P3D re: Tips on taking landscape/scenic shots with a Realist?

[vmacek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Vincent G. Macek)]

Dana Nibby wrote:

<<Does anyone have any basic on taking good 3-D landscape shots with a
Realist? I apologize for my ignorant question in advance - I don't know
much about photography in general, but I'm trying to learn.

I've got the normal rangefinder stuff down - finding an object you want
to take a shot of, then lining the upper and lower frames vertically.
But what about distant objects/landscapes? Do I just set the rangefinder
to infinity? Or should I still be focusing on some object in the
foreground to retain some kind of 3-D effect?

Can I take interesting 3-D landscape shots with my Realist, or should I
just use a regular camera for those? I've seen a lot of View-Master
landscape shots which weren't very impressive - the scene just looked
like it was behind a window.>>

I don't know if I can offer anything more practical than encouragement, but
I say yes, you can take some very interesting landscapes!  I took some
pictures at Fort Mountain, Georgia - a series of stacked stone wall and pit
remnants of unknown origin - and they work *because* of the stereo format;
it would be hard to 'read' the shapes in flat photography.  The fact that I
shot at the height of the fall colors makes these esoteric shots that much
more attractive.

Just do what any artist should - take your medium into account.  The nearly
square Realist format may not be suited for classic landscapes at first
glance, but the depth can do things a regular camera just can't touch.  I
recommend a tripod and small aperture settings for maximum sharpness - you
tend to linger on a landscape and the more detail the better.  Go with what
your own eyes can register with depth - I'd say 6 to 30 feet distance is
where depth is most clearly seen (but I'm sure others on this list have
different opinions here!)

Now I yield to the floor on the vital technical matters of focus and
mounting - I managed to muddle through it pretty quickly and was pleased
with the end result.  You will too, I'm sure!

Vince M.



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