http://www.virtutek.co.uk/index.htmlLatest Virtutek News!eninfo@virtutek.co.ukCopyright 2009 Virtutek. All Rights Reserved.2010-03-08T18:07:58+00:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Thu, 21 May 2009 09:45:55 +0100info@virtutek.co.ukNews2010-03-08T18:07:58+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/c4c8b2c94ded4b3fab6205eccc813b1d-21.html#unique-entry-id-21http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/c4c8b2c94ded4b3fab6205eccc813b1d-21.html#unique-entry-id-21At long last we have an example Virtual Video here.

We have branded this for Peter Rolfe Estate Agents in Hayes, Middlesex, UK, as we have created it from pictures taken for them a few weeks ago, for a new property they are selling, and that we were fortunate to photograph for them.

We believe that this example proves how versatile this product can be as an extremely low-cost marketing solution!




]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2010-02-27T13:02:05+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/db6af7efa6e6d93a1e7f46c54b3499aa-20.html#unique-entry-id-20http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/db6af7efa6e6d93a1e7f46c54b3499aa-20.html#unique-entry-id-20We had a really great photography commission from Peter Rolfe Estate Agents (http://www.peter-rolfe.com) based in Hayes, Middlesex, on Monday this week.

As well as taking photographs of the property (a beautiful detached house based in Uxbridge, Middlesex - link will be included here soon), we were also asked to pop into their very light and modern office, to meet the team, and take some team photographs. They are a really great bunch of professionals that have some fabulous properties on their website.

We look forward to working with the team at Peter Rolfe again in the future, and thank them for their custom!

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2010-02-18T15:19:54+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/a70d7fe6df68a8d1a9fea12d5ad268fb-19.html#unique-entry-id-19http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/a70d7fe6df68a8d1a9fea12d5ad268fb-19.html#unique-entry-id-19It seems like February is the month to hit the advertising budget, and attempt to draw in some new customers!

So we have just signed up to the photographers directory on www.photographers.co.uk



For those who have never used this site before, it is very cool indeed!

Photographers can join the "directory" of photographers, allowing people to find them using searches specified on their speciality or their area.

Photographic type jobs can also be posted, so for instance a company that requires a picture of each member of their staff, for a set budget, or photographers looking for models, can place an advertisement on the site, and wait for the emails to come rolling in!

We are currently keeping a close eye on our google analytics to see how many hits we are receiving from each of the sites that we have signed up to recently, so only time will tell, but its all interesting stuff to monitor, and to discover the most cost-effective route of advertising, and leads to actual customers!

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2010-02-12T10:00:00+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/91693298f017d5c2d0b0c6729d998c26-18.html#unique-entry-id-18http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/91693298f017d5c2d0b0c6729d998c26-18.html#unique-entry-id-18We are now advertising our services on netmovers.co.uk and are pleased to offer a 10% discount for all netmovers.co.uk customers on all of our products and services.

NetMovers are a leading Internet based Estate Agent, who offer their services COMMISSION FREE! You can register your property and have it online viewable to a global audience, within one hour!

With around 80% of all properties now being bought and sold through the internet, we believe that advertising our services on one of the leading internet property websites, will be extremely beneficial to our business, and will allow us to help those customers who wish to display their properties to their full potential, and hopefully achieve quicker sales.

netmovers.co.uk absolutely know the value that professional Digital Photography, and 360º Virtual Tours can make when selling a property, and we are excited to be working in collaboration with the UK's No.1 Commission Free Estate Agent!





]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2010-02-02T11:47:24+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/d2f2a8a3eb7b4ecce27626e05ed77c79-17.html#unique-entry-id-17http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/d2f2a8a3eb7b4ecce27626e05ed77c79-17.html#unique-entry-id-17With the UK crawling out of recession at a snails-pace, its difficult to see where the light at the end of the tunnel may come for many businesses.

Last year was an extremely challenging year for us, due in part to the fact 360º Virtual Tour's are mainly used in the property market; a market that has been severely hit by the recession. High-Street Estate Agents were pulling in the purse strings to keep a tight reign on expenditure, and therefore Virtual Tours were not seen as an "essential", or they were unwilling to "experiment" with them at this time.

I may be biased, but I believe this to be a blinkered view! With properties on their hands that they were unable to sell by traditional means (e.g. the "shop window"), then why shouldn't they try something new, something radical, something that they had not used before, something that has global reach, to see if that can help sell the property?

A leading internet based estate agent recently told us, that they had a property on their database for nearly 2 YEARS, which just wasn't selling. They advised the vendor to place a 360º Virtual Tour on their advertisement, to see if it would create some interest in the property, and the property sold within FOUR WEEKS!

360º Virtual Tours are a useful marketing tool; they give the viewer a bigger-picture of a property than can be achieved from static photographs alone, and they are not as expensive as you might actually think!

We are also diversifying a little. We have recently done some photo shoots for people to be used on "Social Networking Sites", which have been extremely good fun to do; again at the moment, these are extremely inexpensive!



]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2009-12-20T16:32:49+00:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/98b3d52f608e64676c1daa47fb7fd933-16.html#unique-entry-id-16http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/98b3d52f608e64676c1daa47fb7fd933-16.html#unique-entry-id-16Please note that we will be CLOSED for business from 17:00hrs on Wednesday 23rd December until 09:00hrs on Monday 4th January 2010.

During this time, we shall be checking emails and will endeavour to reply to all emails as soon as possible.

We would like to wish all of our customers; past, present, and future; a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and prosperous 2010!

Have a fantastic time, and don't eat too many mince pies! ]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNewsVT Forum UK2009-10-18T12:18:08+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/cb99ecd453d664b6234c07ee7c1fabde-15.html#unique-entry-id-15http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/cb99ecd453d664b6234c07ee7c1fabde-15.html#unique-entry-id-15As Virtual Tour professionals, we have been amazed to find that out of the vast amount of photographic forums that are out there on the web, that very few of them provide anything on panoramic photography, or Virtual Tours.

There are several organisations out there (such as the IVRPA), but you have to be a member to be able to post on thier forum, and this can be somewhat prohibitive for enthuiasts, who just want to ask a simple question.

So, whilst chatting with some fellow VT professionals, we came up with the idea of creating a free message board/forum for both professionals and enthusiasts, where they can share their common knowledge, information, and tips & tricks.

This new forum is called: "VT Forum UK", and can be found on: www.vtforumuk.org

Although there is a "UK" in the title, we welcome all new registrants from anywhere in the world.

The forum is currently being run out of our own webspace at present, to help keep running costs to a minimum.

It's early days for the forum, and there's a few teething issues with it, which we are currently working on, but we would like to see the membership and knowledge-base grow, so that this becomes an indespensible reference for all Virtual Tour professionals and enthusiasts.

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNewsComment2009-09-22T12:00:00+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/dc3ecbe1b7a6e8b4802209aa7e94aeb2-14.html#unique-entry-id-14http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/dc3ecbe1b7a6e8b4802209aa7e94aeb2-14.html#unique-entry-id-14
There are now several high-profile campaings being run concerning the current legislation that is abusing photographers rights.

These draconian laws and misinterpretation of the laws are causing anyone with a camera to be targeted, including foreign tourists; as was reported recently concerning an Austrian Father and Son, who were stopped from taking a photograph of Walthamstow Bus Station!

The Metropolitan Police have issues new guidelines to their officers; http://www.met.police.uk/about/photography.htm but over-zealous officers may still interpret these in anyway they see fit.

The British Journal of Photography has its own campaign running presently, which has the backing of many other photographic organisations (such as the Bureau of Freelance Photgraphers and UKlandscape), and uses the "Not A Crime" slogan. They are encouraging photographers, both amateur and professional to take self-portraits of themselves with a "Not A Crime" or "I Am Not A Terrorist" caption and post them to their campaign website; http://www.not-a-crime.com



There is also an independent campaign http://www.PhotographerNotaTerrorist.org which is also encouraging photographers to take self-portraits with "I'm a Photographer Not a Terrorist" captions, and to post via their website.



They organised a flash-mob campaign on Saturday 12th September 2009 at Canary Wharf in London - a spot notorious for photographers to be stopped by the Canary Wharf Security services. Approx. 60 photographers turned up with cameras in hand, and all took some interesting photographs, whilst the Security who were outnumbered, looked on in dismay.

There's more information on: http://www.PhotographerNotaTerrorist.org/events

They have also created a very handy "Stop and Search Bust Card" that any photographer should print out, and carry with them, which cleary states what rights you have as a photographer in a public place, and also what Police Powers may be used against you.



I have added my own picture to show my support, to both of the above campaigns.

"How Photographers Are Perceived In The Eyes Of The Police and Government"

Please give these campaigns your support, before Britain becomes a complete no-photography zone!

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2009-09-22T16:30:00+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/32e46f81b15dee2eb840000566f2c6e4-13.html#unique-entry-id-13http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/32e46f81b15dee2eb840000566f2c6e4-13.html#unique-entry-id-13NEW WEBSITE AND PRODUCT DOWNSIZING!

Welcome to the new version of the website! We hope that you like the new design, and find that navigating the site is a lot easier than our previous website.

We recently looked at the products we were offering, and decided that some of them may have been a little confusing to those who visited our website. So we have now simplified the website and our business, to try and focus on our core products and services; Virtual Tours, Digital Photography, Virtual Brochures, and Virtual Videos.

As a result, some of our previous products and services are no longer generally available as of 1st September 2009.

Website Design - Although we design and maintain our own website, there are an awful lot of fantastic website designers out there, and to try and keep on top of all of the new technologies that are constantly being released, would not allow us to focus fully on our core photographic services in the way that we would like to.

Scripting Services - We previoulsy offered UNIX/Linux and OpenVMS scripting, which were our "geeky" products, and to be perfectly honest, were not generating much business for us, which is why we decided to ditch them so we could concentrate more on all of the other cool and fun stuff that we offer!

We are hoping that this new streamlined approach provides you with a better experience on the site, and provides the necessary information that you need concerning our services.

NEW PRODUCT!

As you may have seen, although we have removed some products, we have introduced a new product; VIRTUAL VIDEOS.

Virtual Videos are a really cool product whereby we edit together still photographs, video, music, and captions, into motion videos, that can be inserted easily onto websites.

A very cost effective and low-cost alternative to Virtual Tours, they provide effective marketing for your business, and can help get your message across to your customers with ease.

REFERRAL SCHEME!

As of 1st September 2009 we are now operating a Referral Scheme.

How does this work?

1) You have to be one of our existing customers.
2) You refer someone to us, who purchases one of our products or services.
3) For introducing us to a new customer, we give you a Marks & Spencer Voucher (value of which is determined from the product or service package they purchase from us).
4) The customer you refer to us, will also receive a 10% introductory discount on our list prices, for the total package of products they purchase from us (first purchase only!).

See our Referral Scheme page for more information.


]]>info@virtutek.co.ukComment2009-07-14T09:40:30+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/3f58ebbe5e954af1ed0f542489ab39cb-11.html#unique-entry-id-11http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/3f58ebbe5e954af1ed0f542489ab39cb-11.html#unique-entry-id-11HRH The Prince of Wales currently has a campaign to attempt to save the Rain Forest, called The Prince’s RainForest Project.

We are happy to add our names in support of this worthy cause, and blog this, in the hope that so that others may also add their support to the project.

I know you might be thinking, well what has the Rain Forest got to do with me? Well without it, global-warming will increase, many species of trees, plants, insects, and animals will be wiped off the face of the earth permanently. This little blue-ball we all live on needs such resources, for us to survive, otherwise there will be nothing left for our future generations. We have done more damage in the last 100 years, than we’ve done in the whole of the history of mankind, and the planet can not sustain this.

Prince Charles can sum this up much better than we can, so we would advise going to: http://www.rainforestsos.org to get the full story.

Please show your support by signing up for this campaign.

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukComment2009-07-06T12:01:02+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/f78110d7f2fbc4f42cc4f9e542a16522-10.html#unique-entry-id-10http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/f78110d7f2fbc4f42cc4f9e542a16522-10.html#unique-entry-id-10There was a very good reason I joined the Bureau of Freelance Photographers recently, and that was because of their untiring quest to preserve the rights of photographers who are just going about their business, and trying to earn a living.

Over recent years, the British Parliament has brought in legislation that has severely restricted photographers. In their eyes, anyone that is pointing a camera anywhere in the vicinity of a child is a potential paedophile, and if you are just taking pictures of local landmarks or buildings, you are a potential terrorist.

Over-zealous officials appear to be making their own interpretation of the laws, and have attempted to confiscate cameras and memory cards from individuals, or demand that they delete the pictures. It appears that each time a photographer gets out a tripod in urban areas, they are immediately swooped upon and told to move on.

Unfortunately panoramic photographs (that are used to make up Virtual Tours), are either taken using one-shot lenses, or using “pano-heads”, which need to be mounted on tripods to ensure image stabilisation, and therefore panoramic photographers are potentially more at risk of being approached than others.

It is worth bearing in mind, that a Police Officer (or any other such individual) is actually breaking the law if they damage any of your equipment, and they cannot attempt to confiscate any memory card or camera, or demand that you delete any pictures taken in a public place, without first obtaining a warrant.

If terrorists were reconnoitring a building or somewhere else to do whatever evil they wanted, I’m sure that they wouldn’t be carrying one or more DSLR’s, lenses, and a tripod to do it. They would be a little more covert, probably using the camera built into their phone, so that they could take pics, and be out of there quickly without being spotted.

MP’s in Parliament have recently all been tarred by the same brush over the “expenses row”, however the vast majority of them are innocent. They should bear this in mind, when making strangling legislation, that is essentially stopping us from going about our business, without being repeatedly stopped, and harassed by officialdom.

I for one, feel reassured that I have my BFP blue membership card with me when I am out taking photographs as it proves that I am a legitimate photographer, and makes “officials” somewhat easier to deal with.

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2009-07-06T11:40:03+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/7478e58992fdbf54bb276ae2f7a4b2be-9.html#unique-entry-id-9http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/7478e58992fdbf54bb276ae2f7a4b2be-9.html#unique-entry-id-9The BFP “Market Newsletter” has reported that a new organisation has recently been created called the British Photographic Council.

The BPC is an umbrella body, representing many of the British photographic organisations such as; Bureau of Freelance Photographers (BFP), National Union of Journalists (NUJ), British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA), Association of Photographers (AoP), British Press Photographers Association (BPPA), Editorial Photographers United Kingdom (EPUK), Chartered Institute of Journalists (CIoJ), and various others.

This new organisation is designed to protect the rights and interests of photographers, and those involved in representing them, and distributing their works.

Areas of interest include issues such as copyright legislation, licensing agreements, orphan works, and the rights of photographers to undertake their work without hindrance or harassment - the latter being an issue which is uppermost in importance to all photographers these days.

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukProduct Feature2009-07-06T11:16:57+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/15b8679a9df5f11356ee6a087aa4eb81-8.html#unique-entry-id-8http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/15b8679a9df5f11356ee6a087aa4eb81-8.html#unique-entry-id-8One of the main questions that anyone will ask concerning our services is; “Why use a Virtual Tour?”.

The simple answer to this is: Virtual Tours are a very cost effective way to help promote your property/business!

If you are selling your property, imagine being a potential purchaser, and viewing a flat, lifeless webpage with a few photographs supplied by your Estate Agent of your house on it.

Now imagine visiting the same web page with a fully interactive virtual tour on there, enabling you to spin around 360º to view each room fully, and with professional photographs taken using ultra-wide angle lenses.

Which of the two scenarios do you think is more likely to generate leads to a sale of the property?

Businesses can use virtual tours to enable potential customers to view their premises. Ideal for pubs, restaurants, hotels, showrooms etc....

Virtual tours work!

Contact us for a quote TODAY!

]]>info@virtutek.co.ukNews2009-05-28T11:19:31+01:00http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/bd38e9cb48915dd9f89f076288ea7eb5-3.html#unique-entry-id-3http://www.virtutek.co.uk/aboutus/blog/files/bd38e9cb48915dd9f89f076288ea7eb5-3.html#unique-entry-id-3We have now joined the Bureau of Freelance Photographers (BFP).

Joining this well established institution will provide us with more exposure to the requirements of the industry, and will hopefully generate some more work our way!

The BFP has been instrumental in protecting Photographer’s rights over many years, and has campaigned tirelessly in opposing some of the newer laws that have been introduced under anti-terror legislation.

With incidents of Photographer’s having their camera’s unlawfully confiscated by Police officers, under anti-terrorism laws, the BFP has produced some guidelines on how Photographer’s should react when approached by the authorities in these situations (including how to retain their cameras!).

It is incredible to think that in these times, when we can appear on government surveillance cameras hundreds of times per day, that an innocent Photographer going about their business and trying to earn a crust, can be treated as a threat to national security!

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