Detroit Monthly Report

[P3D Dr. George A. Themelis <fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Good night in Detroit last night... Again a full-house.  At least 40 people
attend these monthly meetings.  35 people have entered slide competitions
this year.  That's getting to be world record at local stereo club level.

The program was "Beautiful New Zealand" from PSA by a famous couple that
has toured the world (forgot their name now).  Wonderful Realist-format
stereo slides from this beautiful country, shot a few decades ago!

Competition was "Spiritual" ("Religious activities, place of worship,
symbols, etc...)  We saw plenty of places of worship (churches), a few
symbols but not enough activities (as expected, action shots are always
more difficult).

Two of my slides won third place.  Both were double-exposures (two stereo
pairs sandwiched together and duplicated to increase exposure and improve
color).  One was from the interior of our church (shot with the RBT S1)
with a huge picture of Jesus at window level as if you were looking though
a stained glass.  The second was very similar but the first picture was a
close-up of candles shot with SLR and a diffusion filter (to diffuse the
edges).  A similar picture of Jesus was placed in front of the candles.  My
third slide (pattern of a religious figure made from colored transparent
blocks back-lit in a church window) was, I thought, visually appealing but
lacked depth, being essentially a flat subject photographed at an angle. 
It was rated average.  Fellow Clevelander and traveling companion, Jim
Motley, did well too with one third place and one HM.  Good steady
performance from the Cleveland chapter of the Detroit club!

My main competitor managed to do better with one first place and two
honorable mentions, bridging the gap from 6 to only 3 points.  His first
place slide was an SLR slide bar close-up of a book, reading glasses (I
forget if there was a cross somewhere making it "spiritual", or what that
the bible?)  Composition was good and lighting excellent, except, there was
too much depth IMO.  It is one of these cases of having too much of a good
thing.  One could hardly follow the scene from front to back.  In many
cases, especially in projection, less is better.  (That's a personal
opinion and Gabriel is welcome to make a note of it for his book of "Famous
DrT Contradictions"! ;) ;) ;) )

One slide in second place was taken at Arlington National Cemetery (my
guess, where else can you find so many crosses?)  The subject (thousands of
crosses/graves) made the picture.  I always thought this is a neat
photographic subject.  IMO, the best way to record this pattern is with
long focal length lenses to create a depth compression.  We have seen
plenty of flat pictures of this subject taken this way.  It is about time
that someone makes an award-winning 3-D picture!

Other exciting events: DrT (yes, he was there!) talked about his 7P Realist
and used it to take a picture of the club.  He was asked to bring slides
from his first roll to the next meeting. 

Next month the subject is "Patterns".  This subject is made for computer
3d.  Second option, for computer-handicapped, is tabletops.  Third (for
outdoor, I-got-my-Macro-Realist, types) is nature photography, especially
close-ups.  Forth, is home-made larger scale structures.  Right now I have
nothing really exciting.  But we still have one month left!  Back to the
drawing table!!!

Reporting from Cleveland OH -- George Themelis


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