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What makes our programs unique and
valuable to visitors? How do we ensure the accuracy
of our content and programs? How do we know what is
environmentally important to include in our programs?
Collaboration with the National
Park Service and Cooperating Associations!
Before we shoot a single picture in a park,
we begin a process of collaboration with the NPS and
Cooperating Association. We work with the rangers to
identify what sites are important in the park, and we
communicate with the Associations to see what is important
to visitors. With this information, we make a list of
sites to photograph, and plan our approach. All through
the process, we work with NPS Rangers and Association
staff to make sure that we have the right content in
the program, and that it is accurate and correct right
from the start.
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Snapshot from a 360 Degree Panorama
taken in the Bell Cord Room by NPS rangers. The Rangers
were trained by Four Chambers Studio on how to photograph
the caves in 360 degree format. |
Dry Tortugas National Park Case Study:
In March 2004, Cal Singletary, President of the
Florida National Park
and Monuments Association contacted Four Chambers
Studio at the Association
for Public Parks and Lands Conference regarding production
of an interpretive program for one or more of the parks
they serve. Over the next year, the project 360
Degrees of Dry Tortugas National Park was planned.
In April 2005, our crew traveled to Dry
Tortugas National Park to work with Rangers there
to photograph the amazing sites on the keys. Working with
Chief Interpretive Ranger Mike Ryan, we photographed numerous
sites on the islands that visitors are not allowed to
access, such as the casemate cistern,
the Loggerhead Lighthouse, and the Tower
Powder Magazine. Over 50 sites were photographed
and in the months that followed, we continued to work
with the park as the interpretive text was written and
verified for accuracy. In September, 2005, the CDROM
was released, and a plasma-screen display was installed
at the visitor center. Today, after weathering the hurricanes
of 2005, the Park is open to the public again and visitors
are now touring areas of the park in person and through
the virtual tour display at the visitor center.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park Case Study:
The story of collaboration at Carlsbad
Caverns National Park is still ongoing. The process
for production of the first CDROM
recently released has followed a strong model of cooperation
and collaboration between Four Chambers Studio, the National
Park Service, and the Carlsbad
Caverns Guadalupe Mountains Association. Now we have
embarked on a new type of collaboration with the NPS and
CCGMA. In October 2005, we traveled to the park to train
the NPS staff on how to take 360 degree photographs. The
photographs require special equipment and special training.
With the added difficulty of shooting in total darkness,
the cavern photographs are some of the most difficult
to take. Despite the difficulty, the NPS has already successfully
photographed a number of caves and the collaboration continues
as we add new sites to the interpretive program. Visitors
will soon be able to experience and access (via virtual
tour), some parts of the Cavern that are visited only
by personnel with technical caving experience.
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Ranger-Led Virtual
Tours
in the Parks |
Interpretive
Virtual Tour
Exhibits and Displays |
Collaboration
with NPS and Cooperating Associations |
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"Your 360 degree product has
been one of the most outstanding products to come along in
a very long time. Your product provides visitors to the South
Rim of Grand
Canyon National Park an opportunity to view areas of the
inner canyon that most would never have the opportunity to
view in person. This added perspective helps people to understand
the diversity of this resource and adds value to their educational
experience. As educators in support of this world-class resource,
we applaud the quality of your product and would like to thank
you for its development."
- Brad Wallis
Executive Director, Grand
Canyon Association
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