Islay Photosynths

A little bit like panoramas, but then again different as they allow you to ‘walk around’ buildings or other landmarks and look at them from different angles, that's how I try to explain Photosynth. Microsoft explains with these words: ‘In simple terms, Photosynth allows you to take a bunch of photos of the same scene or object and automagically stitch them all together into one big interactive 3D viewing experience that you can share with anyone on the web.’

Of course I had to try this out with a few places on Islay, take lots of pictures of a place and then create the photosynth. So far I'm quite pleased with the outcomes, you can really look at building from many different angles, zoom in and out and more. Just to give you an idea here are three screenshots from the Laphroaig distillery photosynth, demonstrating some of the different views:

So far I have created three Islay photosynths, although I hope to create further ones. Ideas and suggestions are welcome, ideally of buildings or landmarks with a lot of textures. The current ones are:

1. Laphroaig Distillery
2. Bowmore Round Church
3. Islay Hotel Port Ellen

I hope you'll enjoy the Islay Photosynths!

My first Islay photosynth, a view of Laphroaig distillery. Taken from various points outside of the visitor centre it shows the reception and offices towards the left and the famous warehouse no.1 towards the right. There's quite a lot of detail to discover, if you zoom in you'll find the Royal Warrant of Prince Charles over the stairs.

I took the pictures on a beautiful sunny day in October 2009, after having arrived with the ferry from the mainland just a few hours earlier.

When thinking of ideal places for a Photosynth on Islay the Round Church in Bowmore quickly came to mind. It's a place you really want to see from different angles to fully appreciate it. Taken from various points along High Street at the junction with Main Street you can look at the church from the front as well as from the side.

Unfortunately the weather wasn't that good any more when I took the pictures for this Photosynth, a few days later also in October 2009.

You might be familiar with the Islay Hotel in Port Ellen panoramas, where I'm trying to document the progress of the project. They are all taken from one spot, with the Photosynth you can look at the under construction building from different angles:

The pictures were also taken in October 2009 (before the walls were painted), I used various viewpoints on Frederick Crescent and the corner to Charlotte Street. I recommend walking from the harbour towards Charlotte Street to get several good views of the building.