I work as a volunteer for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust on their major ‘Transforming the Trent Valley’ (TTTV) project. My role is that of both a photographer and a ‘virtual tour’ creator. This work has only recently started to get properly going due to the Covid restrictions.
This week I have completed the first ‘drafts’ of two virtual walk videos at their ‘Branston Leas’ nature reserve. This is a small reserve squeezed between the River Trent and a railway line at Branston near Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire.
These videos are intended for different purposes: Reaching out to those (such as the elderly or infirm) that cannot manage to get to the site; Provide a guide as to what to expect for those visiting for the first time; Raising awareness in the local community of nature on their doorstep – amongst others.
The first video is a walk through the reserve by the river to an overgrown WW2 pill box:
The second is a circular walk around the perimeter reserve:
There are conflicting technical considerations as to the size and quality of the video (such as the accessibility over slow broadband and mobile networks) so I have settled on 720p HD quality as a reasonable compromise – but it still shows well on my 49″ 4k UHD TV!