Malvern Town Hall
Malvern Town Hall is a magnificent Second Empire and Italianate style Victorian era building built between 1885 and 1886. Architects Wilson and Beswicke.
Collingwood Town Hall
Collingwood Town Hall is a magnificent Victorian-era building built between 1885 and 1887. Architect George R Johnson.
Capturing Melbourne 360° in 2017 from Scots Church Spire
WEST SPHERE CAMERA FRAMES
In describing the panoramic views over the ages from Scots Church Spire I made this statement: “In 2017 we give you a modern view from the same location. SonyA7R2, Cmos sensor, developed in Photoshop”.
Ok, I have to admit that it was not quite that easy! Here, I take you on a 2017 tour of the Spire and Church https://www.hiddenmelbourne.com.au/buildings/scots-church/
The spire has (to my knowledge), only been accessed by panoramic photographers on 4 occasions:
1841: Samuel Jackson's highly detailed sketch from the scaffolding surrounding the low roof of the first church building.
1875: Paterson Bros wet plate collodion photographs from the scaffolding, when the new church was built with a tall spire.
1989: Val Foreman large format film photographs from the scaffolding, when the spire was being rebuilt after an earlier lightning strike blew it off. These images are being processed into a 360° view and will be added.
2017: no scaffolding to access the exterior. Hidden Melbourne made the climb up the tower via the narrow winding spiral stone staircase and captured a sequence of images which were then developed and joined into a 360° panoramic using a computer.
The Spire has small balconies on two sides, accessible from a very narrow stone spiral staircase. Here you can see the caretaker Rick at the top of the stairs. On sides 1 & 4 with the narrow balconies, my camera had to be held out at an angle using a carbon fibre pole, secured to my belt with a tether line. Here you can see the view down to Collins St.
On the other two sides there is only an inaccessible “faux” balcony. We had to go down the stairs then up into the central spire chamber to access two flaps in the wall, through which I had to carefully poke my camera (tethered).
The images captured all around the spire exterior were then joined to give a 360° view of the exterior.
That was the toughest part of the job.
Melbourne in 1841, 1875 and 2017 from same location
By developing new coding techniques, Hidden Melbourne is able to show you a 360° Panoramic view of Melbourne over time, captured from a church which has been in place since early settlement.
We start with Samuel Jackson's highly detailed 1841 Sketch of Melbourne from Scots Church.
The young architect is said to have used the stave of a barrel to align his viewpoint as he sat on the church under construction.
Using a Camera Obscura to project onto a sheet of paper, he sketched the view in front of him in great detail. He then rotated the camera and continued to sketch section by section to create a seamless 360° view of Melbourne on a sheet of paper 18″ high by 18ft long. This magnificent panorama recently featured in the “Colony” exhibition at the NGV.
We then allow the viewer to switch to an 1875 panoramic view from the same location (albeit a newer, higher church tower). Ten highly detailed photographic plates were captured by the Paterson Bros and show a bustling Metropolis, the second largest city in the British Empire (after London), funded by the gold rush. We can only imagine how tough it was to carry large glass plates up to the spire, sensitize them and expose while wet, then chemically fix them to preserve the image.
In 2017, Hidden Melbourne made the climb up the tower via the narrow winding spiral stone staircase (thanks to Scots Church) and captured a sequence of images on a Sony A7R2, CMOS sensor, which were then developed and joined into a 360° panoramic using a computer. No glass plates or nasty chemicals involved!
Utilise the attached Google map to show you the viewing direction.
Please enjoy this walk through time https://www.hiddenmelbourne.com.au/ScotsChurchThenAndNow
Dual Panoramas – Hotham Town Hall 1876
Mark & I had some fun this week at Hotham Town Hall.
While I was capturing 360° panoramas with my stumpy fisheye lens, Mark was shooting a high resolution panorama of the city view.
What my lens sees as 5036 px wide, Mark's 50mm lens delivers as a 16671px wide view.
You can open this view and zoom right in, from a hotspot looking towards the city.
