P3D Dear Teri - part II

[George Themelis <gthemelis@xxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Teri,

"Have Digital?  Must do Stereo!"

Digital photography is a blessing for stereo photography because
it makes experimentation so easy!  As more and more people buy
digital cameras, we will see more and more try their hands in
stereo.

This is a true story:  I gave a stereo slide presentation for
our Natural History Museum photographic society.  After my
presentation someone else followed and started talking about his
digital camera and all the wonderful things he could do with it.
 "You know, it is so easy to take stereo pictures with your
digital camera.  All you need is this."  I pointed to the
compact Bogen slide bar that I sell.  He was really curious and
wanted to try it so I let him borrow it for his next trip.

A month later he showed up in our stereo club meeting with a few
dozen stereo pairs!  He used the slide bar on a tripod to take
stereo pictures, borrowed a Holmes' viewer from the museum and
figured out how to mount his home-prints in cardboard and view
them with the viewer (he basically copied the format that he saw
in the old stereo views).  He then ordered a similar viewer/kit
from Reel 3-D and he was up and running.  He even entered
prints, him and his wife too, in our Print competition and both
won awards!!!  

He is having a blast!  "This is fantastic", he says, and digital
photography made it easier for him (not that it is any harder
with regular prints).

How does he do it?  He simply puts his Bogen slide bar (he
bought his own, from me of course! :-)) on a tripod and the
digital camera at the top.  Instead of taking just one picture
(as he used to do) now he takes two.  Takes one, shifts the
slide bar, takes the other.  Bingo!  You've got a stereo pair! 
At home he prints his pairs at about 3 inches square and mounts
them in cardboard.  He then uses his viewer to view them. 
That's all!  

Various postings will possibly alarm you by telling you that
there are certain rules or guidelines to observe for proper
stereo.   For example:

- Watch your depth range (don't have objects too close to the 
  camera or everything too far away)
- Everything must be in focus
- Trim the prints to create a good stereo window

At this initial stage, ignore all of the above.  These are not
important for stage I.  No one is going to die.  There is only
important issue:  Respect the eyes of those whom you show your
stereo images by having proper alignment.  That's where the
slide bar and tripod comes handy.  If you use a slide bar on a
tripod then your pictures will be automatically aligned.

Even though you can take stereo pairs without a slide bar, I
recommend using one at the beginning (to avoid tilting the
camera between exposures) and it will get handy later too in
close-ups.  I recommend the Bogen slide bar, very compact (fits
in a pocket) and with a very reasonable maximum translation of
80mm.  I can supply this for only $35 plus $4 S&H (a $5 discount
from my listed price).  You cannot go wrong with this baby!

You will also need a tripod to support the slide bar.  You can
find a cheap one (you only need a cheap lightweight one) for
less than $10.

What you will be doing at first would be ORTHO-stereo
photography.  Yeap! That's right!  You will be duplicating the
way we see things with both eyes.  But there is more to stereo
than ORTHO.  This will be discussed next.

Mmmm... Pizza was delicious!

To be continued...

George Themelis



=====
George Themelis (DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
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