Gaining a New Perspective...

Am_Fet screams "Eureka!" and blogs:

Over the last week or so I've been reading a lot of Lance Mindheims writings in his blog and thinking about trying out some of his techniques.

The one that most intrigues is the idea of using photographs of buildings to make models.....simply get a decent photo, print, and paste on to the side of a styrene "shell" the correct size.  Voila, insta-building!

The biggest problem with this, of course, is trying to get usable pictures, which usually means those taken pretty much side on to the subject, a lot like this series I did in the industrial back roads of the Timaru Harbour Board area:

(Checkout here for the full flickr set, feel free to download what you need and use.)

So what if you cant get a decent side on picture?  What if you are forced (through reasons of geography) to use Google Street View?

Well, gentle reader, there is a way using electronic trickery, just as Uncle Lance said there would be.

Exhibit A is this picture from Google of the NMACo warehouse featured earlier:

Hmmm, not very straight at all.....the trick is to use a tool like Paintshop Pro X that features a (wait for it) Perspective tool.  I opened the above photo , pressed the corresponding buttons and before I could squeak Salvadore Dali it was done.  A quick burst with the crop tool left me with this exceptionally usable pic:

A bit of quick work with copy and paste would remove those pesky wires, but apart from thats its ready to go.  Simply print and paste.  Look a bit flat?  Print 2, cutout the columns and laminate the layers, of course.

If I can convince Drew to get me some nice pickys from his office window the next time he rolls through Patea, I 'd quite like to give yon olde cheese store a go as well....

 Verdict?  Exciting in its possibilities, and well worth a look.