13 June 2013

google street view


For those who are curious about the small city I live in, for my Canadian friends who wonder how an odd Englishman sees Charlottetown, and of course for me, I am continuing to post my photography on Flickr.

It seems I am up against some stiff competition. While I hop from site to site on foot or in my Elantra, a certain Mr. Google is cruising theses historic streets in a Subaru Impreza dressed in mapping livery, updating the planet's view of the Maritimes.

Yesterday morning I spotted my adversary parked outside the prestigious Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, doubtless still dipping his bread into a soft-boiled egg and sipping coffee from fine china. His technical wizardry was safely under a protective tarpaulin while he perused the day's route. Meanwhile I scurried ahead capturing beautiful Victorian homes on Pownal.

The street view camera car records everything its multi-directional lenses can capture and transmits the data to Google HQ where they are stitched into a nearly seamless tour of... well, everywhere. I'm a sucker for virtually revisiting my old haunts, tracking down interesting places and often just stalking the cyber streets because I can. Navigation, tilt and zoom are my friends.

Thank you Mr. Google, but I think there is still room for my way. I can sneak down footpaths, crouch, stand on a wall, wait until the view is clear of cars and people, come back when the sun is shining, subtly shift position; I can crop, zoom, manipulate exposure.

This year I have been less bothered about writing my thoughts down on paper. Instead I am enjoying compiling this pictorial catalogue.

2 comments:

Russell CJ Duffy said...

I like the older stuff the best. Also those incredible, typical perhaps, fire engines and some of the old cars.

Perfect Virgo said...

There is a nice blend of the very old and the very new. I can see merit in both but the heritage buildings are marvellous aren't they.

If you have time to check again, today I uploaded about forty images of some of the nicer homes around town, all timber built and clad. High maintenance but lovely.