Photographer’s spectacular panoramic views catching the eye.

Perth photographer offering a virtual exploration of spectacular skylines

A Tayside photographer is giving isolating communities the chance to explore outdoors with a series of spectacular panoramas of some of Scotland’s best known skylines.

Craig Stephen has been working on his huge interactive gigapixel project for more than 12 years.

He decided to unveil the photos during lockdown, to offer people a virtual tour of cities including Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

Viewers can play with the highdefinition vistas and zoom in to explore streets and buildings.

As well as famous locations such as Edinburgh Castle and Dundee’s waterfront, there are shots of Craig’s home city of Perth taken from – among other locations – Pomarium Street, South Inch and Craigie Hill.

Some of the images of the Fair City were taken during lockdown and show rainbow posters in the windows of houses.

Craig said: “These images have never been seen before, but now seemed like an appropriate time to dig out the archives in hope of entertaining folk while they are stuck at home. Though not able to freely move around, they can still wander in essence.”

The process of creating the largescale vistas involves capturing hundreds of photographs taken while moving the camera incrementally in rows, then stitching them together in post production.

The file is then uploaded to the internet, where viewers can scroll around and zoom in.

Craig said the panoramas create files of many gigabytes in size and, if printed, they would result in photographs some 30 metres wide.

He said he was encouraged by the response from the public after posting the shots on his website, adding: “It is clear that there is a real appetite for this kind of virtual exploration at the present time – the feedback I’ve had from people has inspired me to go out and update some of the imagery

“For now I am only documenting in the Perth area, but once lockdown restrictions are eased I will be adding further to the collection.”

Craig began his project while working as a commercial photographer for The Scotsman Publications in Edinburgh.

“I’d climb up the Edinburgh hills during my lunch breaks and take the hundreds of photographs required to make the panoramas,” he said.

“Working in Edinburgh at the time, I was aware of just how quickly the landscape was changing and wanted to document the city as it was, while taking in the widest view with the most detail.”

The photos can be viewed at craigstephen.co.uk

“It is clear that there is a real appetite for this kind of virtual exploration. CRAIG STEPHEN

Pictures: Craig Stephen. A spectacular view of Pomarium Street in Perth, which is Craig’s home city.

Photographer Craig Stephen has published “interactive” panoramic shots of Scottish cities.

A panoramic view of Dundee and its waterfront, pictured looking across the river from Fife.