Blogs Jan 23, 2009 at 11:07 am

Gigapixel Inauguration

Anthony Hecht
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Comments

1
There are cameras that can do that? Inconceivable!
on January 23, 2009 at 11:11 AM Report this
2
All of this makes me shudder, but especially the Asshole Twins.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:15 AM Report this
3
george hw bush's hat will never not be funny.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:18 AM Report this
4
Ugh Frizzelle is so precious it's frustrating
on January 23, 2009 at 11:18 AM Report this
5
Ugh Frizzelle is so precious it's frustrating
on January 23, 2009 at 11:18 AM Report this
6
I don't know what the Stranger staff looks like... who's who???
on January 23, 2009 at 11:21 AM Report this
7
Zounds. That's a pretty amazing photo.

The close-up with the Stranger writer looks like a collection of homeless winos, though. The facial hair, the knit caps, the cheap coats, etc.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:21 AM Report this
8
Where's Waldo?
on January 23, 2009 at 11:22 AM Report this
9
Cheney looks like that evil guy from the first Indiana Jones movie... the one that gets the pendant burned into his hand.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:22 AM Report this
10
BUT WHERE IS TOM HANKS??
on January 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM Report this
11
The guy standing next to Frizzelle appears to be in the process of losing the top half of his head. Snipers?
on January 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM Report this
12
The snipers look like they are miles away because of the perspective. It's really only a couple hundred yards at most to the top of the Rayburn House Office Building, where they are posted.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM Report this
13
Is that Frizelle? He's adorable.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:25 AM Report this
14
@11 - Yeah, I saw this in various places, must be from stitching all the various photos together.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:29 AM Report this
15
Newt looks a little upset
on January 23, 2009 at 11:30 AM Report this
17
Aretha Franklin looks like she's feasting on the brains of the man in front of her.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM Report this
16
Kali bless those snipers.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM Report this
18
@8: If I had known a photograph like this would have been taken, I would have dressed up in a red and white striped outfit with glasses and a cane just to make it happen.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM Report this
19
Looks like Clarence Thomas is asleep. Would anybody be surprised?
on January 23, 2009 at 11:42 AM Report this
20
Yes, where is tom hanks!
on January 23, 2009 at 11:45 AM Report this
21
It was really traumatic watching the man next to me get his head sliced off like that.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:48 AM Report this
22
@16 - I think that's Rick Warren
on January 23, 2009 at 11:52 AM Report this
23
I just spent ten minutes zooming around this thing lookin' at everyone, and I have to hand it to Michelle Obama. Other people are swaddled head to toe in polartec fleece so you there's nothing to indicate that they are animate objects and not just people-shaped outerwear...and Michelle is in nylons. Nylons! No socks, no hat, no scarf - and she looks totally comfortable. I fucking love her.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM Report this
24
I love the littlest Biden on Dr. Jill's lap. Friggin' cute.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM Report this
25
I am amazed by how many people were asleep at this thing.
on January 23, 2009 at 11:58 AM Report this
26
What I want to see is the full-res version of the top-down satellite picture of the Mall. Because, I'm curious just how tight those images from space can be (which I'm sure is classified).

Recognize faces? Read license plates? Watch what number someone is dialing on their cell phone?
on January 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM Report this
27
affirmative, aretha is eating the brains of rick warren. hopefully she won't get his mad homophobe disease.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:09 PM Report this
28
Pretty damn cool. But I wanna know - what did it look like from space?
on January 23, 2009 at 12:09 PM Report this
29
Who is the guy covered in vines? Enquiring minds want to know! They should have one of those DC Comics number-in-silhouette deals to tell us who some of these people are and how the heck they got there. Lotsa cowboy hats. Supwitdat?
on January 23, 2009 at 12:10 PM Report this
30
Cheney looks like he would take 8,000 dollars from Uncle Billy.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:10 PM Report this
31
I know it's been said before, but wow - Cheney really does look like he came straight from the set of Dr. Strangelove. Spooky.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:16 PM Report this
32
Where's Jimmy and Rosalyn?
on January 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM Report this
33
Check out Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:21 PM Report this
34
Everybody may be looking in the wrong place for Tom Hanks. I'm looking back at archives, and Christopher Frizzelle posted the pic from the far-right-third-row perspective, so presumably the picture above is of him, not Eli Sanders, who had Tom Hanks behind him. (Eli's only description of his position is the "folding chairs section of the Orange Zone, several seats in from the aisle.")

That said, I can't find Tom Hanks anywhere else, and since I don't know what Eli looks like, I can't find him for a point of reference either. We should be able to spot P. Diddy about ten rows behind Christopher, though.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:26 PM Report this
35
Stewart said that all Cheney needed was a fluffy white cat on his lap to pull off the full Blofeldt look.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:41 PM Report this
36
Is Newt Gingrich's wife crying or just picking her drippy nose? I wonder what Newt is staring at.
on January 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM Report this
37
GOOD GOD!

Kudos to you Mr. Hecht. I am genuinely ASTOUNDED!

Where does this technology come from? And how come no body told me about it?


on January 23, 2009 at 12:53 PM Report this
38
sort of cool, but also confusing is this implementation of Microsoft's Photosynth using hundreds of photos submitted to CNN by viewers.

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/44.…
on January 23, 2009 at 1:12 PM Report this
39
i remember reading about using Google Maps to view your photos, and these seems to be a prime example of how useful that really is. wow
on January 23, 2009 at 1:13 PM Report this
40
@28 for the "from space" pics, check out the Big Picture. They have one of the RedEye HR satellite images

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/01…
on January 23, 2009 at 1:14 PM Report this
41
I agree with @30 - Cheney looks EXACTLY like Mr. Potter in It's a Wonderful Life. And he's turned the entire U.S.A. into Pottersville. George Bailey, come back!
on January 23, 2009 at 1:58 PM Report this
42
@26 - Satellites can't read license plates, and might recognize your face if you're looking straight up into the sky, but not likely otherwise. Satellites take pictures straight down. If they were to take them at an angle good enough to read a license plate or see a face, the cameras would have to be thousands of times better resolution, since they'd have to be much farther away and look through a lot more atmosphere.
on January 23, 2009 at 2:15 PM Report this
43
Anthony and 26, the Government doesn't need Satellites to continually read, GPS mark, and index your license plate

Police Cars are doing it
http://www.seattle.gov/police/programs/t…
on January 23, 2009 at 2:19 PM Report this
44
I went straight for the Military Band....military studs + inherent band nerdiness? Oh fuck yes please thank you
on January 23, 2009 at 2:21 PM Report this
45
There is a pair of torso-less legs in the aisle just under (and slightly to the right of) the media tower with all the cameras....
on January 23, 2009 at 2:31 PM Report this
46
hahah Clarence Thomas sleeping! Classic.
on January 23, 2009 at 2:34 PM Report this
47
Carl made this?! It is literally awesome.
on January 23, 2009 at 2:43 PM Report this
48
Who decided who gets the bling bling cushy throne-like chairs and who got the folding ones? If you look around the balcony, there are variations of seating quality.
on January 23, 2009 at 2:44 PM Report this
49
Cheney looks like Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life. And why wouldn't he?
on January 23, 2009 at 2:46 PM Report this
50
Why hasn't Slog yet talked about that Hotness that is Beau Biden (Joe's son)? Dangggg

He's sitting 2 rows behind Michelle here
on January 23, 2009 at 2:52 PM Report this
51
Did Joe Biden's body double get tickets too?
http://i39.tinypic.com/1zel5ck.jpg
on January 23, 2009 at 2:54 PM Report this
52
I think I found Hanks.

Starting with the 'coworkers,' look a few rows back and down for a woman in a pink hooded parka, apparently coughing. there is a man, bareheaded, turned partway around, face partially obscured. He is seated next to another bareheaded gent who appears to be of subcontinental Indian ancestry.

and you can't possibly miss Diddy when you look for him.
on January 23, 2009 at 3:14 PM Report this
53
Mike, that is not P-diddy. This is what Sean-Puffy-Combs-Puff-Daddy-Puffy-P-Diddy was dressed like while watching
http://www.scandalist.com/nggallery/post…

It wasn't him. But I bet the guy in front of Christophe with the gray beany is the one he referred to in his post that had its poofy-ness adjusted by Tom Hanks
on January 23, 2009 at 3:26 PM Report this
54
no, I'm serious, I didn't even look at the "is this Diddy" post until just now (and was astounded by the idiocy, I mean really astounded). Dude I'm talking about is standing in the aisle with a diamond in his ear the size of your first child's fist. On looking at your link, there's no doubt it's him. In fact, the white dot is what drew my eye in the first place.

Here's how to find him:

find my pink-parka coughing lady. sight down her row until you see the guy pictured in the "is this Diddy" post. now look up the aisle, to the right of the frame, until you see the four standing people. Dude with the blue knit cap is Denzel. right behind him, looking well-tailored indeed as one might expect, Mr. Diddy, diamond stud a-flash.
on January 23, 2009 at 5:40 PM Report this
55
Mike, you're right--you found the REAL Diddy. Well-spotted!
on January 23, 2009 at 9:39 PM Report this
56
haw, i got props! no harm done, CF. I actually thought the comments on your "is this Diddy" post were pretty interesting. I remain amazed that you had no apparent idea of the appearance and personal style of this omnipresent media visage. Diddy has little overlap with the Belle and Sebastian demo, true enough. However, he is most definitely a man with a knowledge and appreciation of fine men's clothing.
on January 23, 2009 at 10:32 PM Report this
57
Alright, magic mike ... where's Beyonce and Jay-Z?
on January 23, 2009 at 11:53 PM Report this
58
Another question, which I also wondered while watching the event on TV: Why was Robert Gibbs stationed up with the string quartet? I noticed him there when it was broadcasting live, and he's up there during the speech in this photo.

Anyone?
on January 23, 2009 at 11:56 PM Report this
59
I was just wondering if anyone has seen Chelsey Clinton in this pic? Didn't she attend???
on January 25, 2009 at 10:53 AM Report this
60
I should have scoped out the latitude and longitude of my aisle seat in the Orange section - I am wearing a red watch cap and a red scarf and bundled up like a Muscovite - but otherwise indistinguishable from the rest of the lumpen proletariat. With great thanks to Cong. Ed Whitfield (R-KY) for my ticket - my kindly Republican benefactor.
on January 26, 2009 at 10:30 AM Report this
61
Looking at Aretha Franklin what is up with the floating hat and the guy who is cut off? Is it just me or does it look edited?
on January 26, 2009 at 5:45 PM Report this
62
If you look to the right of the tower in the middle at the bottom beside a fence there is a pair of legs with no body.
on January 29, 2009 at 2:12 PM Report this
63
And we can't find Bid Laden with this technology?
on February 1, 2009 at 5:40 PM Report this
64
I don't mean to yawn but.....to see double the resolution, in 360 degrees see www.airphotoslive.com or www.photosynth.com search word:ddis
on February 12, 2009 at 10:17 AM Report this

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