State. All the popular and well known landmarks are there, such as Seattle Center and Space Needle, Chinatown, Seahawks Stadium, Pacific Science Center, as well as more offbeat locations such as the Young Street Bridge, under which Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana, reputedly lived for a time before becoming famous. The website is also helpfully categorized by topic, such as Events, Islands, Hotels, and Local Artists, and includes a search function.

Bohonus likes to revisit the same locations over time, capturing the changing city as it evolves and creating a VR record of those changes. “My skills are always evolving and my equipment is getting better as well. I like to revisit areas when I feel I can improve on a previous shot, when there is a significant change in the area or if there is a different mood with regards to light, weather etc.,” Bohonus says.

Bohonus recently returned from Russia where he completed a project for Moscow's State Historical Museum. He also found time to shoot VRs in the same historic areas – Suzdal and Vladimir - captured by early 20th century photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii, whose early pioneering color photography work Bohonus had admired for some time.

When Bohonus isn’t shooting panos he plays with the electronica/techno band THEY.

Seattle	Seattle	Washington Pass, North Cascades, Central Washington	Steptoe Butte, Eastern Washington fullscreen
Moscow State University fullscreen	Suzdal - Church of Saints Boris and Gleb (the one that was under restoration)	Suzdal - View of Kamenka River	Suzdal - Wooden Church at Museum of Wooden Architecture
Moscow- State Historical Museum	Vladimir- Cathedral of the Dormition

Can you tell us a little about your professional background? Were you a photographer or Internet developer first?

I began doing Internet development around 1994 when the web aspect of the Internet was getting started. I was working with several "start-ups" and also one of my own. When I first discovered QuickTime VR in 1996 I was very fascinated by it and decided to do it originally as a hobby. I needed something at that time to get me outside more often as I was always spending too much time at the computer! I didn't consider myself a photographer at that time but the combination of photography and technology fit well with my interests.

VRSeattle began in 1996, shortly after Apple introduced QTVR, and was one of the first, if not the first, virtual reality city on the web, and now, nearly 10 years later it is one of the largest and most comprehensive. What were your goals when you first started this project, and what are your goals with the site today?

I was so excited when I first got my equipment and software that in spite of being very sick at the time with the flu, I ripped open the FedEx packages and hauled myself and a box of Kleenex to the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is located) across the street from my house to shoot my first images. After coming back with photos and spending all night experimenting with the new software and seeing my first VR images emerge I basically knew I had something new that interested me greatly. Having completed my first VRs, I was finally able to get the rest I needed and think about what I wanted to shoot next!

My goal initially was to go out and enjoy myself shooting pictures and discovering the whole process of creating QuickTime VR images. QTVR was very new at that time and there weren’t a great number of examples online showcasing the technology. I thought while I was creating these new images that I could give more people access to a larger variety of sample images by creating a virtual view of my hometown of Seattle. I also realized I needed to learn much more about photography! I had always worked with images from professional photographers with my previous jobs in pre-press and it was quite a difference now that I had to create my own :)

I would like to add that there are a great number of VR images on VRSeattle that show many locations around Washington State as well. Many of these images are now in use on the Washington State Department of Tourism web site.

If you knew then what you know today, what, if anything, would you have done differently?

I would have liked to know more of what I know now about photography and producing VRs. My VRs really show the evolution of my skills and my abilities. I would like to have better versions of my older images of course but they are there and are now part of my history. So I focus on what I am doing now. Occasionally, I have an opportunity to go back to older images and improve them when I can.

VRSeattle is unique in that, aside from its broad scope, you often shoot the same locations over time, capturing Seattle as it evolves. This suggests that you hold a great passion for the city; how would you describe this passion and how it originated?

My skills are always evolving and my equipment is getting better as well. I like to revisit areas when I feel I can improve on a previous shot, when there is a significant change in the area or if there is a different mood with regards to light, weather etc.

I have found that over time, I have discovered so many little interesting areas of Seattle, and learned so much more about the city that I live in through constantly being on the lookout for new locations to shoot and exploring the history of places that I have shot previously.

There aren't a large number of people shooting VR images and the number is even smaller in a localized area like Seattle. VRSeattle has grown so much that it is now like an archive of the city. The whole reason why we have photos from so many years ago is because someone thought to take that picture. I often think if I don't shoot this picture now, who will?

Given your long-running experience with VRSeattle and work as an Internet developer and VR photographer, what do you consider the fundamental building blocks needed to grow and sustain a VR business, and what are some of the problems that people are likely to face?

_I wouldn't want to tell someone how they should run their business, but I can say that shooting more and constantly working to improve your work can serve anybody well. There are so many potential aspects to creating a business with VR photography that it really depends on what one has an interest in I think. Shoot what and where you enjoy shooting - and try to evolve your business around that. Isn't that how it would be with traditional photography? Some people are interested in fashion, advertising, sports, journalism, art... etc. This becomes their focus and how they wish to create. VR photography is new enough where just shooting VR is an aspect of itself, but it won't be that way forever. I would hope that VR photography would grow much beyond that.

I understand that you do not invest any time in marketing, preferring to put the VRs online and let them speak for themselves. And neither do you accept advertising. Can you explain your thinking behind this approach? Would you recommend others follow it?

For me right now, it is more about the photography. It is not so much that I don't want to do marketing; it is just that I simply don't have the time to do all the things that I would like to do. I feel that right now my time is best spent shooting images. Work comes by itself for me as a result of that.

You recently completed a project for Moscow's State Historical Museum. Can you tell us about it?

I had already planned a trip to Russia to visit relatives in Moscow. I was always inspired to shoot VRs in Russia from reading about the work of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii.

Basically, at the time (1909-1912) he had a unique and new method of shooting color photos by shooting three black and white pictures using colored filters. These plates were then projected through same filters to produce a color image. There are many parallels I think between what he was doing at that time and what I was doing shooting VR, mainly that we were both using a new form of photography. I did not shoot near as much as he did of course, but to visit and photograph a historic area like Suzdal or Vladimir (areas he did photograph) and to have this feeling of shooting something in a new way- I really enjoyed it. Especially coming back afterwards from Russia, going through his images again and actually recognizing these places where I was shooting VR in his photos from that time.

While in Suzdal, I wandered up to what appeared to be an abandoned church. To my surprise there were people inside cleaning the place and they had established a working church in the front portion of the building. They were so pleased that I wanted to photograph their progress in VR, they sent someone down the hill to fetch the priest so he could meet us. They have a lot of work ahead of them to restore this church that had previously been used to store grain. They liked the idea that this restoration effort would be recorded in such a new way.

When I came back from Russia and was browsing the Prokudin-Gorskii collection, I found a color image of the same church from 1912. Probably the oldest color image of that church that exists. The church was of course in much better condition back then and was a great reminder to me that the restoration that I had photographed would one day bring that church to what it was in that 1912 photo.

With regards to the shoot at the State Historical Museum- I have been disappointed by the VR tours offered by other high profile museums like the Hermitage or even the Louvre. I wanted to shoot a museum in a manner that would appeal to me not only as a photographer, but as a viewer as well. I had a contact at the museum, which made it easier to make arrangements to come in and do the photography. Everything was shot in a few hours during regular visiting hours, which made dealing with the crowds (getting them out of the picture) a challenge. Until the images are utilized on the Museum website (they have a long list of things to do!), I have made them available on my own at VRSeattle.

How long were you in Moscow?

I was in Moscow for about three weeks. I shot about 150 VRs while I was there. I hope that more VR photographers in Russia might get inspired to get even more VRs online, as there is just so much to see in that country.

Did you encounter any unique problems or situations in Russia?

Photography wise? I think the issues that I encountered are similar to the common ones photographers face with using tripods etc. I also had interpreters with me that were able to explain to interested parties exactly what I was doing with this odd looking camera rig, which helped a lot.

Many times, you are able to purchase a camera permit for the more popular historical sites for a very modest fee. It always helps to discuss it with people and they will try to accommodate you.

You use a Panoscan MKII camera system for your professional jobs and, presumably, VRSeattle. How has this investment paid off for you?

Yes, I use a Panoscan in addition to DSLR for my work. Each has its advantages. I am not a stranger to specialized high-end technology. I have worked with high-end equipment in the past like drum-scanners, film recorders, large format digital printers, scanning-back cameras, dedicated pre-press systems and very large and capable computer systems.

I use a Panoscan when I wish to achieve the best possible quality I can when the conditions/requirements call for it. I have also found that it really pushes me to squeeze even more out of my DSLR and the production process that goes along with creating panoramas from stitched photos. In the end everything gets better and that gives me even more pleasure out of my work. I also enjoy using the Panoscan in public because it is such an interesting and rare camera that it usually starts conversations about my work and VR photography in general. After all, just about everybody has seen a regular camera ;)

What panorama-related software do you use and recommend?

Well, I am a Macintosh user and I use just about everything at my disposal on that platform. Programs like PTMac & Panorama Tools, Realviz Stitcher, VRWorx, Cubic Connector and Cubic Converter, Live Stage Pro, PanoPost- and a whole host of graphics editing programs such as Photoshop, RAW converters etc.

www.vrseattle.com

Email: bradford[at]vrseattle.com