Virtual Tour: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

[demmiblue]

http://naturalhistory.si.edu/vtp/1-desktop/

[Kelvin Mace]

1. Way cool to start, but needs work

They need to clean up photos where glare has made placards unreadable, or provide pop up to make them easy to read. Also, a number of exhibits are poorly lit which causes them to be in shadow, losing detail.

It is a brilliant idea, so I feel a bit bad critiquing it, but those are the things that became obvious within ten minutes of using it. If this is the beta, I look forward to the final app.

[BlueMTexpat]

2. Neat!

Thanks for posting!

[SheilaT]

3. Really cool, but it is a bit awkward to use.

I wonder when it was they shut it down for the photography, since normally, if I recall correctly, the Smithsonian is only closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

Some 40 years ago I was a docent at the Natural History Museum, trained to give the highlights tour. I was actually one of several taken on in preparation for the Bicentennial, in anticipation of many foreign visitors. I actually gave one tour in French that summer.

It's been far too long since I've been there, probably twenty years now. When I lived in the DC area, both before and after my stint as a docent, I loved going down to the Mall and spending hours in one of the wonderful museums there. I miss that.

[csziggy]

4. In the Africa area if you look at the skylights it seems to be night

That would be the easiest time to do it

[SheilaT]

5. In any of the halls with windows

(which were a lot more of them when I was a docent) it's clearly daylight. And it's daylight looking out the front door o the rotunda.

[csziggy]

6. Maybe they did those shots last summer?

According to their website the museum closes at 5:30PM most of the time and stays open to 7:30PM for special events. In the summer it can be light very late - in June sunset is about 8:30 leaving three hours for photography. Or they could do it before people arrive - the museum opens at 10 AM and sun rise is before 6 AM giving four hours to work before the public arrives. In the morning would probably be more practical - the cleaning crew would have all night to work so everything would be clean.

Time sources -
http://naturalhistory.si.edu/calEvents/hours.asp
http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/washington-dc?month=6&year=2016

[SheilaT]

7. Aha! Why didn't I think to check out their hours?

Thank you. For some reason I was blissfully thinking it stayed open until 9pm or so most evenings, but nope.

And a properly organized photographer, or team of them maybe, would probably be able to figure out how they wanted to do the photography and it might all be done in just one or two days.

Sometimes I overcomplicate things in my head.

[csziggy]

9. I needed to check the hours anyway - we're going to Alexandria in November

I'll be in a seminar for four days and my husband is planning to go into DC to go to the museums. We haven't finalized plans but will probably stay over a few days so I can go to the Smithsonian. I haven't been since 1964!

[SheilaT]

10. I'm jealous.

I haven't been back there since 2007, and I didn't get to any of the museums that trip.

What I'd really love to do is to go there and stay for about six weeks and once again really see everything.

[csziggy]

11. I don't do big cities much so it's been fifty years since I've been back

But I like to go to these seminars when I can and if they have a class I'd find interesting. While I was having all my health issues my husband would take me. Now I could do it alone but since he's retired, he comes along and finds stuff to do while I'm in class. Usually that means hiking and bird watching, but from Alexandria he can hop on the Metro and get to the museums in DC.

[shraby]

8. We went there on our senior trip in 1960. I was absolutely fascinated with the place.

[Kaleva]

12. Rec'd and bookmarked! It's OPs like this that keep me coming to DU.

[demmiblue]

14. To my fellow Michigander:

http://riveracourtdetroitinstituteofarts.synthescape.com/

[Kaleva]

15. Thanks!

[lunatica]

13. thanks! Good tour