TRUMAN vs GIGAPAN (Confessions of a Photographer's Wife)

TRUMAN vs GIGAPAN – I Carry the Tripod  (Confessions of a Photographer’s Wife) ©Jo Wood

           

            It’s been an eventful few months, and just as things were settling down, Jim got a request to produce a 24 FOOT X 20 FOOT mural for a former employer who wants to decorate the lobby of his new building.  Pretty exciting stuff… He had a picture they loved of the Elwha Dam removal site 45 minutes from our house.  We forwarded it to the printer who will produce the mural.  Some choked laughs later, we realized that the Nikon in its present configuration just can’t do it.

            Thus began the quest for a way for Jim and Truman to produce a picture with millions of pixels suitable for printing.  Jim started researching and in a random conversation with a photographer friend in Alaska, he heard about a gadget called a Gigapan.  Turns out that our friend, Bob, had one, and on his most recent trip to Alaska, Jim brought it back to our home here in Washington.

            Truman stepped forward to adapt to the new gadget.  Turns out that calling it a gadget is doing it a disservice, since it is about 10” wide and 8” tall.   Never one to hesitate, Jim started fiddling with it and then I began hearing mumbles and grumbles,  To his chagrin, Jim discovered that the Gigapan he had borrowed only holds point-and-shoot cameras.  Turns out there is a LARGER GIGAPAN, capable of holdng the Nikon, and shooting the hundreds of photos required for the final product, which then get stitched together into a gigantic file.  Who knew?

            After some contemplation and discussion with Bob, the giant gadget was ordered.  Truman was somewhat appalled to learn that the new Gigapan weighs 7 POUNDS!

            To add interest to the situation, we discovered that the road to the Elwha Dam has been washed out.  After consultation with the National Park Service, we learned that there is a way to get around the wash-out – on foot – with a 3 mile hike to the dam site.

            Jim has now recruited our 15-year old, 6’5” grandson, to accompany him on his next adventure.  Truman will be carried, along with the cameras and gear, and our new 7-pound friend.  Not sure who will carry what, but I think I’ll be busy that day!