Google has launched the ability to pan and zoom when viewing photos on Google+ from your desktop. To do so, simply open a large photo in the lightbox, then zoom in/out with your mouse wheel, and click and drag to pan right, left, up or down.

Google's Dave Cohen announced the feature in a Google+ post last night, which Google's Vic Gundotra also shared. "Higher resolution photos will offer more to explore, so we're excited to launch pan and zoom just weeks after launching full-size backups of your Android photos," he says, pointing to this page about photo uploading.

Google+ has been a draw for photographers since it first launched. It's one niche in which the succes of Google's social network is undeniable. The company has even hosted conference specifically for photographers. It stands to reason that Google will continue to build on this success as time goes on.