Category Archives: Photography

3D Virtual Tours of the World’s Great Sites

If you are looking to whet your appetite for travel and need some visual inspiration, then you have to take a look at this 3D virtual tour site showcasing some fantastic high definition photography and 360 degree views of some of the greatest places on our planet.

AirPano is a non-commercial project set up by a group of russian photographers and panorama enthusiasts who focus on taking high resolution 3D aerial panoramas of the most interesting places of our planet.

Normally they shoot from a helicopter but they also use light jets, hot air balloons and radio-controlled helicopter models. They have already have created more than 250 panoramas showing about 70 places around the world and have amassed an amazing photogallery of images.

The panoramas can be opened in two different resolutions – high resolution panorama with the best quality is about 7 Mb large and it is suitable for fast internet connections and modern computers and low resolution panorama which is no more than 2 Mb. They are also available in Ipad and Phone format.

They have also included some history and facts into each location and various view points on different locations they have chosen.

Here is a small selection we have chosen to show you just to whet your appetite!

3D / 360 Degree View of Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe / Zambia

3D / 360 Degree View of Bryce Canyon – USA

3D / 360 Degree View of Cape Town – South Africa

3D / 360 Degree View of Machu Picchu – Peru

3D / 360 Degree View of Pyramids of Giza – Egypt

3D / 360 Degree View of Bagan – Myanmar

Check out the fill list of panoramic virtual tours here.

 

About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.

Image Resources, Websites to Gain Exposure for your Photography PLUS ways to Integrate your Images into your Website, Blog and Social Marketing

Facebook

Photo posts get more views and interactions on Facebook than most other posts. Set up a free business page and start getting exposure on a site with over 800 million users. If you need help check us out and ask away

Twitter

With the new style twitter you can add photos directly to Twitter and also view photos and videos within the timeline.

See how photos are shared on twitter and also meet the TOP 15 Photographers on Instagram – and perhaps take a look at their Twitter accounts and see how they are doing it.

Flickr

The online photo site where you can network with like-minded people and showcase your photography. Includes social share options and comments. There are free and paid accounts so check what suits you. Make sure you TAG as many things about the photos as possible as these are linked to the search box. This increases the chance of more people visiting your work.

You can also easily integrate your photos or slideshows with other programmes or for example, using Tiltviewer and other programmes you can add slideshows and galleries to your website and blog with options to automatically update these sites and galleries as and when you update Flickr.

Wikimedia Commons

This is the media section of Wikipedia. A professional photographer stands a good chance of getting their pictures “featured” or even as a “featured picture of the day” on the front page which has around 40k page views/day!

Stock.XCHNG

Free stock images that anyone can use for their own blogs and websites. Great for exposure as a photographer and increasing traffic back to your own website by including the URL in your profile.

iStockphoto / Shutterstock / Fotalia and other Image Libraries

Make money by selling your photos through these websites. If you are looking for images and videos to use on your website, blog, for print or promotional work that you can use without infringing copyright laws, then take a look at these sites to buy royalty free stock – be sure to check the conditions of use!

RedBubble

A great way for photographers to attempt to make some money on the side by selling prints and t-shirts. When you sign up you will receive your own blog, allowing you to post whatever you like. This is a great feature as search engines such as Google can pick up your blog and bring more traffic to your profile.

You can price your own prints, so you sell your work for the price you feel it is worth. All the profit from the image will go to you (RedBubble will just take the cost of production from you).

Copyright and Terms of Use – beware of copyright breach or you could get a fine!

Although you may not make a fortune selling photographs through an image library as opposed to your own site, it does take away the hassle, the cost of marketing it and also they are able to digitally track your images and see when they are used in breach of copyright (as many include some sort of digital signature which you cannot see).

For the end user you must ensure you check all terms and conditions on image site – if it says Free it often means you must include a credit or link to the site or author. If you buy royalty free then it means you pay for the image but often it can only be used then for one client or in one website.

People often assume if you find an image on Google search, you can just use it. However this is not the case and if you do use an image you may be in breach of Copyright – should the author have this image digitally tracked then you could end up paying a very hefty fine!

Just connect with your social media to comment on this blog (any questions or comments welcome) or get in touch with Karen at Mamba Media to find out more!

About the Author: Karen Black is the Co-founder and Director of Mamba Media – a Creative Agency that specialises in Websites, Design and Digital Marketing for the Travel and Tourism Industry.