2/3 Way There!

The ol' Fire Tower in Taylor County, Georgia, USA - about 2/3rd to the tower.

The Georgia Forestry Commission's post in Taylor County still has, in great condition, one of the few remaining Fire Towers. The Fire Towers are no longer used and it is uncommon for them to be utilized. It is considered rather dangerous to climb them in any condition, and in fact it is illegal to do so without permission.

You'll see it was a hazy start to Summer! I hope to return soon to take a pano of the tower room itself as well as peering out the windows.

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USA-Canada / USA-Georgia

Lat: 32° 33' 40.921" N
Long: 85° 16' 5.101" W

Elevation: ~75-100

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Camera: Nikon D70, Lens: Sigma 8mm F/4, Pano Head: Agnos MRotatorTCPShort, Leveller: Bogen - Manfrotto 3502, Tripod: Bogen - Manfrotto 055MF3, White Balance (Neutral): Whi-Bal, RAW Converter: Bibble Pro 4.10a, Stitching: PTGUI Pro 8.0 beta 4, Rendering: Pano2QTVR 1.6.6 Pro Flash

Strapping the tripod to the nearest verticle beam and folding the legs in, I was able to rotate the camera and take photos with one hand while supporting the tripod with the other. The result was a semi-handheld panorama with no nadir or zenith; instead I shot up and down at 30° angles at each of the four corners.

The tower was locked, unfortunately, as I arrived too late to be let into it. I had to settle for the stairs. The tower was shaking and the wind was perpetual. And chances, are, if it weren't for the good Doctor Catrett, I never would have gotten these shots. He discovered me by accident, and took pity on my extreme acrophobia. (I *promise* never to ask "What's up, Doc?" to which he'd answer "a nervous wreck of a photographer!")

My inexperience with the advanced usage of PTGUI is obvious, as is the sketchy "Photoshopping" of the resulting image. You'll find more bad stitching in it than a roomful of blind quilters, and photoshopping so bad even the fake Sasquatch photo guy would laugh and point. Trust me, it was a miracle to get this much!

So I figure that since I was 2/3 the way to the top, and about 2/3 the way into knowing about this art and in skill level, that the title was more than appropriate and certainly thematic in more ways than one.

By the way, THANK YOU to the WWP team for allowing me this late entry!

Dedicated to my children, Xenius and Kaia, and to my wife Jana for putting up with me. I love you guys...

There is a Geocaching cache dedicated to this tower named ASSIGNMENT: Fire Tower -- Taylor County

geocaching.com

Waypoints:
NEW: GC1DAAT (available as of 12JUL2008)
(OLD: GCYVRJ - archived)
My GC name: SIXIT