St-Petersburg, Virtual Tour • 360° Aerial Panorama
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We had been preparing for the shooting in St. Petersburg about a year. As early as summer of 2009 I was told that the helicopter excursion tours over the city in St. Petersburg were realized. I easily found the telephone numbers in the Internet and called there one day later.
For a long time we had been testing the equipment, preparing documents, adjusting permits, making contacts with the helicopter operators and, finally, one of our fellows - Dmitry Moiseenko - left for St. Petersburg for a test shooting. Unfortunately, it was raining and he just flew from The Peter and Paul Fortress to Pulkovo Airport. To realize the second test shooting, another photographer - Sergey Semenov - set off. In the beginning it just was dull but later the rain began again. But that time Sergey reached to make several panoramas over a take-off strip.
After that situation I understood that going that way we hardly would finish the shooting soon and decided to phone to a photographer whom I knew and who lived in St. Petersburg in order to find out what was the weather like there. "We are not lucky with sunny days", - I briskly said to the photographer by phone. "Shall we arrive in St. Petersburg and stay at a hotel and just wait when a sunny day comes?"
He answered gloomily: "I'm not sure this is the right way. In this case you may stay at the hotel a couple of months."
I was puzzled. We were not going to stay at the hotel for the couple of months. Then, we decided to conquer St. Petersburg by ruse.
We agreed with the helicopter operators as well as with a couple of our friends and the people whom we knew and who lived in St. Petersburg on as soon as the weather became better there, they would phone us in Moscow and we would take fast all we needed and would immediately leave. Nearly a week later in the morning the first phone call was received. "There is the sun outside our window and, if you hurry up and arrive before lunch time, you can shoot because the rain is forecasted in the afternoon."
But it was impossible because we needed a half of day just to get to St. Petersburg and another half of day to arrange the flight and shooting. We needed the whole day, the whole sunny day. And this is too much for ST. Petersburg! We had been packed and ready to go but we had to wait. The friends made a couple of calls but every time could offer only a half of day and that wasn't satisfied us.
One day, a month later, we were phoned by everyone all together: by friends, people whom we knew and even helicopter operators. "Today is still dripping from the sky but tomorrow... tomorrow you will be happy! Harry up!"
And we got off with a jerk. We had nearly missed our plane. Having come rushing into the check-in area of Vnukovo Airport 35 minutes before the take-off, we knew that there was no way to get tickets for the last plane to St. Petersburg. However, it took us five minutes of negotiations directly with the representative of the UTair Company (we are very grateful to him for that) to get boarding passes with no sits. But our troubles hadn't finished then. We had got two two-meter bars and a bag with different metal things weighted about twenty kilos. And it was important for us to take all those goods in a hand luggage. Widely opened eyes of the security men who were checking the hand luggage didn't show us anything good. And only the personal charm of Sergey Semenov let us not only to pass through the metal detector but also to convince the stewardesses to hide our equipment in their service cabinet on board.
As a result, in the evening we happily and safely arrived in St. Petersburg, slept a night and took a helicopter in the morning. The weather was amazing and it seemed to us that it would always be the same.
We successfully shot and landed near the Peter and Paul Fortress. Our colleagues-photographers were coming there too. They were going to shoot from a huge dirigible named Megaphone. They began to unpack the equipment and prepare the dirigible for the flight. They had been waiting for a good weather more than a month too and that moment they were preparing for the shooting and hoped to compensate the time lost. There were the operators from the First Russian TV-Channel and some other people from television.
By the afternoon we had decided to fly once again because very beautiful small clouds appeared in the sky and the helicopter stood right near us. We flew up again, shot about half an hour and came back to the Peter and Paul Fortress. And there was something unusual in the sky! From the side of the Gulf of Finland a huge cloud was coming closer and closer. It had already covered a half of the city when the second part was shown by the bright sun. The city was divided into two parts like with a front line. The wind rose.
We were landing when the people with the dirigible were finishing their preparations for the flight, but we definitely knew that they wouldn't be able to fly up that day.
That evening we left St. Petersburg accompanying with the sounds of thunder. The big rain drops were pattering on the train's windows but we were not upset anymore - our work had been done. A year of preparation, a month and a half of waiting for a good weather and an hour and a half of the flight over one of the most beautiful cities in Russia - all those were in past.
That was the way how we realized our virtual tour shooting over St. Petersburg.
Comments
5 from 5""its awesome i want to visit there once in my life time""
Mani Shanker, India
5 from 5"Ich finde es s e h r gut. Ich kenne St. Petersburg recht gut und war schon mehrmals dort. Auch in meinem Buch "Vom Schwarzen Meer zum Nordpol" habe ich darьber geschrieben."
Gotthold Dr Tippner, Germany
5 from 5"Maravilloso, espectacular!!!"
Dolores Mбlaga Rodrнguez, Spain
5 from 5"Mijn grote wens is, om nog eens St Petersburg, te bezoeken, maar dit vindt ik helemaal geweldig."
Lisbeth Bulte, Netherlands
5 from 5"Best pictures of a city so beautiful I am forwarding the email to a good friend in Volograd Russia"
David Edwards, USA
5 from 5"really great to visit the world from my home."
HOWARD WRIGHT, United Kingdom
5 from 5"Absolutely great your work. We are thrilled.In a few month we will visit St.Petersburg and now we are able to prepare the tour in 3D. Thank you."
Winfried Hormes, Germany
5 from 5"My favorite city. Glad to see in another point of view. Keep up the great work!"
brian kong, Hong Kong
5 from 5"very good"
yehia shafik, Egypt
1 from 5رعد البيا, Iraq
5 from 5"Outstanding work. I don't see any photos available of St. Petersburg to download or buy. Can you make any available?"
Lyle Thomas, USA
Alina, AirPano: Our content is not available for downloading, Lyle. Thanks for your interest in our project!
5 from 5""Excellent photo. Interesting journey in a few moments. Greetings from Gdansk." (Per Google Translate...)"
Jan Możejko, Poland
5 from 5"a mind relaxing website to see with slow and classic songs played at the back.made for people who can't really afford to go to see all wonders. REALLY GOOD SITE."
AmiJas singh, India
5 from 5"Wonder of wonders. beautiful great filming. Annette"
Annette Pintoe, USA
5 from 5"You are wonderful people, creators, artists. I couldn't take my eyes of it. Thank you for beautiful gift of joy seeing yours panoramas."
Katarzyna Hulewicz Gathy, USA
5 from 5"Just one word: MARAVILLOSO"
Teo Fdez, Spain
"Excellent & superb. No words to say. 1. wonderful 2. Marvellous. 3. Excellent."
meera srinivasan, India
"superb"
marin stoianovici, Romania
5 from 5"Everything is Amazing, Beautiful!! Thank You!! Donnalee Davis, Pennsylvania, USA"
Donnalee Davis, USA
5 from 5"The pictures and St. Petersburg are amazing! The only negative is the music you chose to be in the background. Richard Rogers? Why not one of Russia's immortal composers...Borodin, Moussourski, Tchaikovsky, the list goes on and on. Otherwise, astonishing!!!"
Deanna Gilbert, USA
5 from 5"ASTONISHED TO SEE THE WORK AND THE RIGHT PASSION FOR THE COMMITMENT FOR PHOTOS AND VIDEOS. THANKS YOU A LOT!!!"
DR.ANIL khare, India
5 from 5"best of the best! Thanks a lot. Krongkaew Schuermann"
Krongkaew Schuermann, Switzerland
5 from 5"Excellent project! I have a very lousy internet connection so I have not completely enjoyed watching everything yet. I'm only around Paris. Hopefully in about a month I will be able to see all of them. I'll be in touch. Oh btw, do you need someone to carry your bags around? If you do, I'm available. I love to travel! Asta La Vista Amigos."
Faust D, Philippines
Alina, AirPano: Thanks you, Faust.
5 from 5"Great jog and congratulations for your patience. I was there in june 2012 and we were very fortunate to have a very beautiful 2 days of sun. Your panorama shooting is just great. Thanks again. PG.(aug 26-12)"
Paul Garneau, Canada
Alina, AirPano: You are lucky enough, Paul! ;)
"J'aimerais la traduction en franзais des textes s'il vous plait. Merci"
CHERY Monique, Guadeloupe
"wonderfull.......lovely work.....thanks"
Manoj Semwal, India
5 from 5"Beautiful"
Anita Weaver, USA
5 from 5Adelson Martins, Brazil
5 from 5"Wonderful!!! Beautiful and amazing imagery."
Gene Lalicker, USA
5 from 5"Really an incredibly amazing work! Just imagine how greatly helpful is your web page for all those intending to visit St.Peters burg for the first time, like me and my friends. This is something I always longed for! really Keep on that great work!!!" Thanks & Regards, Raj"
Raj Mishra, India
5 from 5"My friend tells me that Buenos Aires is the most beautiful city , but after seeing St. Petersburg, I feel that it is the most romantic and poetic city in the world . thank you very much for the tour."
marta gluzinska, USA
4 from 5"really amazing .good job done by specialists.lots of effort seen behind this.liked the city very much.obviously a beautiful city everyone must visit atleast once in life"
pawan singh, India
5 from 5"AMAZING EXPERIENCE"
SYED SALAHUDDIN NAIYER, India
5 from 5"I have visited the city, The beauty of this magnificent city has been well brought out"
Shirish Daftary, India
5 from 5"nice"
photojournalist seyed hamid Hashemi, Iran
4 from 5"I have enjoyed the visit. I want to see more on pano.amazing work done by pano."
javed Iqbal, Pakistan
5 from 5"Amazing the work you done on all of this search, I appreciate their efforts."
shailesh surti, India
"The mast beauful city is St. Petersbourg.Is magnificent"
Wanda gabrielli jasbinschek, Russian Federation
5 from 5"The best I have 'seen' and in fact also 'visited' has to do with brilliant Egyptian Constructians. My wife and I have made three fine visits through Egypt and we LOVED the way in which these visits were organized. We might go again as soon as the political situation in Egypt is calmed down. Thanks for your help !"
Johannes Arends, Spain
5 from 5"nice work done...."
rahul gupta, India
5 from 5"We want to visit Russia, we will pack our 'matildas' (travel packs) and be waltzing with you on some enchanting evenings in your beautiful cities. Thanks for previews..."
Chrissy Muller, Australia
Anna, AirPano: You are welcome! It's a pleasure for us to share them with you.
5 from 5"My Husband and I are going on a baltic cruise and will be visiting ST.Petersburg, I am so looking forward to it. Thank you for the stunning pictures. Ursula Schmid"
Ursula Schmid, Canada
"What a marvelous city, Saint Petersburg. We had just visited on 8-9 May 2012 on a Norwegian Cruise. Toured cathedrals and city life and waterways at night....a great and memorable adventure. We would love to visit again."
Hugh Rider, USA
5 from 5"Very much like Portland Oregon. But seems you had a worse time!We can always say.(Wait 5-min's) and the rain will quit.!chuck ;from Beavercreek oregon."
chuck Svetlik, USA
5 from 5"Thankyou! I was in St Petersburg in 1999 - never thought I'd be able to visit that beautiful city again. You have changed all that for me."
Trish Smith, Australia
5 from 5"On my first visit to St Petersburg, way back in 1994, i took a USD20 helicopter ride. I keept shooting with my film camera with joy in my heart. Only after landing did I realise that I had not rolled in my film correctly. My hear broke..this year we visited STPB with friends but they were not interested in a helicopter ride. Thanks for mending my broken heart!Keep up the good work."
Raja Setlur, Singapore
5 from 5"This is amazing. My father was born in Tambov, Russia. Is there anyway I can see this?? Thanks for your work."
Alex Magnitzky
5 from 5"My trip to St.Petersburg was magical and enjoyed every minute.Congrats on your wonderful photography."
Ann Stevens, Trinidad and Tobago
5 from 5"I just returned from St. Petersburg, and with your wonderful work, I am enjoying it again. Thank you very much! Such a beautiful city!"
Julia Hernandez, Guatemala
3 from 5"bizim panaroma bir harika değerleme yapmak зok yanlış olur.Tek kelime ile ancak bukadar olur.Saygılar başarılar"
HALUK DEMİR, Turkey
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