A googolplex is a really big number. It’s bigger than the internet. It can’t be written in standard form because the known universe isn’t big enough to house it. Real talk. It’s kind of like Derek Shapton‘s latest work for Castor Design, awesomely huge.
The idea? Shoot a vintage shelving unit with a device known as The GigaPan (an automated camera mount designed for very high resolution panoramic landscapes), then use that image as the basis for the Castor web site. Sounds a little out-there, but here’s Derek to clear up the reasoning behind the decision.
Our initial concept was to create an elaborate panorama of the city, stationing various Castor products in different neighbourhoods throughout the shot. This quickly proved to be a nightmarish proposition…
Then we came up with what seemed like a much simpler solution; lets shoot some shelves! The idea was that we would style them with various pertinent – and impertinent — props, and visitors would be able to zoom in and explore the shot. As a bonus, there seemed to be no precedent for using a GigaPan in a studio-based manner like this, which we found rather appealing…
Mike Blain from Taxi2 … signed on to develop and implement the idea, and I agreed to shoot it, with an eye to coming up with a seemingly matter-of-fact and straightforward image of shelves in order to make the GigaPan effect all the more surprising.
Here’s a VERY low res (in comparison to it’s parent) version of Derek’s final image.
More from Derek,
We wanted a really big shot, and the GigaPan didn’t disappoint – at 75000 by 60000 pixels (4500 megapixels / 4.5 gigapixels) the final image is, as best we can tell, the largest photo of shelves ever taken.
After all was said and done, Derek found himself with a PSD file coming out on the higher end of 12 gigs, and the Taxi2 team went to work on discovering the most effect method of displaying the beastly image. Their final product is a website that’s more fun to navigate than any furniture/design site out there; with tons little easter eggs hidden alongside the props that serve as click throughs for info on Castor’s various products and services (my favorite features the Hinterland Who’s Who theme song).
Having been already featured on APhotoEditor, PetaPixel, and even the front page of Pro Photo Daily (newsletter), the project is gearing itself up for it’s biggest showing yet, Cannes. That’s right, Mike and the team from Taxi2 have submitted the site to a number of categories to the upcoming creative communications award show. You can take a look at their accompanying video, which I found reminiscent of the MR. DNA scene from Jurassic Park (awesome), HERE.
We shall keep you updated on how things progress for Derek’s GigaShelf image, but for now here’s a look at how the day was on set with the GigaPan.
For more info on the shoot you can pay Planet Shapton a visit, otherwise go hit up Castor’s website and play around with the GigaShelf.
Image & Video © Derek Shapton
