[photo-3d] Colorful Fountain, New York

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <drt-3d@xxxxxxx>]

My third entry was from Manhattan, the famous statue 
of Poseidon (?) at the Rockefeller Plaza.  It was 
getting dark by the time we got there and I was 
impressed by the colored lights around the fountain 
and the statue.  The only problem:  I did not have 
a tripod.  So I found a ledge to support the camera.  
The only place I could do it was almost by the back 
wall and a little bit behind the statue.  I took a 
few shots letting my S1 pick the exposure time at 
f11 or so.  They turned out quite well.

When the time came to mount the best picture, I tried 
several things.  First, I had to decide whether to 
use 5p (Realist) or 7p (European) mount.  Even though 
the statue by itself favors a portrait composition (5p), 
I felt I needed the space in front of it because it 
was looking away to the side.  So I went for the wider 
format (7p).

Next, I flipped the picture backwards to get the 
fountain in the left side instead of the right.  Somehow 
I felt that this was a better composition.  Following 
the Left to Right reading of the pictures in the Western 
civilization, the eyes start from the left and are first 
attracted to the lighted fountain.  They then move to 
the statue and from there to the right where the statue 
is looking, and slowly dissolve into the darkness.

The biggest risk was my choice of the stereo window.  
Clearly, the wall behind the fountain was TOO CLOSE to 
the camera (I had no choice, this was the only spot I 
could support the camera).  If I mounted the slide with 
a "correct" stereo window, pushing the wall behind the 
window then I would end up with large deviation and 
increased ghosting.

Parenthesis:  As a rule, night shots are prone to ghosting 
in projection.  Ghosting means that the right eye sees 
parts of the left image in the highlights and visa versa.  
One way to avoid this is to reduce the deviation of the 
highlights on the screen THROUGH MOUNTING (by bringing 
the chips closer together).  Note:  I said through 
mounting, NOT THROUGH PROJECTOR ADJUSTMENTS!  Projection 
adjustments are not encouraged during our competitions.  
In particular, horizontal adjustments are strictly 
prohibited and this is the way it should be done.  
Anyone who disagrees can take their stereo slides and 
find another stereo club.  This is my final word on 
the subject.  Signed: DrT-3d, i.e. DICTATOR OF 3D! :):):)

So I took the risk and violated the stereo window in the 
left side.  However, I figured out that, even though you 
could see the wall in the viewer, you would not see it in 
projection and only the fountain and its reflection on 
the wall would be visible.  (As you can tell, I did not 
project this slide... I remounted it from Albion to RBT 
just before the meeting).

As it turns out, I was right!!!!  It projected beautifully, 
the judges liked it, and got second place.

The moral of this story is that many good pictures are not 
just accidents.  I studied the scene trying to find the 
best angle to shoot.  I did the most under the limitations 
(no tripod - support camera on ledge).  I spent considerable 
time in mounting to find the best composition.  (Note: 
"considerable time" means 10 minutes for me.  Normally it 
only takes seconds to put the chips in an RBT mount but I 
remounted this at least 5 times to get what I wanted).

Note to Mark:  This picture could make a fine "USView"... 
too bad it is so far away from Cleveland! :)

George Themelis