3D Show at Camera Rochester - Report

[P3D <BD3D@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all.

As I reported previously, on Monday Jan. 20, I was an invited guest at
Camera Rochester (flat) Camera Club, where I presented a short talk on the
history of stereography, discussed several methods for 3-D viewing then
projected a brief (about 40 slides) 3-D show for the 50-60 people in
attendance (including my friend, list member Dick Twichell, who helped me
with the tough questions).

The talk and the show were quite well received.  Among the expected
comments of "Wow!", "Cool!", "Ooh!" and such, a surprising number of people
commented on how "sharp" my slides were.  I was initially taken aback (I'm
not really a "photographer", you see, just a Dad who takes the family
photos in stereo.), but then I remembered that in flat photography, if the
background or foreground is distracting, you de-emphasize it by using big
apertures and selective focus. Works great in 2-D, but not so great in 3-D.
These flattie folks just weren't used to seeing so many pictures sharp from
front to back! ....Then again it could just be those legendary Lumenized
Kodak Anaston f/3.5 lenses strutting their stuff. ;-)

It seemed that nearly a third of the attendees were visitors, many from
Eastman Kodak. (I had had a friend post an announcement of the meeting on
Kodak's e-mail system)  Among these were several stereographers, including
one of the members of the Dynamic Imaging Group (the BIG lenticulars at NSA
'94 & '96 were theirs).  Some people brought their own slides and we had a
nice show and tell before my time was up.

My show was followed by an excellent Arctic Circle travelogue, shot
unfortunately in 2-D (with lots of selective focus).  Several of the club
members commented on how "flat" his slides looked!   They are beginning to
see the light, and they are seeing it with BOTH eyes!  Whether it generates
a lasting interest among any of them remains to be seen, but at least
they've seen the option.

This meeting also marked the first public display of my "Miser Panorama"
multi-slide stereo viewer prototype (also known as the world's ugliest
lampshade), but that's another story.

Best regards,
Bill Davis

  


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