Fri, 17 Jan 2025 11:04:50 +0000WeeblyMon, 26 Sep 2016 07:31:16 GMThttp://1-4-u-media.com/1-4-u-media-blog/how-i-shoot-360-degree-photography I have an obsession with trying to produce the best work I can and am seldom happy with my output. I know I could do things quicker and easier but I just cannot bring myself to compromise on the quality. One of the services I offer is shooting ‘’see inside’’ tours for Google. I have achieved the Status of being a Google Trusted photographer, so I can shoot and upload businesses to Google Street view.
Now recently Google have lowered the requirements for the image quality that is acceptable for these tours, originally they required 8000 x 4000 pixel but have now dropped this to 5300 x 2650 pixels. This has opened the doors to photospheres produced on point and shoot 360 cameras such as the Ricoh Theta S which produces a 5376 x 2688-pixel image, (great for Facebook with its max dimension’s being 6000 x 3000 pixels). The Ricoh Theta S is a great camera but if you’ve been used to working with DSLRs it’s a big compromise on quality.

The images I like to work with are 10000 x 5000 pixels hence there is really no comparison, I could produce bigger but this size I believe balances quality with a fast download speed. However, quality comes at a price as these images take processing. My equipment of choice is a Canon 5DS, which is a 50 Megapixel camera, fitted with a Canon EF 8-15mm Fish eye lens. I use the lens at the 8mm setting which produces a 180-degree circular fisheye image. The camera and lens are mounted on a Nodal Ninja Ultimate R20 tripod head, this is a specialist head for spherical photography which holds the camera at a 7.5-degree upwards angle and has fixed stops at 90 degree angles allowing the camera to be rotated quickly between shots. With this rig a 180 x 165-degree photosphere can be produced with just four photos.

Of course the entire rig with tripod and shutter release costs £4200 (the Theta S costs £ 299 ;-)).
When actually shooting the photospheres I like to capture the full dynamic range of the scene which invariably means taking 3 to 5 shots at stepped exposure values for each of the four directions making up the photosphere. This means that a full high dynamic range photosphere is made up of as many as 20 single photographs. Fortunately, the 5ds allows you to automatically bracket the images so you set the mean exposure for the shot and it will automatically adjust the exposure to the set steps above and below this. As you are capturing a full spherical image it is important that the camera settings are the same for each direction, hence manual is a must. I focus on infinity setting the lens to manual focus so the camera doesn’t adjust it between shots. I use an aperture of F8 so everything is in focus near and far, an ISO of 200 so the shot can be achieved quickly but without creating noise in the longer exposures, bracketing is hence achieved by altering the shutter speed.

I always shoot in RAW placing a grey card in the shot near the tripod leg to achieve the perfect white balance. I lock the mirror up and shoot in live view using a camera release cable to avoid any vibration which would cause image blur.

Once the images have been captured its back to the office for processing. With an average 30 shot tour there will be 54 Gigabytes of information to process, each photosphere being around 1.8 Gigabytes. I am a big fan of Adobe Software and subscribe to their Creative Cloud service, this for around £38 per month gives me both the most up to date photography and video editing software available. The captured images are sorted into individual folders for each photosphere using Adobe Bridge. Once sorted each folder of RAW images is imported into a program called PTGui Pro (£132). This is the best stitching software I have found; it not only handles the stitching but also the exposure fusion bringing out all the detail captured using the different exposure settings. The procedure is to import, crop, stitch, check stitching is correct, exposure fusion, preview, then if OK process and export.

I export directly as a Photoshop file keeping at 16bit colour depth so I have the maximum data to work with the colour in this program if necessary. In Photoshop, first the colour is corrected using the grey card as reference. The image is then rotated using an excellent plugin called Flexify 2 from Flaming Pear software ($54). This allows the tripod to be easily cloned out and the missing 15% at the bottom of the image covered. The image is then flipped back, checked and any other required correction’s made. These corrections can include cloning out unwanted items or personal details, unwanted reflections etc. Once happy the Photoshop file is saved, all the work in Photoshop in non-destructive so if necessary it can be adjusted again later. The photosphere is then resized to 10000 x 5000 pixels and saved as a jpeg image. The processing takes between 10 and 20 minutes per photosphere.

Next the images are uploaded to the Google Drive and imported into the Google Business View desk top editor. Here the photospheres are aligned to North, placed on the map and the links between then created to make the tour. This software is provided and maintained by Google, when it is working it is good, but it does experience a few glitches so this process can get drawn out. Each image has to be placed so when you click the arrow to move between them you are seeing exactly the same point in the next image as you move into it, then of course you have to turn back and make sure the same happens in reverse. If all goes well it takes me around 3 hours work in the software to place, align the images and create the tour.
So that’s my process for creating a high quality tour.

Googles end in this, as I see it, is information gathering for advertising. They host the tours for nothing, however the business has to sign up with them hence they get all the business details. They can then approach the business to sell them Add words, although there is no obligation to buy them. They are also able to gather statistical information from all this data, establish trends and market accordingly. The global reach of the internet if phenomenal, the more contacts you have the greater your reach, the bigger potential market you have to sell too.

 To this end, Google as mentioned before, have now lowered the standards for Google See inside acceptance. Tours can now be shot on cameras such as the Theta S and uploaded directly via the Google app.  If using these cameras there is at present obviously the lack of quality but of course as long as Google gets the business information this is not a problem for them. Hence it is important that business owners are aware of what they are getting when they book a tour. It is, as with all things in life, that you get what you pay for.  

]]>Mon, 12 Sep 2016 20:48:48 GMThttp://1-4-u-media.com/1-4-u-media-blog/why-media I have often been asked why a media business? A total change from being a ship’s Captain, well yes however, it is the same passion that has lead me in this direction. I joined the Navy all those years ago for adventure, to see the world and experience what it had to offer. I have been very fortunate to have seen and experienced some fantastic places and have hundreds of memories I can look back on with a smile. But these are my memories and are difficult to share.
Media, be it a photograph, video or computer graphics also gives you the opportunity to travel. For a brief period, your mind can be transported to that time and place. You can escape to that world and experience it without ever having to leave your own home. But unlike my memories media can be more easily shared, so everyone can enjoy the journey with you.
I also have a love of technology, Cameras, computers, software, drones etc. Even before the business I always liked the latest gear, I enjoyed finding out what it could do and pushing it to its limits. Filming and photography became a passion, a way to share things with others without boring them to death with my monotone voice. Then of course I discovered 3d software which opened up the possibility of creating whole new worlds to share, an opportunity to recreate the past or visualize the future. Journey’s in the mind, the possibilities are endless.
So in many ways by running the media business I am still traveling, it is still an adventure. I get to see and capture or recreate moments in time, to make memories. The production of media is a journey, but this journey you get to take along with you anyone who cares to accompany you. You get the satisfaction of creating something that exists beyond the confines of your mind, a living idea for people to take or leave as they wish. What could be better?

]]>Sat, 10 Sep 2016 10:39:45 GMThttp://1-4-u-media.com/1-4-u-media-blog/the-beginning-of-the-journeyHi, my name is Kev and I am one of the 7.125 billion or so people who inhabit this beautiful planet. Back in January I turned 50, yes, it is just a number but for me it was also a time to stop and reflect on my life, what I had achieved and what really mattered. Yes, you could say I had a successful career, I was a Captain in the Merchant Navy, in command of a 52-Million-pound container vessel, I had spent my life traveling the world, I was payed good money for doing so and lived a comfortable life. But was I happy? Was there job satisfaction? When I truly sat down and thought about it, NO!
The job I used to love had changed beyond recognition, I was no longer enjoying it, it was just the easiest option, go through the motions, take the money and make the most of what little time you got with your family as the next trip was always looming.
Hence I found myself at a cross road. Do I endure this for the next 15 years until I retire or do I risk everything and follow the dream that had been lurking in the back of my mind for the last ten years or so?
The previous year I had been fortunate enough to marry an amazing woman, after a long courtship she had finally said yes. Obviously neither of us were happy with the time we had to spend apart hence when we sat down and discussed it, as we made the plus and minus list the way forward became obvious, Live the dream, don’t die wondering what might have been.
In February 2016 I handed in my notice and 1-4-U Media Services Limited started operating in earnest. I intend this blog to be its story along with a few deviations into my past life and things that interest me. Who knows where it will lead, certainly not I. But if you don’t try you will never know, hence the beginning!
]]>