If you are interested in panoramic photography, then Thursday, April 15 will be a great day to be in Tucson Arizona. That is the first full day of the Tucson 2010 conference and we have a blockbuster line-up of speakers.

First up will be Jook Leung, famous for his spherical panoramas of New Year’s Eve in Times Square, New York. Impossible lighting, lots of movement, sub-freezing temperatures - they are miracles of photographic art. Jook works full time in the panoramic field, producing images for the web and for prints. He is a member of both the associations behind this event and well known in the panoramic photography community, an obvious choice to kick off the conference.

Jook’s talk is entitled  “The Panoramic Narrative”. Read about it (and the other sessions) on the conference website: HERE.

The next talk takes us from the city center to the mountains of the west. Greg Downing and Eric Hanson pioneered gigapixel imagery, and also work in visual effects for the web and motion pictures. They have promised to bring a really big example of their gigapixel work for the conference print exhibition. Read about them (and the other speakers) on the conference website: HERE.

Their talk will be about “Yosemite in 45 Gigapixels: The Yosemite Extreme Pano Imaging Project”.

Last before lunch will be Jeffrey Martin, who will talk about “The 360 Cities Community”, telling us about its features and plans for the future. 360 Cities hosts thousands of panoramas by hundreds of photographers from all over the world, and claims to have “the world’s best panoramic photography”.

There will be a two-hour break for lunch and to visit the vendors’ displays set up for the event, then a group picture.

After the break Doug Segal will start things up again with a description of the current situation in shooting and selling panoramas for stock. This is a field Doug has been working in for twenty years and has watched evolve from film to digital, catalogs to on-line galleries.

Mid-afternoon we have Scott Highton, who has been in the VR panorama field longer than anyone. Scott always gives an excellent, thoughtful, and eminently practical presentation. This time he will address “Creativity and Shooting Effective Panoramas”. With any luck Scott will also have copies of his new book “Virtual Reality Photography” available for evaluation and sale at the conference.

Wrapping up the day we have Jeff Mitchum, a fine arts photographer and gallery owner. Jeff aims to inspire us with his story of “The photographer who should have been, could of been, and never was”.

After another break to see the vendors this long day will conclude with a banquet. And that’s just Day One, with two more days of inspiring speakers, field trips, and time with some of the world’s finest panorama photographers - you should be there too.

We hope to see you at Tucson 2010 - The International Panoramic Photography Conference.  Register for the conference now, only $250, and reserve a room at the Tucson Hilton East Hotel - space is limited and we may run out.

Don Bain (IVRPA)
Christian Fleury (IAPP)

Registration for Tucson 2010 - The International Panoramic Photography conference is now open. It is being handled through a special form on the IVRPA website, with payment through PayPal (you don't need a PayPal account, it takes credit cards).

To register and pay for the conference and the tutorials click HERE.

For more information about the charges and what you get for them, see the Fees page.

The Hilton Tucson East Hotel is also taking reservations now, offering us a special rate. Reserve your room soon, they are going fast and the rate is only guaranteed until March 19. To reserve at the Hilton (no payment required) click HERE.

For more information about the conference hotel (including a virtual tour) see the Hotel page.

We are pleased and excited to announce "Tucson 2010" - The International Panoramic Photography Conference.

It will be held in Tucson, Arizona, April 14-18, 2010, presented jointly by the IVRPA and the IAPP (International VR Photography Association and International Association of Panoramic Photographers).

We hope to make this the best and biggest conference ever, bringing together everyone interested in any form of panoramic photography.

There will be a day of tutorials, lots of talks, in-depth technical sessions, vendors, field trips, two wine and beer receptions, a banquet, a panoramic print show, meetings with video links for international members, lots of opportunities to meet each other. We have managed to keep the cost low (only $250) and arranged an amazing deal on hotel rooms (luxury for $75 a night, single or double).

It will be spring in the desert, and all your rowdy friends will be there. Plan now to attend Tucson 2010!

More info to follow.

See you there,
Don Bain (IVRPA)
Christian Fleury (IAPP)

The Tucson 2010 conference was officially approved by the host organizations today:

The International VR Photography Association (ivrpa.org)

The International Panoramic Photography Association (panphoto.com)

The conference will be held April 14-18 in Tucson, Arizona. The conference organizers will be G. Donald Bain (for the IVRPA) and Christian Fleury (for the IAPP).