The Cedars of God (Arabic: أرز الربّ‎ "Cedars of the Lord") Lebanon by Karim Saad

The Cedars of God (Arabic: أرز الربّ‎ "Cedars of the Lord") are among the last survivors of the extensive forests of the Cedars of Lebanon that thrived across Mount Lebanon in ancient times. Their timber was exploited by the Assyrians, Babylonians and Persians as well as the Phoenicians. The wood was prized by Egyptians for shipbuilding; Solomon used them in the construction of the First Temple in Jerusalem and the Ottoman Empire also used the cedars in railway construction.

In 1998, the Cedars of God were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
Source Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedars_of_God

This Gigapan was taken from the Famous Ski Slopes of the Cedars from an altitude of around 2,300 m.
It was produced from 540 single shots of 18MP taken with the Canon EOS 550D (T2i) using Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM Lens.

In the foreground you can see the Cedars forest and the village
In the middle ground you can see villages like Bcharre, Bqaa Kafra, Hadchit and the Famous Holy Valley Kadisha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadisha_Valley
In the background you can see Diman, Ehden and other villages.

For more information regarding this Gigapan, you can email me at the following address: info@karimsaad.net
You can follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/karimsaad
and also visit my blog: http://karimsaad.net
For more Gigapans, checkout my user profile page: http://gigapan.org/profiles/30357/

Gigapan Photograph by Karim Saad | Copyright © 2010, All rights reserved.

Please visit the Gigapan of the Capital Beirut: http://www.gigapan.org/gigapans/67894/

GigaPan Stitch version 1.0.0804 (Macintosh)
Panorama size: 5034 megapixels (154884 x 32504 pixels)
Input images: 540 (45 columns by 12 rows)
Field of view: 123.2 degrees wide by 25.9 degrees high (top=8.4, bottom=-17.5)
Settings:
Use larger blending region
Original image properties:
Camera make: Canon
Camera model: Canon EOS 550D
Image size: 5184x3456 (17.9 megapixels)
Capture time: 2010-08-15 10:21:06 - 2010-08-15 11:04:06
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure time: 0.001
ISO: 100
Focal length (35mm equiv.): 471.8 mm
White balance: Fixed
Exposure mode: Manual
Horizontal overlap: 32.1 to 38.4 percent
Vertical overlap: 21.0 to 26.8 percent
Computer stats: 3840 MB RAM, 2 CPUs
Total time 1:55:30 (13 seconds per picture)
Alignment: 20:21, Projection: 7:37, Blending: 1:27:32
(Preview finished in 41:06)