Henry Stuart of Sphericalimages started the VR business in May 2006. Today, - just two years later, his portfolio is getting bigger and bigger and he is considered amongst the most talented Vr photographers. As Aly Gardner Shelby stated "Henry is hugely talented at every step of the photographic process - from having the eye to find the great shots, through dealing with unexpected situations in the field, to skilled digital manipulation of the images such as applying HDR, or seamlessly editing out elements we don't want.".

His skills gave him the chance to take over several projects, such as Channel Four, Madame Tussauds and Warwick Castle.

Henry Stuart Interview

Can you tell us more about your professional/private background ?

I was born and brought up in Oxfordshire, England in 1982. I was educated primarily in the sciences through school and went on to study a Biology BSc in Leeds University. The bland three year degree resulted in me falling out of love with the sciences and swinging round towards business. I did an MSc in Management the next year and thought I was well set for a career, ideally, in Management Consulting. This was kicked off with a private contract trying to turnaround a failing industrial laundry in the Cotswolds! I was supposed to be a last ditch attempt to help, fresh ideas and new theory straight from Business School.

This turned out to be a tough, miserable and thankless task, the place was on its last legs, groaning and creaking under years of dust, bad repairs and bad decisions. The staff were a mixed bag, many could not speak English, some could not read and some had more serious problems. However they all had one thing in common, their hatred of the work and desire to do as little as possible. It is strangely thanks to this place that I am involved in VR now...it forced me to look in other directions and rethink what I wanted to do with my career, eventually leading to me starting up Spherical Images.

How and when did you become involved in Photography ?

Throughout school and university, I slowly developed my interest in photography, learning how to take better images, teaching myself new techniques, and gradually moving on from my trusty old Fuji S9000 to the more sophisticated cameras and equipment needed for VR photography. I find that I am still always learning, which is something I really love about what I do. There are always new techniques to learn and new compositions to try out. I'm forever picking up new tips, whether on location or from my contemporaries. It's very much an ongoing process!

How and when did you became involved in VR photography ?

The work in the laundry began to grate more and more and I eventually decided that I wanted to be my own boss and run my own business. A friend and I would meet at nights and weekends and brainstorm different ideas. One of the things we spotted was a one shot lens, we saw the potential in using this for making a quick buck in property tours. However on deeper research we saw the results it obtained and the competition out there and thought it was an inferior product to pursue. However our research revealed some of the fullscreen photography, involving numerous shots and stitching. I was blown away by some of the results I had seen and intrigued about how it was done, I decided I could learn this technique and this would be a great product/service to sell.

So with a few months of research and graft in evenings and weekends I became more and more confident in the techniques. A key moment in this period was when I contacted Pat St Claire after reading an article of his on VR Objects, here in VRMag. He helped me through one or two difficulties and gave me the confidence and support to carry on. We would, and still do, chat about different techniques and developments via internet phone.

In May 2006 I was confident enough that I could produce high quality VR photography that would meet clients needs. I packed in my job at the laundry and set up Spherical Images with a friend (my now ex-business partner) and haven't looked back since.

You did an amazing amount of projects in a very short time, how did you
make it so fast ?

My first few jobs were set up through friends: I would talk a lot about my new project and they were all incredibly enthusiastic and helpful. Those jobs, along with others set up through cold calling potential customers, enabled me to build up a portfolio. I also did some Virtual Tours for free if I felt I needed extra material to showcase examples of my work for sectors I had not previously worked in.

So, armed with my initial portfolio and a fledging website, my first stroke of luck came. I was contacted by an American computer game company called Big Fish through the website in November 2006. They explained that they were doing a series of games called Travelogue 360 and had just completed one in Paris. They asked me and a few other photographers in the UK to compete for the contract of the London game. This would be done by taking images of the city that would be suitable for their product, along with producing a competitive quote.

I was only able to get in to Oxford to do the example shots (I was based near there at the time) but I thought I knew exactly what they wanted for the game. So I did a number of shots around Oxford, spending hours editing each one (hours more than would be practical in the real project). They liked what they saw and the price we gave them and so we won the contract. As I had punched above my weight in what I was offering them - I could never make the hours of editing justify the price I had offered... I had to find a way of doing the images to a higher standard in less time. This kind of stretch goal, often biting off more than I can chew has led to me having to advance what I offer and how I do it a number of times.

The key to the Big Fish job and its importance was not in the job itself but rather in the places it would gain us access to. They wanted famous locations all over London, we therefore had a foot in the door and once the photos were done for the game we could offer our services to the locations ourselves. This quickly built us a very strong portfolio which makes selling a lot easier. However I still get next to no contacts from our website (Big Fish was the glaring exception), jobs come from recommendations, cold calling or people seeing our work on the clients websites.

I find having working, relevant examples to show the clients is an extremely important factor in netting a deal. In fact, for some jobs I have done the work first and then shown it to the client as a finished Virtual Tour. This is what I did to secure the contract with St Paul's Cathedral, after being allowed to shoot there for the computer game. However I just tried doing this again recently with another famous landmark: upon completion of the tour I showed it to the powers that be and they were delighted. However, after some debating, they came back to me and said there was one problem: it was so real that they thought people would look at it and then, therefore, have no reason to come. What a waste of time!

Please tell us about your most interesting projects?
Here are my top 7:

1. Travelogue 360 Rome
I had the opportunity to go to Rome and shoot around 25 different stunning locations, it really was hard to believe this was work!

click here to view Plaza Hotel panorama

View complete Travelogue 360 Rome virtual tour.

2. Travelogue 360 London
The job that led on to so many more, this gave Spherical Images the kick start it really needed and opened the door to many prestigious places. The travelogue games were a serious challenge for me, the standard required was extremely high, with all the work being picked through with a fine toothed comb.

click here to view Piccadilly Circus panorama

View complete Travelogue 360 London virtual tour.

3. Madame Tussauds
A customer obtained by my ex-business partner's dogged, relentless phoning, eventually they gave in and have been delighted! The images are used on their corporate site to sell the venue for events.

click here to view Madame Tussauds panorama

View complete Madame Tussauds virtual tour.

4. St Paul's Cathedral
One of the most stunning Cathedrals in the UK, I unfortunately offered free hosting on this one and have had to bite the bullet on some serious extra bandwidth through my site! Live and learn. This is my most visited tour.

click here to view St Paul's Cathedral panorama

View complete St Paul's Cathedral virtual tour.

5. Warwick Castle
This shoot was postponed for 2 months in the middle of this summer, the worst for weather in England since records began! Luckily the clouds parted just for long enough on the evening for the shots. I had a little trouble here too, one of the images in the State Dining Room was corrupted, meaning I couldn't make a pano of this vital room. I had to bite the bullet again here and go back a few days later just for that shot.

click here to view Warwick Castle panorama

View complete Warwick Castle virtual tour.

6. Hitachi Digital Media
Hitachi wanted a shot of a show room with a couple of models and all of their latest products for the release of their new BluRay range of camcorders and HD TVs. The shoot did not actually feature the large TV that is on the wall playing the movie, it was added after. Also the wall behind the couple on the sofa was a bookcase, clever photoshopping by the company that did the post production. This is one of the first times I have seen a large multinational digital company use VR photography to sell/advertise their product and I think it is a testament to the versatility and interactivity of the new Flash Panorama Player it uses (thanks Denis!).

click here to view Hitachi show room with models panorama

View Hitachi Digital Media show room with models virtual tour.

7. Channel 4
I have recently completed a Virtual Tour of the Big 4 sculpture outside Channel 4's HQ near St James Park in London. This is the first time that my work has been used to show large sculptures or artworks. They are delighted with the result, as is the company that built the piece. Here the VR allows you to get a great idea of what it is like to see the structure for yourself ...telling you so much more of the story than a picture could.

click here to view outside Channel 4's HQ panorama

View complete Channel 4 virtual tour.

What VR equipment and software do you use ?
I use an old D70s, Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye and a 360 Precision Head.

I love the crispness of the 10.5 fisheye: it is a fantastic lens. I bought the D70 as an amateur photographer and find it to be a really reliable camera. I think it is important to stick with a camera you love and get to know it properly, as this enables you to truly control an image and get the shot you want. I would like to get a D300 next though, as more and more often I am asked to do fixed shots (particularly of property) and would gain from its added versatility and extra pixels.

The 360 Precision Head is worth its weight in gold, and it is heavy! This is vital for batching panoramas and has saved me more time and money than any single other piece of equipment.

Regarding the software I use PTGui, which is a fantastic program and constantly updated with extra goodies and add-ons. I have not actually used any other stitching programs but would have no reason to. I also use Pano2QTVR, as I work on PCs.

You offer professional services through your website, www.sphericalimages.com, can you tell us about the demand for VR services in your area?
I still feel that the demand is not great in my area, which is now London. Rather I feel the demand needs to be created. I think as people see more of the fullscreen type Virtual Tours on websites then the demand will increase but, as it is, too few people are aware of the potential.

There is a real issue in the industry, in my opinion, and that is the taint that the word Virtual Tour carries with it. People associate Virtual Tours with the small, distorted, low quality tours seen on so many property websites. These tours are usually the products of one shot or iPix systems and invariably look outdated and offer little benefit to the end user. One of the first things I have to do when trying to sell is get the potential customer to understand that what I offer is worlds away from one of these typical Virtual Tours.

In fact, I use as many different words as I can when describing what I do to make it sound as new and cutting edge as possible, such as immersive photography, virtual reality photography, and so on.

Which services do you offer ?
Primarily virtual tours: basically the spherical panoramic photography and then the programming required to build a tour that combines the images in a way that suits the client and fits in with their website. I also offer object rotations, but have done far less research into this side of the photography and feel the potential margins are tighter.

I have recently completed some documentary photography for Channel 4 which has been a really exciting project and a real break from the norm. I have had to document the change in the artwork that covers the Big 4 sculpture outside their HQ.

How do you advertise your services ?
I have never paid to advertise my services, I have always been advised the best form of advertising is word of mouth - I think this is particularly relevant to small firms. Perhaps if there is a way of advertising cheaply and in the right area I have not found it yet, this is certainly something I would be very interested in learning more about and is perhaps my biggest difficulty getting the work in.

Future plans and projects ?
I would like to get more of the bread and butter work in the future, by this I mean property work, be it for developers, estate agents or lettings companies. This only requires one sale being made and should guarantee a regular stream of work. Although it is less glamorous than the other work it is far more consistent. Also this is work that I have started to gear up for with sub-contracting. However here again we run in to the same problem, the industry, particularly the property industry is tainted by the fashion and fad like status Virtual Tours had around 2000-2002. These were again the one shot or iPix tours and not only show a poor quality but, vitally, were dirt cheap. It is very hard to find people in property willing to pay higher prices despite the leap in quality. There is a feeling amongst many in the property industry that Virtual Tours were a fad that has past and there simply is not the demand from their clients to justify it. Often I cannot even get them to look at what I do.

I have trained another photographer to do some of these property clients and send me through the resulting panoramas which I build in to a tour and host. I have also recently started training someone to do the programming and web publishing side. Both are starting as subcontractors and doing any work in their spare time. I currently do not quite have the work load to justify them but the idea is that if I get a large number of jobs in at once I will be able cope. Also it gives me more time to do the selling, which inevitably means a bit less fun!

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