As you’ve hopefully noticed, HawaiiGaga.com features hundreds of Hawaii pictures including panoramic photos and virtual tours. We’ve literally taken thousands of photos of the islands (at least 10,000). Photographing Hawaii’s scenery is especially enjoyable and the biggest perk associated with working on a travel web site.

We’ve been asked about the process of creating a 360 degree picture. The most important component is the software used to “stitch” and blend the series of photos together. We use a package called Autopano.

For outdoors scenes one simply stands in one spot, rotating around and taking the photos, making sure that there is some overlap (maybe 20%) between each image so that the software can figure out how to “connect the dots.” The number of pictures one needs to rotate all the way around depends on your lens - typically it’s about 8. Autopano stitches the pictures together to create a single very large photo.

Movement in the scene, like a car driving past, will confuse the process because you’ll have a picture of a car in more than one photo in different locations. So scenes with little movement, like nature scenes, are the easiest. Otherwise you’ll have to use Photoshop to correct distortions.

You can take a 360 photo with any kind of digital camera, although using a DSLR is much preferred over a point and shoot digital camera because of the ease of use, speed of taking photos, ability to accurately frame the scene through the view finder, ability to use filters, and possibly an improvement in picture quality. Ken Rockwell maintains an excellent photography web site that will keep you busy for days.

For indoor 360 photos one would normally use a tripod with a special attachment called a pano head. The purpose is to ensure the camera swivels around a fixed point. You could just stand in place and rotate around as with outdoor scenes, but when the subject matter is so much closer to the camera the stitching software has a more difficult time putting it together and matching the scene - there’s less room for error. The use of the tripod and pano head improve the accuracy of the process.

There are other ways of taking 360 degree photos as well. For example, motorized pano heads, or special lens mirrors that take a 360 degree photo in one shot. Start by using whatever equipment you have and learning how to best use AutoPano before investing in new gear.

In a previous article we talked about how purchasing Hawaiian art was an excellent way to take Hawaii home with you. For our U.S. readers we’ve discovered another great way to bring Hawaii into your home - internet radio.

The best internet radio station we’ve found is called Pandora. It’s more than a radio station though. You tell it what kind of music you like and then it starts selecting similar music, fine tuning the selection until after a few hours of listening you have a great radio station that plays mostly the music you like.

We’ve created our own Hawaii Radio station. We started by telling Pandora that we like the music of Israel ‘IZ’ Kamakawiwo’ole, Gabby Pahinui, and Sean Na’auao. From there it started playing related music and we gave a thumbs up whenever it played Hawaiian music.

Have a listen and see what you think, and do share any stations you create with us.

HawaiiGaga Radio

The World Wildlife Fund defines a botanical garden as a “garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labeled, and open to the public for the purposes of recreation, education and research.”

Hawaii has many beautiful botanical gardens. What better way to spend a morning or afternoon than a walk through one of these gardens? Some are free while others charge a fee, typically around $20, but remember your fees help maintain and preserve these areas. Three of our favorite gardens are the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden on the Big Island, Kauai’s Limahuli garden shown below, and the Allerton/McBryde garden on Kauai’s south shore.

Remember to include Limahuli in your plans as you visit Kauai’s north shore. Many drive right past on it on their way to Ke’e beach. Mom and Dad may prefer the pleasant garden to the more strenuous Kalalau Trail

Have we got a deal for a you. Mention HawaiiGaga.com and get Hanalei Bay Resort Unit 5208 for only $99/night when you stay at least 5 nights. The deal is valid until December 15.

The Hanalei Bay resort in Princeville is one of Kauai’s premiere resorts with breathtaking views and a beautiful tropical setting. Their tennis facility is one of the best on Kauai. Puu Poa beach is situated below the resort.

Congratulations to John and Jan Saunders of Wenatchee, the winners of our April review contest. Remember to say to “yes” to having your review included in the contest when you submit a review.