These Videos Will Change the Way You Think About Travel Photography Forever

A new technique lets you zoom through the world without leaving your desk

If you love to travel, you probably wish your vacations could go on forever—and that your photographs could capture a tiny fraction of the thrill of each new adventure. Now, a photographer has figured out a way to capture that exhilaration with a new photographic technique, reports PetaPixel’s Michael Zhang. And the results just might change the way you think about travel photography forever.

The technique is called HyperZoom, and it’s the brainchild of pro photographer Geoff Tompkinson. By stitching together a carefully-choreographed series of photographs using a special rig and some serious post-production skills, Tompkinson is able to make the camera seem to fly across vast distances—over water, through boats and into houses—with a single, one-take effect. 

For the video above, Tomkinson spent time in Hallstatt, Austria. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the village is situated in the Eastern Alps. Hallstatt only has 946 residents, but its crystal clear water, breathtaking peaks and adorably quaint buildings attract thousands of visitors each year. Thanks to Tompkinson, you can count yourself among their ranks—his HyperZoom sequence is like a virtual tour. 

You might think that the videos you see here made use of a drone. But there’s no drone required. Rather, Tomkins relies on creativity, planning and a lot of patience—on his website, he writes that the technique took him over a year to perfect. For anyone behind a computer screen, the results are more than worth the wait. Here are a few more of Tompkinson’s HyperZoom creations:

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