[2023] Chiang Mai Gigapixel Panorama from Suthep Temple

[2023] Chiang Mai Gigapixel Panorama

On February 18th, 2023, we took 569 images from the new platform at Wat Prathat Doi Suthep (Doi Suthep Temple) to create another Gigapixel panorama, 14 years after the last one. It was a rare break from the hazy winter after a few days of rain and the view was as clear as it hadn't been for months. Equipment used:

• Sony A6500 (24 megapixels) on a monopod, with a Canon EF 75-300 lens and adapter,
• An old copy of the excellent PTGui running fast and rock solid on Linux with wine.
• Photoshop for contrast enhancement etc.
• krpano for tiling and panorama display.

The stitched image is about 114000 pixels wide and 20000 pixels high for a total of almost 2.3 gigapixels (2.3 billion pixels). It's tiled (cut into tiles) to amost 12000 single images on many levels, served on demand with the krpano app running on the server.

After 14 years, central Chiang Mai has grown somewhat, but most of the metropolitan growth was away from the center around the town in the valley, with the two ring roads finalized to handle the ever increasing traffic. In the center, development has been towards the mountain, in the area around Chiang Mai university, Nimmanhaemin Road ("Nimman Area") and along the Chiang Mai-Lampang highway. There is less development near the Ping river, perhaps due to the three occasions of major flooding in the last 20 years that is alleviated by new sluice gates along the river.