Retired physicist Graham Flint is using decommissioned Cold War technology to take ultra-high-resolution pictures of America. Each image clocks in at 4 gigapixels.

Each image can fill an entire DVD with data and the largest print could possibly measure 48 feet long and 24 feet high.

A photograph of a San Diego beach shows a paraglider swooping over bluffs. Zoom in on some tiny dots on the cliff, and a group of people with binoculars and telephoto lenses can be seen. Follow their gaze, and you’ll see naked sunbathers on the beach.

“We might have to add fig leaves in Photoshop, it’s that good,” said Flint.

Flint’s Gigapxl Project is an attempt to capture America in a series of very high-resolution portraits. Beginning in 2000, Flint has made about 1,000 gigapixel photographs during long road trips covering thousands of miles. His last trip lasted six weeks, stretched 9,000 miles and resulted in 150 images.

“I photograph all the major cities and parks, all the things people want to visit,” Flint said, “all the things that are quintessentially representative of the place I’m in.” Flint has photographed the Grand Canyon, ghost towns in California and Jefferson’s Monticello — all in astonishing detail.

I’m in love with his San Diego Night pic and I haven’t even visited San Diego.

(via wirednews)