P3D Single SLR Macro 3-D - Part II

["Andrea Blair" <asblair@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey, Gang! It's me again. Andrea. Remember? What do you mean - who?

Anyway, now that we've got out tabletop set up with our flower, dice, 
marbles, watch guts, or whatever your choice of subject matter is for 
macro; and we've got our lighting set how we want (side light, back 
light, front light, etc.) we're ready to set up the single SLR. The dual 
macro focusing rail (do we all know what one of these is? - don't be 
afraid to ask if you don't) is mounted to the tripod. The camera is 
mounted on the rail. Remember, I'm working with a 100mm macro lens, 
which gives me up to 1:1 (life size) on film, so I'm usually working 
from 12 inches to an inch or two from my subject. My preference for 
working with a single camera is moving from right to left (which is 
taking the "right eye" view first and then the "left eye" view; my 
husband perfers to work from left to right (have I lost anyone yet?). If 
you work from right to left, position the subject more to the left side 
of the frame (not too close to edge of the slide if you will be 
remounting into 5p or 7p Realist format mounts). Take first picture. Now 
move the camera slightly to the left via the rail (no toe-in - just 
straight across) and take another picture. I usually take 3-4 pictures 
of every set-up, moving the camera slightly to the left each time. This 
means the left image will have more of the subject (or background) on 
the left and the right image will have more of the subject (or 
background) on the right. ***I have been told this is opposite what 
stereo pairs are supposed to be (which has resulted in some of my shots 
being reversed by other people when published, and are thus unviewable), 
but all of my shots are like this and are viewed perfectly. If someone 
would like to explain this to me, please do. I don't know WHY it works, 
I just know it WORKS!*** Now for the extremely tricky technical part of 
how far to move the camera each time. Based on the camera to subject 
distance ratio (do I need to move to Tech 3-D at this point {:>) ?), the 
answer is......about that much. What? How much? Did you miss it? I'm 
sorry to disappoint a lot of you "techies," but I don't have a formula. 
I just let the picture "happen." That's why I take more than two shots. 
I can match the best two images which give me the best 3-D view. 
Sometimes I want the subject to jump "through the window" (a favorite 
technique of mine, which annoys a lot of "die-hard" 3-Ders from the "old 
school"). It takes a little practice until you get used to it, but the 
basic "formula" is:  if you're really, really close don't move it very 
much at a time. If you're a little farther away, move it a little more. 
I then send my film off to be processed as normal and view the 2X2s in a 
hand viewer to find the best combination. Then I have them duped and I 
remount them into 5p or 7p Realist format mounts. I don't go wider than 
7p since I use my images for competition or shows and most projectors 
will only go to a 7p view (to the best of my knowledge).

I hope this has helped answer a few questions on single SLR stereo 
photography (and hasn't frustrated too many of you). Feel free to e-mail 
me with any questions, comments, or complaints.

Andrea S. Blair
asblair@xxxxxxxxxxx

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