A view from the sky opens up a whole new dimension of understanding space, the landscape, and humanity's place within it. When we break free from the ground, the hidden textures of the Slovenian landscape, the geometry of town centers, river meanders, and the imposing lines of mountain ridges are revealed. The bird's-eye view allows us to comprehend the integrity of space—the invisible thread that connects natural heritage, architectural structures, and the geographical diversity of Slovenia into a unique whole.
As a point of interest—the pioneering beginnings of this aerial documentation date back to 1998, when I captured my first 360° aero panoramas. The technology of that era did not yet offer modern automated solutions, making execution a true technical and logistical challenge: I flew over the landscape in a helicopter, pressed a fisheye lens directly against the helicopter window, and asked the pilot to slowly rotate the aircraft around its axis while I rhythmically pressed the shutter button.
Shortly thereafter, I continued my experimentation with a custom-made L-shaped bracket. A camera was securely attached to the lower arm of this bracket, and the entire setup was mounted beneath a powered hang glider. These flights opened up breathtaking spatial views and laid the foundation for the systematic aerial documentation of Slovenia.
Today, to capture aerial panoramas, I use modern drone technology equipped with high-resolution digital cameras. Through precise multi-row photography and subsequent stitching of the images, the final 360° panoramas achieve extraordinary detail—with resolutions approaching nearly 1 Gigapixel (1 Gpix). This allows the visitor not only a comprehensive spatial view, but also deep zoom capabilities to explore the finest surface details.
The primary goal of this project is to connect all of the tens of thousands of locations I have documented over decades with spherical ground-based photography, now also from above—with a 360-degree field of view that birds experience. In doing so, a comprehensive, multi-layered spatial archive is being created, merging ground and aerial perspectives into a seamless virtual reality experience.
author: Boštjan Burger