Stereoscopic photography
While in Idaho for my visit home, I did some experimenting with stereoscopic photography.
I was inspired by talking to Henry, one of my co-workers, just before my trip. He gave me some initial advice, such as:
-use a tripod
-move it 2.5 inches for the second photo (average distance between the eyes)
-center on a specific object
I had some good results and some not so good results. I am posting my top three, from (in my opinion) worst to best. For easiest viewing, choose an obvious thing from each image (like the same tree) and try to merge them together.
The road in front of my grandparents' house
I have already learned some strategies of my own, related to both photography and editing.
-Make sure there is a lot of variation in depth over the photograph
-Photos with only very distant objects (such as across a valley) are much harder to see in 3D.
-A range of closer objects (like within a room) have a much greater variation in perceived depth
-Be aware of changes between photos. Unexpected things can change surprisingly fast.
-Wind is problematic in outdoor photography
-Clouds are even worse
-The setting sun sets fast
-Digital cameras can have problems with color variation between photos. Take several photos
-Always take the pictures in the same order (as in, the left image first, then the right)
-When editing for viewing on a laptop, the images should duplicate at no more than 7.2 mm
-Crop down the photo (especially horizontally) as much as possible at the highest resolution possible
-Note variations between photo pairs and correct them if possible
I posted this one already but here it is again, because it works pretty well:
The swingset and rosebush in my grandma's front yard
For the final photo, I was unsure if it would even work during editing, since it seemed like I rotated the camera between pictures. I nearly didn't even try to see if it would work, but I am glad I did, as it seems to have had the most impressive results. There is a lot of variation in perceived depth over all objects in the picture.
I think the rotation I saw flipping between photos was the result of the third rule from Henry (center on a particular object) and this seems to be good advice, even though the only object I now remember centering on is the rosebush in the second photo (its cropped).
My grandparent's house; Damian is too focused on his DS to move
My mother apparently stepped in between the shots and removed a soda can on the table. Problems like this immediately jump out (she also stepped into the left edge of the right photo; you can still see her foot). I experimented and found it was actually really easy to just edit in the soda can across the pictures, and with good results. It taught me a bit about the differences between pairs of stereoscopic photos as well.
I will have to try this more! But I left my tripod in WW. I almost brought it with me and now I regret that I did not.
I was inspired by talking to Henry, one of my co-workers, just before my trip. He gave me some initial advice, such as:
-use a tripod
-move it 2.5 inches for the second photo (average distance between the eyes)
-center on a specific object
I had some good results and some not so good results. I am posting my top three, from (in my opinion) worst to best. For easiest viewing, choose an obvious thing from each image (like the same tree) and try to merge them together.
The road in front of my grandparents' house
I have already learned some strategies of my own, related to both photography and editing.
-Make sure there is a lot of variation in depth over the photograph
-Photos with only very distant objects (such as across a valley) are much harder to see in 3D.
-A range of closer objects (like within a room) have a much greater variation in perceived depth
-Be aware of changes between photos. Unexpected things can change surprisingly fast.
-Wind is problematic in outdoor photography
-Clouds are even worse
-The setting sun sets fast
-Digital cameras can have problems with color variation between photos. Take several photos
-Always take the pictures in the same order (as in, the left image first, then the right)
-When editing for viewing on a laptop, the images should duplicate at no more than 7.2 mm
-Crop down the photo (especially horizontally) as much as possible at the highest resolution possible
-Note variations between photo pairs and correct them if possible
I posted this one already but here it is again, because it works pretty well:
The swingset and rosebush in my grandma's front yard
For the final photo, I was unsure if it would even work during editing, since it seemed like I rotated the camera between pictures. I nearly didn't even try to see if it would work, but I am glad I did, as it seems to have had the most impressive results. There is a lot of variation in perceived depth over all objects in the picture.
I think the rotation I saw flipping between photos was the result of the third rule from Henry (center on a particular object) and this seems to be good advice, even though the only object I now remember centering on is the rosebush in the second photo (its cropped).
My grandparent's house; Damian is too focused on his DS to move
My mother apparently stepped in between the shots and removed a soda can on the table. Problems like this immediately jump out (she also stepped into the left edge of the right photo; you can still see her foot). I experimented and found it was actually really easy to just edit in the soda can across the pictures, and with good results. It taught me a bit about the differences between pairs of stereoscopic photos as well.
I will have to try this more! But I left my tripod in WW. I almost brought it with me and now I regret that I did not.