Mackworth Library, A 360 Panormic VR Photograph.

I meant to post this back in April but seem to forget so here it is.
This is a 360 x 180 degree interactive photograph taken near the newly opened Mackworth Library in Mackworth, Derby.
The new Mackworth Library, funded by the Big Lottery, opened on Thursday 25th March 2010 at 3pm. It was opened by Paul Pegg, chairman of Mackworth Estate Community Association.
At the opening there was a song from Reigate School Choir, and a free commemorative mug for the first six people to join the library.
When Mackworth Estate was planned out in the 1950s, it showed a library on Knightsbridge Recreation Ground but its only now that such a library has been built.
The library is located at the end of the shopping arcade on Prince Charles Avenue on the corner with Mornington Crescent.
Mackworth library is the second of three new libraries to be opened as part of a £2.7m project in the city. Last year Allenton Library opened and in june a new one opened in Chellaston.

Wait for it to load in and you can then drag the view around with the mouse (just like Google Streetview).



If you have a fast broadband connection and fast pc then try my high resolution fullscreen version :
High Resolution 360 VR Photograph of Mackworth Library, Derby.

Map location for Mackworth Library :

View Mackworth Library, Derby, Derbyshire. in a larger map

Hope you like it.
Andy

Friar Gate Bridge to be "wrapped up" for Christmas due to its poor condition.

Any Derby photographers out there that love this bridge had better make sure you take your photos sooner rather than later as safety netting is to be put up beneath Friar Gate bridge amid concerns that parts of the bridge could come loose !

It is proposed that "debris containment netting" is installed that will stop pedestrians and motorists getting hit by bits of iron work.

See what it will look like when its wrapped up:
http://eplanning.derby.gov.uk/acolnet/DocumentsOnline/documents/39560_7.pdf

I just hope that funding can be found to restore this iconic bridge before its too late to save it.
If you have not yet signed my online petition to get the bridge restored then please do so...

Friar Gate Bridge Restoration Petition.

Sign it today!
Thanks

Andy

That Post box in Manchester that was made in Derby by Andrew Handyside.

I photographed this 360 degree VR photograph back in August this year. Its a post box on Corporation Street in Manchester. It was made in Derby by a Victorian Iron Founder from Derby called Andrew Handyside.

The box has a plaque on the front of it which reads "This postbox remained standing almost undamaged on June 15th 1996 when this area was devestated by a bomb. The box was removed during the rebuilding of the city centre and was returned to the original site on November 22nd 1999".

The image below is interactive, once its fully loaded in you can control the view with your mouse.




If you have a fast broadband connection then try my High Resolution VR photograph of Manchester Post Box.

If you would like to learn more about the Derby company Andrew Handyside then watch this space as I have spent the last three months putting hundreds of hours of research into this company. Even though I am from Derby and into local History I feel that this company seems to have been forgotten about and yet their creations are all around the world today. Keep an eye out for my Handyside project as I promote it in the following months.

Thanks
Andy

Autumn is on its way, Markeaton Park in Autumn video.

Autumn is on its way so I thought I would post a video that I made a couple of years ago now. I filmed it in Markeaton Park in Derby.
I should really go and make another one of these using my new camera equipment and using better video editing that I now use. Anyway sit back and enjoy my relaxing video in this popular Derby park :



I also have a winter in Markeaton park video.

Thanks
Andy

360 degree Panorama of Burton Road, Warwick Avenue Crossroads at night.

The current themed event has just closed on the World Wide Panorama website and the theme for this event was "Crossroads" so for my entry I created a 360x180 degree VR photograph at the major crossroads in Derby where Warwick Avenue meets Burton Road and Manor Road. If you live in Derby you will know only too well that this juntion has rather a lot of traffic using it so my plan was to take my panorama in the middle of the night to show a different view of it. I'm sure you will agree I've certainly captured it at peace.!
 
Click the link here to see my panorama :
Burton Road, Warwick Avenue Cross Roads panorama.

This requires Flash (i.e. if you use YouTube then it will work).

Please check out all many other entries around the planet by other VR photographers :
All entries for the Crossroads event.

Thanks
Andy

Water droplets on spider webs due to fog in Derby.

If you live in Derby then I dare say you can't have missed the heavy fog this morning. It had the effect of revealing all of the spider webs which looked amazing.
Here are a couple of photographs I took of one of them using my Canon Ixus 430 set to Macro mode with the flash on.






Hope you like my pics.
Andy

How to get your Epson Perfection 1200U Flatbed Scanner running on Windows7 64 bit.

Updated November 2015 with working link to driver file.

Anyone with this scanner should find this post of use.
I have owned an Epson Perfection 1200U Flatbed scanner since about 2000, a great quality scanner. I recently upgraded my main PC to Windows 7 64 bit after sticking with Windows XP for many years. When I went to the Epson support website to get the latest drivers I was annoyed to find that the Epson Perfection 1200U is NOT supported for Windows7 at all. None of the drivers would work with it. I did not want to have to buy another scanner as there was nothing wrong with this one.

After much searching I found an answer and it worked perfectly, I have been using it for a few days without any problems. Thankfully someone has altered a driver for another Epson scanner then repacked it for the Epson Perfection 1200U.



1) Make sure you have removed any previous failed driver installs.
2)  Download the Windows 7 64bit driver here:
Windows 7 64bit driver for Epson Perfection 1200U

3) Extract the setup files and run setup.
4) Once it has installed the driver connect the flatbed scanner to the USB port. It should say it found the driver ok and the device is ready to use.
5) Double click the "EPSON Scan" icon on your desktop and it should show this panel (I changed the view to Professional Mode using the top right button)

6) Give it a go! All the functions seem to work ok.
To recap this is the Windows 7 64 bit driver for an Epson Perfection 1200U flatbed scanner.

Adding the Epson Perfection 1200U into Paint Shop Photo Pro X3:
1) Once you have followed my instructions above run PSP
2) Goto the File menu - Import - TWAIN Source and select "WIA-EPSON Perfection 1200 1.0(32-32)" and click Select button. You can now scan documents directly into PSP using the Scan button in PSP.

Andy

Video : Crich Tramway Museum Beetle Drive September 2010

I finally managed to edit together my video of this years Beetle Drive at Crich Tramway Museum which I recorded on Sunday 5th September 2010.



As you can see its complete Chaos with Trams Camper Vans and Beetles all driving up and down the main run at Crich Tramway Museum.





I have recently upgraded to Windows7 64bit and had lots of problems with Sony Vegas 9 so it took a while to work around the issues I had with it.

Hope you enjoy my video
Thanks
Andy