Re: Giants and ordinaries

[P3D <PTWW@xxxxxxx>]

Larry Berlin writes:

>Put yourself into the scene and you get more out of viewing it. The
>*Grandeur* of the scene is enhanced if my virtual reality is such that I
>become a *giant* standing on the edge of a mighty ditch that I know is a
>canyon to the ordinary. 

Well, different perspectives do make the world such an interesting
place! :)  In this case, what Larry suggests has the absolute opposite
effect on me as it has on him.  I have heard it said that if the earth
were shrunk to the size of a basketball, its surface would be smoother
than the surface of a basketball is.  With apologies to the Michael
Jordan fan club, a basketball scores absolutely zero on my grandeur
scale.  For me, the grandeur of nature is so intimately related to
its magnitude and our own relative insignificance that placing myself
in the scene as a giant would reverse the roles.  It would trivialize
nature and destroy the sense of awe I feel when I explore the planet,
or when I view normal stereo shots that fairly recreate the original
experience.  Please don't ever turn that "honey I blew up the kids"
gun in my direction!  (forgive me if I mixed up movie titles; I didn't
watch those particular films)  I don't want to experience the Himalayas
as though they are mere bumps on a basketball!

On the other hand, I have had the extreme good fortune to have viewed
one of DrT's superbly done hyperstereo images (yes in a $3 viewer).
It was a picture of the Old Executive Office building in Washington,
D.C. that I know from first hand experience is a difficult subject for
a flattie photographer with a 35mm SLR.  IMHO, this was an excellent
example, in fact the finest I have ever seen, of effective use of the
hyperstereo technique.

Paul Talbot


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