Well Summer is most certainly well upon us, with it's bright sunny days and hot weather. Not a few folks in Taiwan will be braving that heat to go on outings and excursions. Many of these brave holidayers will be taking photographs to remember their travels by. Some of these photogs will even be producing 3D snapshots of their Summer holidays.
In fact, 3D photography is becoming more and more popular among Taiwan's amateur photographers. The Stereo Society Taipei (SST, Taiwan's premiere 3D photography club) has over a hundred members and is still growing.
Most of us received our first exposure to 3D photography through the View Master children's toys . . . the viewers that allow the operator to view images on a cardboard wheel in such a way that they "jump" out at the viewer in three dimensions. My daughter has her sets of ALLADIN, JURASSIC PARK, and BATMAN reels and enjoys them tremendously.
Well, View Masters are just one link in a chain of three-dimensional photography developments that date back to the beginnings of photography itself. Shortly before Daguerre revealed his discovery of the photographic process in 1839, Wheatstone had already developed a procedure for producing and viewing twin stereo images which when properly aligned produced a single image in three dimensions. Stereoscopic pairs have been produced from that period on, ranging in subject from landscapes to nude portraits to aerial or astronomical studies.
3D images are rather easy to find in Taiwan, with just about every major toy store carrying View Master products. Computer-generated Magic Eye style 3D stereograms (or sirds) images with their hidden 3D images within the multi-colored or complex patterns are still quite popular (Fortune Duck has been fairly successful in Taiwan with it's Chinese translations of the ANGEL adults-only comic book series from Japan which incorporates X-Rated sirds in each issue). If you're looking for stereo pair photography, then Eslite bookstores in Taipei carry a couple "art" books on the subject such as Serge Nazarieff's books STEREO NUDES, 1850-1930 and EARLY EROTIC PHOTOGRAPHY. Quite a few Erotic Love shops and adult book sellers also carry a few modern stereo images such as the Japanese PEEP series of photo cards and viewers featuring many of the adult film stars who are regulars on the popular TOKYO NIGHT television program (I tell you, I wish I had a set of Ai Iijima "real" 3-D stereo nudes, whoa).
For those more interested in producing their own Stereo and other types of 3D photographs, Chin-Song Lee is most definitely the man to see. Lee, Taiwan's leading 3D photographer who has authored two books and numerous articles on the subject, has headed the SST for some time and has been teaching others about 3D photography for over thirty years. He is a photographer by trade and a 3D guru by choice.
Lee's first contact with 3D photography was when he was twelve. Although he didn't own his first "real" 3D camera until three decades later - up until then he had produced all his stereo photographs with a single camera. Today, he not only owns several modern and antique cameras and viewers, he sells them to the public. Lee spends much of his time teaching others how to take 3D photographs and because of his efforts there are more than 300 active stereo photographers in Taiwan.
Professional stereoscopic images are produced by using a special camera which has two lenses which then produce two slightly different views of the same subject which appear as one three-dimensional view when viewed through a stereoscope viewer or without a viewer using special eye focusing techniques. When one photo is viewed it is two-dimensional but the combination of the images causes our brains to process the information as 3D by giving the combination image depth.
This 3D effect is produced because of the way our eyes see things. The left and right eye may see the same objects in a scene but they see them at slightly different perspectives from one another. You can check this out by holding your finger up in front of you. Now stare at your finger and notice it's relationship to whatever else is in front of you (your wall, bookcases, a crowded bus terminal, whatever). Now, close one eye and notice where your finger seems to be in relationship to it's surroundings. Okay, once you've done that close that eye and open the other one. Notice how your finger seems to move in relationship to the background as you switch views from one eye to the other? When you open both eyes, these slightly different views are merged by your brain, creating your sense of depth. The same thing happens by having your eyes look at two different images taken at slightly different angles so that your brain processes the information in the same way it processes your normal viewing and presto you have a 3D image!
While there are special stereoscopic viewers for viewing stereo pairs, you can use free viewing techniques to get the same effect without any special devices. Basically, there are two ways to achieve this effect. Either way, you don't want the images to be too large or they're too difficult to "free view." While Free Viewing can be a worthwhile exercise for your eyes, if you have even been cross-eyed or have had other eye complaints of that sort, then you should not try Free Viewing - you should stick to using a stereoscopic viewer or similar device. You need to have a Stereo Pair of images (sorry, but using two copies of the same photo won't work . . . I wish I'd known that as a kid when I broke my first View Master trying to shove two snapshots inside).
In Parallel Viewing, the images are arranged so that the lefthand image should only be looked at by the left eye and the righthand image is only looked at by the right eye. The way to do this is to put the image in front of you at a comfortable distance and then relax your eyes, slightly unfocusing so that you see four images in front of you and then relax your eyes until you can merge the two middle images into one and then focus on that center image which will have 3D depth. Some people put guidemarks in the center above the images so that they can more easily merge those than trying to deal with the entire image at one time, others pick out some object in the image foreground to merge. This technique is often called Wall Eye Viewing and is also used to view Magic Eye-style sirds images.
The more common free viewing technique is called Cross-Eye Viewing. In this technique the lefthand image is viewed by the right eye and the righthand image is viewed by left eye (so the images are crossed - switched from the Parallel system). If you have trouble mastering this, try putting a pencil or other object in front of the two images. Now focus on the pencil and slowly begin moving it towards your nose. As it comes closer to your nose you will notice the two middle images converging. Keep moving the pencil towards your nose until they have merged into one and there are three images. Slowly move the pencil away as you concentrate on the merged image. Most people find this technique difficult at first but easier than parallel viewing (I'm not one of those people though as I prefer the Parallel View). While some manufactured viewing aids employ a Cross-Eye apparatus, most are set up for Parallel Views.
Quite a few amateur photographers now produce their own Stereo Pairs. There are a number of ways to go about this, ranging from buying a stereoscopic camera such as the various Realist models that peaked in popularity in the 1950's or a contemporary model to making your own homemade stereo camera by joining two independent cameras or using one camera. Since buying a stereoscopic camera can be expensive, many hobbyists use the latter two methods.
Hidehisa Kohno has produced some fine Stereo Pairs with a homemade solution most amateur photographers would find quite affordable. He takes two one-use disposable cameras and then tapes the ends together using heavy duty craft tape so that they form one extra-long camera. He then points the homemade stereo camera at his subject and presses both shutter buttons simultaneously. While the resulting pictures may not be professional quality they can be viewed in 3D by placing them next to one another and employing one of the free viewing techniques I've already mentioned. It's probable that the prints may be too large for free viewing so you may need to overlap part of the image. Kohno has a nice gallery of some of his images on the World Wide Web at http://www.rpm.or.jp/home/h-kouno/3dphoto.htm.
Another excellent technique for producing amateur Stereo Pairs is to use a single camera. First take one image and then move the camera two to two-and-a-half inches one direction parallel to the subject, being careful not to tilt the camera in towards the subject as this will ruin the stereo effect and take the second image. Jeffrey L. Cooper suggests always taking the left image first so that you can quickly identify which image is which. Some folks use a metal ruler mounted on a tripod to aid them in moving the camera properly. It is important that nothing in the frame moves between shots or it could ruin the effect - so be careful when using this technique to photograph people. It is usually not a good idea to try any close-up photography using this method (close-ups are also pretty much out of the question when using Kohno's disposable solution above). Many landscape photographers will move the camera a great deal further than the typical few inches, often many feet to create hyperstereo images. Cooper has a beautiful gallery of his own images created using this technique on the Web at http://home1.gte.net/photo3d/stereo.html and the images of the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, Mexico, are simply beautiful.
Shilo Teshima has made quite a name for himself for his animal and cosplayer images. In Japan, cosplayers are people who make costumes of their favorite comic book, cartoon, or PC game characters and then meet in gatherings or parties. Quite a few of Techima's images are on his web page at http://www.asahi-net.org.jp/~is7s-tsm/pindex.html. He actually maintains two versions of his web page, one for Parallel Viewing and the other for Cross-Eye Viewing.
Some amateurs do eventually graduate to using actual stereographic equipment despite the higher maintenance and difficulty in processing the images. Better quality stereo cameras can range in price from as low as NT$50,000 to as high as NT$120,000. However, a few low-end stereo cameras are available now such as the Loreo which use normal 35mm film and can be processed by any photo developer in Taiwan with no difficulty since the negatives and frame sizes are exactly the same as any normal 35mm camera would use. The Loreo has the advantage of being a very simple camera and being rather cheap. It is sold as part of a 3D Photo Kit and comes with a stereographic viewer. The Loreo kit is available in Taiwan from Lee Chin-Song for NT$2000 - which is actually substantially less expensive than the same kit runs for in the U.S. For those who are overseas the Loreo is also available from Reel 3-D and similar suppliers. Another similar simple alternative is to attach a beam splitter to a regular camera - such as a 35mm SLR - which then produces the same effect as the Loreo (causing two images to share a single negative). The popular Franka Beam Splitter is available via mail order from Reel 3-D in the United States for US$59.95 (price based upon the most recent catalog I had when writing this essay, it may have changed by the time you read this).
While professional photographers often belong to the National Stereoscopic Association - at http://www.3d.web.com:80/nsa/nsa.htm - or the International Stereoscopic Union - at http://www.3d.web.com:80/isu/isu.htm) - many amateur stereo photographers create more informal associations in which information and photographs are exchanged (such as the one Dan Shelley maintains at http://www.dddesign.com/3dbydan/ - Shelley's web page has over 100 links to other 3D photography sites on the web and is in itself a treasure trove of information).
The Taiwan contact for the International Stereoscopic Union is Albert Lin, president of Artificial Parallax Electronics Corporation (APEC, a computer hardware manufacturer specializing in 3D stereo shutter glasses for personal computers) who can be reached at 02-541-3077. APEC's web page at http://www.apec.com/ has a 3D club gallery of Taiwan photos.
Lee Chin-Song and the Stereo Society Taipei can be contacted by telephone at (H)2515-8233 or (O)2555-0686. The address is no. 26, 4F, Lane 387, Lung Chiang Road, Taipei. The SST holds seminars and the general meeting in the evening of the third Wednesday of each month. While a fee is required for membership, meetings are often open to non-members. Call ahead for information. Lee can also be contacted for 3D equipment which he has for sale to the public.
View Magic at No. 5 (3F), Fu Hsing South Road, Section 2, Lane 148, also carries a wide selection of 3D stereo photography supplies such as a variety of cameras and viewers. If you cannot find the equipment you want in Taiwan, then Reel 3-D Enterprises in the U.S. has one of the widest selections in the world at http://www.3d-web.com/reel/reel3d.html (I have found them to be fast, courteous, and very reliable).
On the Internet and WWW there is a wealth of information and 3D galleries. The premiere information site is 3D Web: Stereographic Information and Resources maintained by Bob Mannle at http://www.3d-web.com:80/index.html. This site has everything from galleries with images of everything from JURRASIC PARK dinosaurs to STAR WARS scenes (all professionally produced by Mannle's company New Vision Technologies) to equipment yellow pages and information pages. It even has a tutorial for using ADOBE PHOTOSHOP to convert Stereo Pairs into anaglyph images (single images that appear 3D when viewed through special red-blue filter glasses). John Alexander's The Journal of Ideas webpage at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~joi/ has some incredible Australian scenic and action views. Other worthwhile web sites with stereoscopic galleries include 3D Stuff at http://www.cris.com/slode/, Ster-E-OH! at http://www.halcyon.com/slode/, and Katsuhide Namai's Stereo Photo Gallery at http://namai.com/index.html.
As far as internet newsgroups are concerned, most Taiwan-based Chinese-language discussion of photography takes place on tw.bbs.rec.photo. There are also many excellent forums for English-language discussion of 3D can be found in the obvious places at alt.3D, alt.3D.misc, alt.3D.sirds, alt.3D.studio, and alt.binaries.pictures.stereo. More general photographic discussions in English can be found at rec.photo.misc, rec.photo.darkroom, rec.photo.marketplace, and rec.photo.moderated.
For even more links to web pages and newsgroups related to all manner of 3-D and Stereophotography, see my 3-D links pages.
Email Brian David Phillips, Ph.D., C.H., at phillips@nccu.edu.tw.
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