The AirPano team could not have picked a worst time to visit Cairo for their photo panoramas and filming project.
In early 2011, when the North African country was engulfed in political turmoil with the trio of liberals, Islamic parties and the army battling for power and control of the country after the departure of Hosni Mubarak, Semeno and Sedov were focused on a landmark that had withstood thousands of such upheavals over centuries: the Great Pyramids of Giza.
As expected, the team of Russian photographers immediately ran into trouble, recounted the 29-year-old Semenov in a Skype conversation.
"When we tried to land, the pilot told us the airport is closed and we will need to wait sometime over the Cairo skies," said Semenov, recalling his trip at the height of the troubles in Egypt last year when the country was in complete disarray.
The unique photography shoot was part of the AirPano project, created by a group of 'panorama enthusiasts' based in Russia. The group of seven shoot 3-D panorama from a helicopter but also use light jets, dirigibles, air balloons and radio-controlled helicopter models depending on the subject matter.
During the next two years the Airpano team aims to shoot aero-panoramas and create virtual tours of the most breathtaking and interesting landscapes across the world.
The group has already created 250 panoramas for more than 70 places.
CAIRO CHALLENGE
But Cairo was proving to be quite a challenge for the group to overcome, especially as they knew they had not secured permission to film the pyramids despite repeated attempts at the Egyptian embassy in Moscow.
Finally landing in Cairo after the harrowing flight, the team faced fresh obstacles once they started to film the pyramids.
"We had just started some test flights at the location and within five minutes the police, military police and administrators from the Egyptian Museum department descended at the location and took us to their office," says Semenov.
According to Sedov, the pilot of the remote-controlled helicopter: "There were about 20 people, some wore uniform, and some were obviously from the museum. It was rather difficult to figure out who was in charge in this crowd... Finally one of the museum managers demanded to see the photos and then took our flash card. After taking control over our most 'valuable possession', the museum authority [official] immediately changed his tone of voice, and the atmosphere around us relaxed. Everybody took turns checking out the 'magic apparatus' that we flew near pyramids. It was a sign for us to begin negotiating terms of our photo project."
After 'bargaining' with the administrators to secure a photography permit for USD800, the group finally returned to the pyramids to capture the landmark's stunning beauty.
The results made all the troubles worth it for the group. The first aerial panoramas were taken over the Great Pyramids of Giza by Airpano!
Source: AirPano.com
DUBAI, BUT NO BURJ KHALIFA
Dubai was a far easier trip for Dmitry Moisseenko and Ivan Roslyakov - photographers and members of AirPano project - but notably absent are pictures of Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, from the trip.
Source: AirPano.com
"It was very easy in Dubai. We shot from a regular helicopter, not radio-controlled cameras over the Palm Jumeirah. It's possible to shoot everywhere in Dubai expect for Burj Khalifa, as it is forbidden to fly a helicopter within a mile of the building. The only other place off limits is the Ruler's palace."
The group now has commercial inquires from other Middle Eastern cities, notably Riyadh and Jubail especially to take panorama pictures of oil and gas installations.
LABOUR OF LOVE
Amazingly, AirPano is a non-commercial project.
"The desire to share my impressions with those who can't travel due to different circumstances led me to the project AirPano.com," says Semenov rather idealistically on his website. "The sense of the project itself is to show the people the most beautiful places of our planet in the manner that nobody has ever seen them before: from the bird's-eye view with unlimited freedom of vision and movement."
The group is now focused on filming the entire UNESCO Heritage List and completed the shooting of Taj Mahal a few weeks ago.
"Shooting Taj Mahal was a strong point for us as it was very difficult. We are now planning trips to Acropolis in Greece, Stone Henge in Britain, and the Pisa Tower in Italy, apart from places in South America this year," said Sermenov.
© alifarabia.com 2012
