3D & Me
Have you ever wondered why your photographs usually can’t do any justice to the magnificent places that you remember seeing? That’s because your life is 3D – your ordinary flat, two-dimensional pictures suffer greatly from lack of depth & clarity. Try this: cover up one eye for a while, and notice how much harder it is just to concentrate, much less to navigate! That’s because so much extra information is missing when you lose your sense of depth – it’s much harder to interpret your surroundings. Fortunately, our lives are in 3D, and I want my photos to reflect that, allowing you to feel like you can walk right into the scene!
Remembering my enjoyment of View-Master reels as a kid, I first tried taking my own 3D photos back in 1994, and quickly became hooked. I knew immediately I had discovered a lifelong hobby, as well as a growing interest in all things “stereoscopic” (displayed three-dimensionally). This method of using separate left & right images (one for each eye) allows us to record the world around us much more accurately & vividly.
Stereo photography is actually nothing new – it’s been around over 150 years, since even before the Civil War, but it was mainly that conflict which popularized the “new” medium at the time. Every American household at one point had (or had access to) an old-fashioned parlor stereoscope, into which a ’stereocard’ was inserted & viewed in three dimensions. In the 1950s, 3D experienced a rebirth with motion pictures, View Masters, and personal cameras & viewers all selling well. Today, there are many applications for 3D imaging, ranging from science & medicine to art & entertainment.
This site will show some examples of my 3D photographs, taken with various cameras (some originally intended for the purpose, some custom-built). Just visit the “3D Gallery” page… anyone with standard “anaglyph” red/cyan (or red/blue) glasses will be able to view these pictures in three dimensions – get a free pair at: http://www.rainbowsymphony.com/free-3d-glasses.html. There are plenty of good anaglyphs all over the web, so grab those 3D glasses and get ready to step into another dimension – remember, your Life is 3D, too!
February 02 2008 06:00 pm
