by David Saxon
Creating stereo pictures with only your old faithful single lens reflex sounds a little complex, but if one can live with some pictorial limitations, it does work well.A few years ago my picture taking ventures took a sharp turn. Although my greatest desire for subject matter had been scenics, especially when on foreign vacation trips, my equipment was solely a 35mm single lens reflex with a good zoom lens. Fast and easy.
Using my camera, I had experimented with stereo by finding a composition I liked and taking two pictures. I took one picture for the left eye, then shifted my weight a little to the right and took the other picture, for the right eye. The compositions are as identical as I can make them. Mounting the prints on cards – very similar to the stereo cards of the late 1800s – and viewing this card with a classic old stereoscope, I was thrilled with the result. The minor difference in perspective between the two exposures became a phenomenal difference in the viewed stereo photograph its elf. It exceeded my expectations. The human brain magically takes two slightly differing images and blends them, so that we see a single image with remarkable perspective. Some names for this procedure might be ‘cha-cha’ or ‘rock and roll’, or just plain ‘body shift’. The result is called ‘hyper-stereo’. Basically we are creating stereo cards. Here is the procedure: Use negative film and make prints. One print of each photograph, (roughly 3″ x 3″ in size), is mounted on a 4″ x 7″ card with the left photo on the left half of the card, and the right photo on the right. The prints should be trimmed so they are as identical to each other as possible. The same object on each of the two prints should be about 3 and 3/16 inches apart. The horizontal alignment of both photos should be accurate. The card is then viewed with the stereoscope. Each eye sees only the photo shot for it, but both together give us a three dimensional view that cannot adequately be described. There are some limitations, and some advantages.
Although considerable effort goes into this stereo procedure, it has presented a whole different standard for scenic photography, a very exciting new standard. It is a new way to look at photos which now, along with height and width, includes a very real feeling of depth. You are there. All over the world there are many active stereo clubs. One might get help with the process from others using this method. |