Here is a virtual tour that has just gone live on the Stuart Line Cruises website this week of their boats. For this project my client requested virtual tours of their cruise boats to include still photo popup's of features in and around them. The images where embedded into the tour in such a way that my client could update them if and when they chose to, hence them being blank in this version. Read more about this virtual tour project and view the tour by clicking here...
Here is something I've been playing around with recently, photos which you can interactive with by hovering your mouse (or using your finger if on a touch device). The method I use to create the images is very similar to that which I use to create spinning object photographs. This is something I've wanted to have a play around with for a couple years and finally found some time to do so. They're not perfect images, just a bit of fun really. Let me know what you think on my Facebook page here.
Have a detailed look inside the Forum at the University of Exeter with my Gigapixel 360vr photograph taken last week. This is the first image produced with my new high resolution panoramic rotator which will go to a much higher resolution than this, sadly my computer wont cope with it just yet so I will have to wait until build a new one for this purpose hopefully later this year. I was really pleased with the process of photographing and building the image despite the fact that one of my computers was busy for 60 hours rendering it. Looking forward to producing more of these images.
An introduction to Spherical Panoramic photography at The Exeter Phoenix, Tuesday 16th April 2013 - 10:30am – 5:30pm
The course is designed to teach a basic understanding of Spherical Panoramic photography, also
known as 360vr and used to create virtual tours. The course will take you through the various
hardware and software required to produce these images, give you the knowledge of how to create
them yourselves and show you how to upload to 360 cities where you can share your 360vr images
with people around the world.
Recently I was commissioned by Kivells & Husseys Chartered Surveyors to photograph Ramslade Farm which is currently for sale. The property has some amazing views with Dartmoor in one direction and the other looking back towards Exeter and in the distance the exe estuary, Dawlish and the sea.
Click here to view a 360 degree interactive photo and a selection of the still photography of the property and land.
Here is my first Gigapixel Panorama with my new panoramic head looking over Exeter from the top of the Barley Valley Nature Reserve. It is an awesome view from this point of the city and a nice walk across the fields. You can clearly make out Exeter landmarks such as Exeter Cathedral, Millers Crossing, John Lewis, Exeter College, University of Exeter and much more.
Here is my latest Google Streetview tour of the Exeter Phoenix. The tour takes you through reception, gallery areas, cafe/bar, auditiorium and upto the media area to the black box studio via the editing suites. The virtual tour also goes upstairs to the various large studio and art rooms. It links back to Gandy Street and Queen Street on the existing Streetview media provided by Google.
New video from Google published today featuring businesses who have used Google Business Photos and how well it is working for them. I have had much interest in this service, looks like I might have a busy year shooting these tours. For more infomation have a look at my Google Business Photos website www.realspin.co.uk and view the video below.
Here is a selection of the virtual tour images that I have produced for the University of Exeter this year. They have some amazing new buildings, the architecture of the new Forum building is stunning. I have produced many more images for the University this year which you can see on previous blog posts and a new one coming soon - watch this space !!
Cathedra900 Exhibition (13:48 Monday 3rd December 2012)
Earlier this year I was commissioned by artist Mark Ware to produce an interactive virtual tour of a 3D banner exhibition that he was displaying at Exeter Cathedral. He wanted to record the exhibition as it was quite an unusual location and the use of 360 interactive photograph was ideal for this. We added area hotspots around the banners so that when you click on them they popup within the interactive image for closer viewing. Pop some red & blue 3D glasses on and view the images in 3D !
Last week Holt JCB in Exeter handed over a number of new machines to one of their clients. I was asked to photograph the occasion, here are some of the images.
This year I was out photographing Caravan Club holiday parks again, a little trickier this year as sunny days where few and far between. We did get some though and I managed to capture some lovely images for the Caravan Club again. I always enjoy the challenge of photographing these sites and capturing people spending their holidays in them.
Kate Walters from the Caravan Club kindly gave me this testimonial:
"Peter is an excellent photographer and always follows the brief well. He provides a good variety of shots and manages to capture all the features of a site. Due to the locations of our sites it is difficult for me to be present at all photoshoots and I know that I can trust Peter to go out with a brief and get the shots I need."
The Mill on the Exe Google Street View tour (11:56 Tuesday 30th October 2012)
New Google Street View virtual tour around the Mill on the Exe Pub in Exeter. Great pub, local to me and am pleased to have been able to produce this for them.
The Street View tour is quite comprehensive and visits many of the nooks & crannies in the pub. You can also walk down the path to the seating area right next to the weir.
Google Street View tours like this one are really valuable to pub’s & restaurants as they show in detail the layout, decor and ambiance of the business. From my point of view with a young family I can make sure the pub is suitable before visiting and even pick out the table we would like to sit at. Click the link to visit my Google Business Photos blog with the link to the tour www.realspin.co.uk
Exeter Real Food Store Google Street View Virtual Tour (11:25 Thursday 25th October 2012)
I visited Cofton Holiday Park again along with Claire Lindstrand from Department707 in September this year (2012) to complete the photography for their new brochure. We produced a number of images varying from a family eating lunch, the new Gym, Food (yum!), the Swimming Pool, Fishing lakes etc... It was another long day and the holiday park now has lots of new photography for their marketing. Click here to view some of the photographs...
Here's a virtual tour of a stunning modern property I recently photographed, you might recognize it from the Channel 4 program Grand Designs. I particularly like the fireplace in this house, wow ! Click here to view the tour.
I am now proud to announce that I am a Google Trusted Photographer, which allows me to produce Google Business Photos, including Streetview photography inside businesses.
One of my first Streetview tours was of Exeter Cathedral, enabling viewers to walk through the doors and move around the Nave via a number of different images. You can then walk through the Quire, the Lady Chapel and into the Chapter House. You can also have a look in the Cathedral shop. The whole tour is made up from 30 panoramic photographs. Search for Exeter Cathedral on Google and follow the link to the Streetview tour. The tour joins the existing Streetview footage along Bear Street, Palace Gate and South Street.
Google Business Photos uses Streetview virtual tour technology along with traditional still photography to showcase businesses on Google Maps allowing people who search online to walk through, explore and take a closer look businesses. Not only will these images appear on Google searches, Google Maps and Google+ Local, but Street View can easily be embedded into the business own website, social media pages and more. This is a great opportunity for businesses to showcase there premises online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also providing situational awareness placing the business into its surrounding environment giving customers an interactive visual experience.
Cathedra 900 Exhibition at Exeter Cathedral (11:28 Tuesday 25th September 2012)
Yesterday I had the pleasure of producing some interactive 360vr photography for Mark Ware and his Cathedra 900 Exhibition at Exeter Cathedral. Cathedra 900 is a multimedia art project created by artist Mark Ware that is being presented within Exeter Cathedral. The ‘900’ in the project’s title refers to the estimated age of the building. Cathedra 900 is a collection of six separate, but art related art events including the 3D banners you can see in this image. Please watch this space for the interactive 360vr images and check out the Cathedra 900 website here http://cathedra900.com/
Over the years I have collected a number of images of Exeter Cathedral, a few had been made into a virtual tour but only worked on flash. I have no brought it up to date with a few newer images and it now works in flash and html5. I will be working on more images of the Cathedral and will add them to the tour in the future.
While at the University of Exeter on a photo shoot recently I had a play with one of the touch screen information kiosks that they have installed in the new Forum building, I shot a short video of one of my virtual tours in use on it. Kiosks are great for displaying virtual tours as you can see here. I can supply kiosks to run virtual tours like the 19" one in the video up to larger sizes. Please contact me for more information.
Here is a 360vr shot from a recent virtual tour shoot from the front of the Pride of Exmouth boat looking over Dawlish Warren. Keep your eye out on my website for the full tour in the following weeks. Click here to interact with the image
Cofton Holiday Park have recently had new facility's built and commissioned myself to shoot some new photography to update their website and printed marketing. We picked a couple lovely days and captured some lovely scenes around the holiday park, some even look like it could have been a location near the Mediterranean.
I was fortunate to work alongside Claire Lindstrand from Department707 on this shoot who assisted with art direction, it was a pleasure working with her and I look forward to doing so again in the future.
A couple new pieces of equipment turned up recently for a new virtual tour service that I will be offering soon. A Sigma 8mm Fisheye lens and a 360 Precision Atome panorama head. This setup will allow greater speed of producing 360vr images with only 4 images required to build an image. Sadly the quality of the panoramic images that I will produce with this setup won’t be as good as the 10.5mm lens with my 360 Precision Absolute head which requires 8 images to produce a 360vr but perfection isn’t what the new setup is all about. I will reveal more info soon about the new service.
