I'm Ed Fink, and these are my 360 degree panoramas. I was the first VR photographer in the world to do fullscreen 360° panoramas from a helicopter.
Today I'm a Google Trusted Photographer offering Google Business Photos (aka "Indoor Street View") in Minneapolis and St. Paul. I've recently started integrating Google Business Photos in my 360° aerials. 
651-483-1557
The St. Paul Pioneer Press did a front page story about me.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press interviewed me for a story about Google Business Photos and used my Basilica virtual tour. Second time I made their front page!
If you missed it because I bought so many copies you can read it here!
KARE 11 TV did a story on Google Business Photos.
VRMag has a feature story about my Hurricane Katrina panoramas.
VISITOR COMMENTS:
"That's the coolest thing on the web."
"You brought tears to my eyes."
"Mind blowing."
"One of the neatest photo sites I've ever seen."
"I'm afraid of heights and when I looked straight down I nearly threw up!"
"I am stunned by the quality and possible applications, nice job."
"That combo of eye-in-the-sky with eyes on the ground is fantastic."
"I sent this to every pilot I know."
"HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE?!"
"The 360 shots are almost unbelieveable!!!!"
"Oh my gosh Ed - they are just beautiful."
"That aerial panorama over Lake Calhoun is totally awesome"
"FANTASTIC!!!!"
"I've instantly become a fan of your panorama photos!"
"Wow, your panoramas are like nothing I have ever seen before. Very impressive!"
"the absolute best I have seen anywhere."
"ED - I am not surprised by all the comments you have received. The VR is AWESOME!"
Category: Hurricane Katrina
This is a series of aerial panoramas of Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Waveland, Slidell, Chalmette, and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that I shot for the Washington Post. The Washington Post was the only one with a website that was high tech enough to be serious about VR and willing to fund the helicopter flights.
These were taken about three weeks after Hurricane Katrina. The aerials east of Pass Christian were shot three days before Hurricane Rita, and everything from Waveland west to New Orleans was shot three days after Rita.
I feel bad about not getting more ground level panoramas of the Katrina damage. I didn’t even scratch the surface of what I would have liked to shoot, but the aerials were my main focus and there was a real rush to get them online, so it only left me one afternoon to shoot on the ground.
See The Washington Post’s Multimedia Katrina Special for my Katrina aerials there, along with ground level panoramas from other VR photographers.
Visit VRMag for a short background story on the Katrina panoramas.
The song "Killer Katrina" heard in the Biloxi Casino Row aerial is by songwriter Steve Townsend. Steve lives out in the woods and he "don't need no stinkin' computers" :) so you'll have to call him at 228-213-0355 or snail mail him at P.O. Box 302, Long Beach, MS 39560.
Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort:
Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund 1-866-230-8903
American Red Cross 1-800-HELP-NOW
Salvation Army 1-800-SAL-ARMY
360 degree aerial panorama from 700 ft. above the beach in east Biloxi, MS after Hurricane Katrina. Although the new, larger hotels survived the hurricane, the casino barges were torn free and destroyed everything in their path.
Looking 5 blocks west down the beach you can see one of the smaller casino barges sitting on the lawn of the historic Tivoli Hotel (where I once worked!) The two story motel section in front of the hotel was struck by the barge, completely leveling it and killing 8 people, and a 4 story chunk was knocked out of the front of the hotel.
The song "Killer Katrina" heard in the Biloxi Casino Row aerial is by songwriter Steve Townsend. Steve lives way out in the piney woods and he "don't need no stinkin' computers" :) so you'll have to call him at 228-223-2156 or snail mail him at P.O. Box 302, Long Beach, MS 39560.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Featured, Hurricane Katrina
Aerial panorama of downtown New Orleans and the Superdome from a helicopter 400 ft. above the Pontchartrain Expressway at Baronne St. This was shot almost a month after Hurricane Katrina and three days after Hurricane Rita, which accounts for the eerie look of the almost empty streets and highways. The Greater New Orleans bridge over the Mississippi River is normally the fifth busiest toll bridge in the U.S.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Featured, Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama over the bay on the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge on Hwy. 90. The southern-most bridge, now in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, was the replacement for the middle bridge, which had been destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama from 700 ft. over the Biloxi Back Bay after Hurricane Katrina. To the south is Biloxi, then the Gulf of Mexico, to the north is D'Iberville. To southeast are the ruins of two Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridges - one destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969 and the other by Katrina. In the distance over Ocean Springs is a rain cloud from the fringes of the approaching Hurricane Rita.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama above downtown Biloxi over the Vieux Marche a month after Hurricane Katrina. To the south the Hard Rock Casino and Beau Rivage sit on the shore of the Mississippi Sound.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama from a helicopter over Beauvoir (the home and presidential library of Confederate President Jefferson Davis) and the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi. The casino barge north of the beach is sitting on a Holiday Inn.. A few miles to the north is the damaged Popps Ferry bridge over the back bay.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama shot from a helicopter 700 feet over the coast east of the rubble that once was the Fun Time USA amusement park on Hwy. 90 and Cowan Rd. in Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama from a helicopter just north of what remains of the Water's Edge Apartments on Hwy. 90 near Courthouse Rd. in Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. To the northeast is the Gulfport-Biloxi airport.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama one block northwest of Pass Rd. and Hwy. 49 in north Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. To the northeast is the Gulfport-Biloxi airport, to the west is the Naval Construction Battalion Center (Seabee Base).
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Aerial panorama over the Grand Casino Oasis Hotel on Hwy. 90 west of downtown Gulfport, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. To the southwest is the Gulfport Harbor, where you see the huge pink Copa Casino barge sitting in the parking lot that's usually filled with trucks waiting to load bananas at the port. The blurry spots are raindrops from the fringes of the approaching Hurricane Rita.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama of Gulfport, Mississippi from a helicopter 700 ft. over Hwy. 90 near Broad Ave., the main road to the Naval Construction Battalion Center (Seabee Base). Although I wasn't there for Hurricane Katrina, during Hurricane Camille in 1969 I lived on Fournier Ave. Camille was my first hurricane and I didn't think there was any need to evacuate - until trees started falling on the house! But by then it was too late - the street to the north was totally blocked, and to the south Hwy. 90 was literally gone. A friend from school lived on the corner where the big office building is now, and his entire house was destroyed by Camille - just like almost every other house along the beach as far as the eye could see - very much like it looks in this panorama.
Although Katrina was a weaker storm than Camille, it lasted much longer, and the Katrina damage seems very similar to that from Camille.
Note the many containers washed up from the Port of Gulfport. The containers did a great deal of damage and are the subject of a lawsuit against the port.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Aerial panorama of Long Beach, Mississippi from a helicopter over East Railroad St. at Richards Ave. after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
A 360 degree aerial panorama of downtown Long Beach, Mississippi from a helicopter 700' above Jeff Davis Ave. after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Aerial panorama 700 ft. over the Long Beach - Pass Christian line near the railroad tracks three weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
A 360 degree aerial panorama from a helicopter over a devastated downtown Pass Christian, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama shot from a helicopter 700 feet over Pass Christian High School in Pass Christian, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: J. W. Fordham - 318-547-4109
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama of the St. Louis Bay shot from a helicopter 700 feet above Pass Christian Isles in Pass Christian, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. This is near Henderson Point, just west of the Pass Christian Isles Golf Club. Crossing the bay to the west is the ruins of the Hwy. 90 bridge connecting Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama shot from a helicopter 400 feet above Waveland, Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama shot from a helicopter 400 feet above the Rigolets Pass in southern Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. This is where Lake Pontchatrain connects to Lake Borgne and the Gulf of Mexico.
The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers planned to build hurricane barriers at the Rigolets and Chef Menteur passes to prevent storm surges from reaching Lake Pontchatrain and flooding New Orleans. But in 1977 an environmental group sued because of the possible damage to the area ecosystem. Ironically, in issuing the injunction to stop the flood control project, the judge declared that if the hurricane barriers were built all persons in the area would be "irreparably harmed".
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama 400’ above the lakefront boating community of Grand Lagoon in Slidell, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama 400’ above Lake Pontchartrain north of the I-10 Twin Spans that connected New Orleans and Slidell - until destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama 400’ above the Six Flags Amusement Park between Slidell and New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. This flooding may have been from Hurricane Rita, which struck three days before this photo.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama 400 feet above the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in Orleans Parish, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. The Paris Rd. bridge is to the west. Beyond the bridge on the left is the NASA Michoud Facility, which manufactures the external fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle. Across the canal to the right you can see where the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (the MRGO - aka “Mister Go”) connects to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina flowed down this canal to the Industrial Canal, where it met water flowing south from Lake Pontchartrain, and overtopped the east levee, flooding the Ninth Ward and westward to St. Bernard Parish. Note the barges washed up on top of the levee near the base of the bridge.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial photograph shoot from a helicopter 400 above a muddy neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and three days after Hurricane Rita. This is east of Paris Rd. in Chalmette. To the south is the Mississippi River, and up river to the west you can the New Orleans skyline.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama from a helicopter 400 feet above New Orleans' flooded Ninth Ward. This is over Charbonnet St. at Miro St., east of the Inner Harbor Navigational Canal (aka Industrial Canal) between the Florida Ave. bridge and the N. Claiborne bridge where the levee was breeched during Hurricane Katrina - and again during Hurricane Rita. To the south is the Mississippi River, and upriver you can see the New Orleans skyline.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial photograph of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal (aka Industrial Canal) from a helicopter 400 feet over the Galvez St. Wharf. This is between the Florida Ave. bridge and the N. Claiborne bridge where the levee to the east was breeched during Hurricane Katrina, flooding the Ninth Ward in Arabi and eastward on to Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. The flooding shown here is from Hurricane Rita, which hit three days before this photo was taken. To the south is the Mississippi River, and upriver you can see the New Orleans skyline and the Greater New Orleans Bridge. Note Barge ING 4727, which, depending on which theory you subscribe to, was either washed over the levee, or struck the levee and actually caused the breach.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Aerial panorama near the New Orleans Superdome from a helicopter 1,000 ft. above Hwy. 90/S. Claiborne Ave. at Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. This is almost a month after Hurricane Katrina and three days after Hurricane Rita, which accounts for the almost deserted streets and highways and the eerie "ghost-town" look, especially on the Pontchartrain Expressway running across the Greater New Orleans bridge - normally the fifth busiest toll bridge in the country.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial panorama 400 feet above the 17th St. Canal at Canal #2 (Esplanade Ave), along the border of Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parish. To the southeast you can see downtown New Orleans and the Superdome. To the north just before the canal reaches Lake Pontchartrain you can see the repair work being done after Hurricane Katrina overflowed the levee, causing the concrete containment wall to collapse and flooding New Orleans.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree aerial view of the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport. This photo was taken almost a month after Hurricane Katrina, and three days after Hurricane Rita, which explains why the airport appears virtually deserted except for the hundreds of FEMA trailersRV’s lining the runway access roads.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm
Helicopter: Panther Helicopters
Pilot: Lance Panepinto
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama in front of the Tivoli Hotel in Biloxi, MS after Hurricane Katrina. The historic Tivoli Hotel, built in 1927, and the newer two story Tivoli Motel were struck by casino barges that broke free during the 30 foot storm surge. The motel was flattened, killing eight people, and the hotel suffered major damage.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina, World Wide Panorama
360 degree panorama along Hwy. 90 in Biloxi, MS after Hurricane Katrina, in front of the casino barge that struck the Tivoli Hotel and Motel, killing 8 people.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama in the Biloxi Back Bay at the Palace Casino. Katrina’s 30 foot storm surge, the highest ever recorded in America, knocked down walls in the casino parking garage and tossed the Palace Casino barge up on shore. It also finished off the old Hwy. 90 Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge, which had been partially destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969, but was still intact on the Biloxi side and used as a fishing pier. The truck is a City of Biloxi vehicle.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Point Cadet Plaza at the eastern tip of Biloxi, MS, next to the collapsed Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge. This is where Biloxi sculptor Harry Reeks bronze statue "The Biloxi Fisherman" once stood.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama after Hurricane Katrina, in front of St Michael's Catholic Church in Biloxi, across Hwy. 90 from Casino Magic, with a casino barge that washed up next door. St. Michael’s is known as the "fisherman’s church" and has been the central sponsor of Biloxi’s annual Blessing of the Fleet ceremony.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama from Hwy. 90 in Biloxi at Cedar St., across from a casino barge that was tossed ashore. This is across from St. Michael’s Catholic Church, in front of Casino Magic, with Isle of Capri to the east and Grand Casino to the west.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama next to the Biloxi Hard Rock Casino's giant guitar sign after Hurricane Katrina. As a tribute to Mississippi based musical instrument manufacturer Peavey Electronics, the Biloxi Hard Rock built the largest Hard Rock sign in the world in the shape of a 112’ tall Peavey guitar, and although damaged, it survived Katrina's 30' storm surge.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
This 360 degree panorama shows a former resident of the Water's Edge Apartments in Gulfport, MS moving his remaining possessions.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama after Hurricane Katrina showing the inside of "St. Peter’s By The Sea Episcopal Church" north of Hwy. 90 in Gulfport, MS.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama in Gulfport, MS on 19th Ave. near 15th St. after Hurricane Katrina. Whether knocked flat or still standing, most of these houses are a total loss.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama showing a work crew clearing Hurricane Katrina debris from 19th Ave. near the railroad tracks in Gulfport, MS.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama of a nearly deserted downtown Gulfport at the intersection of 14th St. and 24th Ave. After Hurricane Katrina everything south of the railroad tracks from Pass Christian to Biloxi was off limits to everyone except property owners and construction crews.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama after Hurricane Katrina in downtown Gulfport, MS, in front of the Gulf and Ship Island RR Building on 13th St., looking up 26th Ave. toward the Hancock Bank building.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
360 degree panorama after Hurricane Katrina, showing the yacht "Endorphins" washed ashore at 13th St. and 28th Ave. in downtown Gulfport, MS.
Equipment: NikonD70, Sigma 8mm, Kaidan QuickPan III
Categories: Hurricane Katrina
Start with the "Featured" category to see an assortment of my most interesting panoramas.
Select a panorama category:
Aquatennial
Black Hills
Blue Fox
Bryant Lake Bowl
Budapest
Bunker Park Stable
Chicago
Cincinnati, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Como Zoo
Corn Maze
Crazy Horse
Dayton, Ohio
Deadwood
Different
Easton Town Center
Election
Featured
First Avenue
Gibbs Museum
Government
Grand Canyon
Holidazzle Parade
Hurricane Katrina
John Hammond
KQRS
Las Vegas
Log Inn Restaurant and Bar
Mall of America
Milwaukee, WI
Minn. Downtown Council
Minneapolis
Minneapolis Library
Minnehaha Falls
Minnesota History Center
Minnesota State Fair
Misc
MN Make-A-Wish
MN Sportsmen's Show
MN State Capitol
Mt. Rushmore
Music
NASA
New Hope Bowling
Nickelodeon Family Suites
Ohio State University
Old North Bridge
Orlando
Outstate Minnesota
Rapid City
Renaissance Festival
Rev. Horton Heat
Rocky Horror Live!
Saint Paul
Shoreview
Special Olympics Minnesota
Split Rock
Sturgis
The Greene
Union Depot
University of Minnesota
Vehicles
Veterans
WCCO
Westhills
Winter
Winter Carnival
Wisconsin
World Wide Panorama
I'm now a Google Trusted Photographer offering 360 Degree Google Business Photos in the Twin Cities.
Add 360° views of your business interior to Google Street View!!
Advertising Agencies
Web Designers
I want to partner with you to offer 360° Google Business Photos to your clients! Google hosts your virtual tour in Street View, yet you'll be able to embed the tour in your current pages or create custom page designs to make the tour the feature element of the page.
Email or call 651-483-1557
Visit panoramas.dk to see why it's the
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which feature panoramas from a single photographer,
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