Early, photography was my passion
I was born in Germany and got my first training in printing and graphic arts. At an early age, photography became my passion. Access to a photo lab inspired creativity and the desire to go beyond clicking the shutter button. Black and white was king. Living in Nuernberg, a picturesque city, I spent a lot of time photographing the sites and life of the city. My experiments with night photography pushed the technology at an early age.
Immigrating to the US in 1958 landed me in printing and publishing. Photography stayed with me and a darkroom in the basement of the family home was soon in the coming.
Graphic Arts and Photography evolved to the digital age
Back then, graphic art was very manual. My European training was influential in my career. Additional education at the University of Wisconsin and later at Indiana University prepared me for the transition to the digital life. The industry was transforming and now has little resemblance to those early days.
The early days of Computer Graphics
Time keeps moving on and computer graphics gained prominence. Another wonderful challenge to embrace! Even before the prominence of digital cameras, a scanner and computer replaced the darkroom. Creativity now seemingly had no bounds. However, many of the techniques from the darkroom days were the foundation for the fast-developing digital craft. Digital or not, photography is still the same at its core.
From the handheld series of pictures to the full 360 by 180 degree spherical panorama
My travels, during this time period, offered sights that called out to be storied as panoramas. The result of a trip to Sanoma was a handheld series of ten photos, stitched into a panorama that for many years hung on my office wall . I did not yet even dream of virtual panorama tours.
The start of an exciting endeaver - vitual panoramic tours.
That did not happen until my wife, also an artist, told me that the gallery she is a member of needed a way to tell their story. A reference that another gallery used a panoramic virtual tour as their marketing tool pointed me in the right direction Some research and getting the appropriate tools and I found my mission. Virtual panoramic tours, prolific in Europe, starting to show a presence in this country. I am here to move that trend on.
Rolf D Ebert
Panoramas by rdeGraphics