Introduction

This article is a sort of sequel to my tutorial Stereo photography to go. There, I explain how I take, combine, edit, and share stereo photos entirely on a smartphone without having to move files to a PC. The whole process usually takes me less than 3 minutes per picture.

That way I got used to the benefits of the smartphone and hardly took my twin camera setup out of its bag anymore. But I had to pay a high price and always regretted that I was limited to sequential stereos.

Sequential versus Simultaneous

If you are used to the technical terms and the practical issues, you can directly jump to the next chapter. For everyone else, I’ll briefly sum up the basics. If we talk about stereo photos taken with a smartphone we usually mean sequential stereo photos, i. e. those taken with a single camera by taking at least two pictures, one after another, while side-shifting the phone. ‘Sequentials’ taken with a phone have several advantages:

1. You can control the amount of depth by freely choosing the baseline or by taking a sequence of three or more photos (See David Kuntz’ article Getting the Right Depth in 3D Photography).
2. You don’t need any special equipment.
3. You can act spontaneously, because your phone is always with you.
4. Editing can be done on the same device.
5. Data transfer and sharing is relatively easy.

Since we mostly display stereo photos in a small size, newer smartphone cameras are mostly sufficient even for experienced stereo photographers.

But, there is one huge drawback to all sequential stereo photos: Every movement that happens between the first and the second shot will cause so called rivalries. In the best case, this will result in a modified depth perception. But more often it causes annoying flickering.

Even a small gust of wind can disturb a beautiful nature view. Touristic sites are almost impossible or have to be cropped to the detriment of the composition. A single camera mostly limits you to non moving sceneries, like empty streets, architecture or still lives.

The solution for this problem are simultaneous stereo photos. That means that both photos for the stereo pair are taken exactly at the same time. Every movement is perfectly captured, birds float in the air, water fountains look like they’re frozen. It increases your possibilities tremendously.

In most cases, simultaneous stereo photography requires dedicated stereo equipment. Recently, Masuji Suto developed an App for the iPhone that lets you fire two lenses of the back-camera at the same time. More information can be found in the iPhone Closeups gallery.

Preliminary considerations

If you want to move to simultaneous stereo photography, you always have to sacrifice one or more of the advantages of sequential stereo photography. Either you loose control about the baseline, you have to transfer the photos to another device, or you always have to plan to take a stereo rig with you. Especially if you have been using your smartphone, you will have to carry some extra weight.

Personally, I always avoided specific stereo cameras because of their fixed baseline. I also wanted to keep my equipment lightweight. Additionally, I really enjoy keeping the whole process on one device that allows me to instantly free-view my newly taken stereo photos. In 2021, when my ‘older’ iPhone 11 Pro became cheaper as a second hand model, I started thinking about building an iPhone twin rig once again. This time, I took it seriously.

I sacrificed the advantage of not needing additional equipment and invested in a second smartphone, which was still cheaper than two digital cameras of equivalent quality. Also, I would now have to plan in advance to take the stereo rig with me. But it’s much easier to just grab one additional phone and some aluminum parts as opposed to a whole DSLR twin setup.

Except that, I would keep all the other advantages of a smartphone that I’ve mentioned previously, on top of the workflow that I’m already used to.

Selecting the components

In general, every modern smartphone should work in a twin setup. But camera sensors and lenses vary from smartphone to smartphone. That’s why I decided to get two of exactly the same model. Since i3Dstereoid offers auto alignment and auto colour adjustment, you could probably also start with two slightly different models.

The camera trigger method seems to be even more important. You can of course simply press the shutter buttons simultaneously, but that’s not really what syncing means. i3DStereoid also offers pairing two phones, but for me the delay was far from acceptable.

Bluetooth comes to mind first, but it is in fact not an option as it’s a 1:1 connection. I wasn’t able to find any Bluetooth shutter that could be connected to two phones at once. There are a lot of options for digital camera twin setups, but these don’t work with phones. Finally, there are some bluetooth beam splitters available and remote shutters working with high frequency tones, but for me they did not seem reliable enough to even test them.

I’ve then thought of building a mechanical construction to simultaneously touch the screen to shutter or press a button on the side of the phone. In the case of an iPhone, this would be one of the volume buttons. Suddenly, it came to my mind to press the volume control of my cable headphones. That worked. So, iPhones have a built-in wired remote shutter. That would be my starting point for the twin shutter!

The last known problem was the mounting of the two phones. But since there are mounts for phones available that have standard threads, this would only be a matter of research. I would do that after the shutter.

Building the shutter

It goes without saying that there is absolutely no wired shutter available that connects to two smartphones. So I knew that I had to build my own. I believe that it’s probably easier to build such a twin shutter for smartphones with a standard audio jack. But since I have a newer iPhone, I had to deal with Apple’s Lightning connector.

I tried to actually split the lightning cable. Therefore, I connected two lighting extension cables and tried to use them with my headphone. After twisting 24 individual tiny wires in the right order, I connected phone and headphones. It worked. I was delighted. Then I connected the second phone. At first, it only triggered the second phone. After that, nothing happened anymore. Unfortunately the lightning connector is a ‘smart’ connector that incorporates digital information about the connected accessories. Speaking of the technical process, I did not fully understand how the headphone communicates with the smartphone. But I’m sure this is why my attempt completely failed.

After a few days of frustration, I realized that I had to come back to my first idea of a mechanical solution. So I removed the ear pods of two headphones and disassembled the volume controls. Inside, I found two metal carrier plates that I removed and sanded down. I glued them together back to back and reassembled both circuit boards and their covers. This time everything worked as it should. Regardless, I knew that a mechanical solution would always be a bit less precise.

Rig prototype

The search for suitable phone mounts and bracket was as easy as expected and soon I ended up with the first version of my iPhone rig. I knew right from the beginning that I wanted to keep the mounting as small as possible, so this would be no more than a prototype. But it was ready for its first field test.

First results — new issues

Before I tell you why this was a big disappointment again, let me start with something positive. The handling was super easy and lightweight. I would quickly adjust the baseline and then take a stereo pair with just one click. From time to time I would touch corresponding areas of the previews to ensure that both phones would have the same brightness and focus conditions. Transferring the photos between the devices via Apple’s AirDrop worked quickly and the stereo pairs were already almost perfectly aligned. Still, i3DStereoid found a little deviation, but there was almost no cropping of the image.

But when it came to movement, it seemed that being perfectly synced was rather a coincidence. I comforted myself that it still would be easier than taking sequential stereos. I would just have to take 10 shots of the same subject to have one perfectly synced pair. But I already knew that this would not serve as a final solution. For some reason the two phones seemed to individually ‘decide’ when to release the shutter.

I also realized that the way the phone mounts were attached to the bracket was not optimal. When changing the baseline you would always have to pay attention that both cameras were not pointing in slightly different directions. But for now, this was a minor issue.

App research

Next, I tried to find out the reason for the bad syncing of the cameras. Aside from trying to get the right feel for how to press my twin shutter, I did some research into different camera apps. I never had differences of brightness or contrast between both images, so I supposed that it was all about the shutter speed. I found quite a lot of apps that let you control the shutter speed in detail but were less easy to use. Especially when you have to do it twice in the same way. What’s more, most of them simply did not support triggering the shutter with volume controls. There was just one app, that provided both detailed control and volume key functionality. It worked, but it really was a hassle.

I do not remember how I found the solution. Probably it was just by randomly trying every setting. If you tap on the preview window, the camera app will adjust brightness and contrast according to the selected area. If you tap and hold for a second, a yellow label will appear saying “AE/AF lock”. AE stands for Auto Exposure and AF means Auto Focus. But with this, the shutter speed is locked, too. As a result, the syncing reliability increased dramatically. Still, from time to time, one phone seems to need a little time for whatever reason. In the end, it’s an additional step on both phones for almost every photo. But on average I had a delay of less than 3 milliseconds. That could definitely compete with my traditional twin rig on which I used two Canon cameras in auto mode and a wireless shutter system.

From now on, the fun began.

Final rig

As I got more and more used to my rig, my focus on the process of taking a stereo photo changed. Previously, I had always taken a sequence of 3 to 5 photos. That way, I could later choose the best pair based on minimal rivalries and best baseline. Now, I would still take multiple pairs for best sync, but the baseline was always the same. That means I had to start paying more attention to the baseline in advance.

This resulted in constantly having to change the baseline. I soon got tired of unscrewing, moving, adjusting the direction of view and tightening the screws again. It took me quite a while to think of a proper improvement for my purpose. Once again, it was all about researching the right pieces and combining them in a specific way:

For all of you who want to build your own smartphone twin rig, here is the list including links to the products I purchased (these are not affiliate links!):

• 2x metal bicycle phone mounts
• 1x 40cm aluminum T‑rail
• 2x 10cm aluminum T‑slot miter bars
• transparent adhesive film
• 1x binoculars tripod mount

I unscrewed the phone clamps from the bicycle mount and screwed them on to the miter bars. After I had checked for a perfect 90° angle, I screwed them really tight so that they would always keep their position. To avoid the miter bars from sliding through the T‑rail without any control, I applied several layers of adhesive film on all sides that have direct contact to the rail. Now, the bars fit tightly into the rail. They can be easily moved but don’t move on their own.

All of this was rather handicraft except one step. To connect the binocular tripod mount with the rail, I had to cut a thread into the center hole of the T‑rail. For this I used a special thread cutter. Now I am able to connect my rig to any standard tripod. Another improvement was that the bicycle phone mounts are wider and therefore don’t allow any accidental rotation of the phone. T‑rails are available in any length or can easily be extended for an even larger baseline.

Results

The new construction allows me to change the baseline in seconds without having to worry about the alignment of the cameras. I also got more and more used to the workflow:

1. Choose baseline
2. Lock focus on both phones
3. Fire a few times to catch the perfect moment with perfect sync

Especially when I moved on to really animated photos, continuous motion like water or quick and spontaneous shots, I realized how reliable and efficient the iPhone rig had become. Here are some of the photos taken with the final system:

For more examples, see my galleries Stone and Water — A 3D Journey through Bruges and Short Stop in Barcelona.

Caveats

I have not yet figured out the best way to trigger the twin shutter. There are series where 30% of the photos are slightly (~3 milliseconds) out of sync and others where 95% are perfectly synced. This has nothing to do with background processes, because I use both phones in airplane mode. That’s why I think that the finger position matters a lot and I’m trying to improve that.

Depending of your operating system, the camera app might have extra features like QR Code scanning. This could cause additional delay between the two cameras, so better turn off any extras.

Also, I have not tried videos yet. That should actually be easier because you can sync them later, but I doubt this could be done entirely on your phone. If anyone has done stereo videos with two smartphones, please know that any tips are very welcome.

By the way, keep in mind that you are not allowed to take the T‑rail in your carry-on baggage on flights because it might be classified as a dangerous good.

Conclusion

Even though this challenging project took me a year from first idea to routine, I’m really happy about the results. I do not have to keep asking myself if a situation is calm enough to take a stereo or not. I do not have to plan for photo opportunities, charge cameras, and take an additional photo bag with me, I just grab the second phone and the rig. It’s lightweight, it’s simple and it’s convenient.

When I started experimenting, I had a lot of questions how and doubts if it would work. If you ask me today, there is only one single question left: Do you have a second smartphone or are you willing to pay for it? That’s all that matters.

Nota bene: I only tried all of this on iPhones. Theoretically, this should be possible with other phones in a very similar way. If anyone would like to start experimenting with Android phones, let’s have a chat!

Der Beitrag Smartphone Syncing — The Best of Two Worlds erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

It was several years ago, that I discovered what stereoscopy is,  how it supports my work as an architect and how rewarding stereo photography can be. I realized that I can use  my knowledge of stereoscopy to develop stereo cameras and stereoscopes. I started by  mounting two digital cameras for a stereo rig. But I also had access to a dark room and learned the entire process of analogue photography. During my studies I learned how to build models with laser cut parts. So I came up with the idea of developing an analogue stereo pinhole cameras. The first stereo photographs from my prototypes enlarged on light sensitive paper were very experimental, very interesting and very three dimensional.

After some years I decided to create a crowdfunding campaign to develop my first commercial product. I imagined a camera that would encourage more photographers to explore stereoscopy. After some more months of intense work, I was ready to launch.

In 2020 the MINUTA STEREO Pinhole Camera campaign got successfully funded on Kickstarter within one month. It made me very happy to see, that there was a lot of interest in a new camera adding stereo to pinhole photography. Over 160 backers believed in this project and invested their money, so I could set up production of my first product. In spite of a delay of some months, I’ve delivered all rewards shipping around the globe.

After the successful campaign, I invested the raised funds in setting up my small workshop for optical devices. The biggest and most expensive machine was the laser cutter I needed to cut out all the parts from MDF sheets. It’s connected to a large exhaust fan and a CAD computer. Another important thing I was missing, was the furniture to work on and to store all the materials. In the end I built it myself from simple wooden boards. Only custom made pieces would fit into my small space. 
I’ve also invested in good lighting and a simple 3D-printer.

Then I started finalizing the product and checking my CAD drawings again and again. The biggest problem with the prototype was that it had way too many features. Instead of making a simple stereo camera, I’ve packed all the knowledge I gained during the last years into my first product. I’m afraid I’ve made the envisioned easy start to stereoscopy a bit complicated. The biggest lesson I’ve learned while fulfilling the rewards, was to start with simple things. 

But I had promised a stereo camera for both medium format and 35 mm film with an optional rise & fall function, many different image formats, a 2D mode, precise viewfinders, many magnetic parts and some gadgets like pouches or holders. So, the main reason for my delay in delivering the rewards, was that I had to develop a lot of different special parts for all the different options. 

In addition to the camera, there were add-ons the backers could choose from: two different stereoscope models, an exposure calculator and six different slide mounts. Everything had to be designed, planned, produced, stored and packed.

So it was important to establish a clever workflow for exporting my CAD drawings, painting the MDF-sheets, laser-cutting the parts and organising them in labeled trays. Then I prepared exploded views and assembling manuals. The final design of the camera consists of over 100 parts including magnets, nuts, levels and many cork parts which had to be ordered and prepared.

After most of the cameras were already built I started do develop the product manuals and the packaging.I’m very grateful for the help of my neighbours: the two girls from FuturePlayground helped me with the graphic design, the boxes and the booklets. Then I started packing and shipping the rewards. In the end I’ve delivered over 120 cameras, 90 stereoscopes, 1400 slide mounts and many smaller add-ons. 

Now it’s in the hands of my backers. I am extremely curious to see what the people will do with this camera.I’ve created a Facebook Group to share and discuss images shot with the camera and the #minutastereo hashtag on Instagram.

Der Beitrag MINUTA STEREO — a new pinhole stereo camera erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

written for the Stereosite by Pascal Martiné (Germany), with special thanks to Gordon Au (USA) and Vanessa Grein (Germany)

Since Stereoscopy entered the digital age things have taken a huge step forward. Before digital imaging, misalignment, image rivalries, etc. made it very difficult to take sequential stereos with film. Special equipment was necessary for every photographer who wanted to enter the field of stereo photography. Sequential stereo photos benefited greatly from digital post-processing, and every mono camera suddenly became a viable possibility for taking stereo images.

However, for sequential pairs, when compared to images made with pre-made stereo cameras,  alignment and  the stereo window were still major issues. StereoPhoto Maker, a software developed by the Japanese stereo photographer Masuji Suto, made things a lot easier. This software includes Auto-selection of the corresponding files, easy parallax control, synced cropping, etc. However the most important feature of all is the auto-alignment algorithm! SPM has become the world standard for combining two individual images into a stereo photo. That counts even more since SPM supports different output formats such as parallel, cross-eyed, anaglyph, and many more.

Again, things have changed as smartphone cameras have developed. The smartphone is now a multi-tool for stereo photographers. It’s a camera for sequential or even simultaneous stereo photos or videos; it’s a computer that allows editing your photos right away; it’s a display in a convinient size for free viewing; and it allows you to share your photos with others directly online (read how to take and edit stereo photos entirely on your smartphone here). Fortunately, Masuji Suto has supported the stereo community once more by incorporating the central features of SPM to the Smartphone. His app 3DSteroid runs on Android, and i3DSteroid for iOS devices boosts the efficiency of stereo photographers of every age and level using their smartphones! According to the technical developments many different apps have followed since. You can find an overview of all the apps and their features on Masuiji’s website.

Believe it or not, he is not a professional software developer! Like most of us, Masuji is just passionate about stereoscopy and is happy to help the community with his software developing skills. Curious about him? We met him for an interview which follows below:

Stereosite: First of all, thank you for the opportunity of this interview! The stereo community is so lucky to have you: someone with expertise in both 3D photography as well as developing programs and apps. How did you get started in each of these areas?

Suto: I started programming around 1995, when random dot stereograms became popular in Japan, and I was so impressed with them that I saw the BASIC source code for making random dot stereograms in a magazine and tried to run it. I found that I could do many things relatively easily with the program, and since then I have been self- learning programming little by little by creating various programs. I had known about the existence of 3D photography for a long time, but it wasn’t until around 2000, when I happened to find an application for creating anaglyph photos in a magazine, that I realized I could do it myself. That was the first time. Once I started doing it myself, I found many things I wanted to do, but I just couldn’t do it with the existing applications, so I started making Stereo Photo Maker.

Stereosite: You said that you’ve found many things to explore. After the random dot stereograms and anaglyph stereo photos, which were the most exciting steps on your personal stereo journey so far?

Suto: I was happy when I was able to create an algorithm for automatic positioning, and the most exciting part of working in 3D was when I was able to get a great synchronized shot with David Sykes’ StereoDataMaker.

Stereosite: Since you started SPM you have also created many different mobile apps. What’s currently your preferred equipment and workflow to take your own stereo photos?

Suto: I mostly use Canon EOS M6 2 units or Canon Powershot S95 2 units + SDM, and Panasonic 3D1 (stereo camera).

Stereosite: Let’s get back to the app development. How long does it take to go from an idea to a finished app? What is the most challenging part of the process?

Suto: The time from idea to finished application varies, of course, from application to application. In terms of functionality, the time from idea to start programming can vary widely. Sometimes I start right away, and sometimes it takes years. Once I start programming, I can almost always implement it in a day or two. The difficult thing about programming is that I can get a lot of information about programming on the web nowadays, but I can hardly find any information about functions for 3D. So I often have to figure out the algorithm by myself.

Stereosite: This sounds really challenging. Were there times you just wanted to quit or have you always been confident?

Suto: It’s not my job, just my hobby, so I don’t take it that seriously. If I find a good algorithm, I just implement it.

Stereosite: You must keep quite busy with stereo photgraphy and programming! What else do you enjoy doing when you are not occupied with those things?

Suto: I am an office worker, so I go to the office on weekdays. On my days off, I enjoy walking, hiking, cycling, and short trips with my family. Since I do the programming in between these activities, I don’t spend that much time on it.

Stereosite: You seem to have an unlimited stock of ideas. What’s coming next?

Suto: When I get a new product, I want to try it out. In the past, I’ve tried mobile phones, 360 degree cameras, Oculus, Looking Glass, etc. I don’t have a specific idea for the next one. I’m thinking of making an Android app or a Mac app, which are highly requested by users, but it always takes me a long time to get started.

Stereosite: What do you regard as your greatest achievement? What are you most proud of?

Suto: I’ve never thought about achievements or pride. Basically, I’m making apps to achieve what I want to do, and I’m releasing them because I’m sure there are others who want to do the same thing. So, I’m happy if there are people who enjoy 3D with my apps, even if only a little. My greatest pride is that thanks to doing 3D, I have made wonderful 3D friends all over the world.

Stereosite: SPM and your apps have enabled a new generation of 3D fans and creators worldwide. How do you feel about this?

Suto: I would be very happy if I could contribute in any way to the birth of a new generation of 3D fans and creators around the world.

Stereosite: I’m sure you do! Thank you again for the interview.

Der Beitrag A view behind the curtain of StereoPhoto Maker erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts because we are going to embark on a trip to the Underworld! This is a series of “Modern Diableries” inspired by the original French Tissue stereo cards. But what are those? French Tissues are a type of stereo card that, when viewed from the front, appear in plain black & white or sepia, like any standard stereo card. However, when illuminated from behind it magically shows brilliant colours and special effects, such as glowing red eyes through tiny pin-holes, and flames created with tiny cuts.

The Diableries, very popular in the 1860s (Habert and Hennetier were the most famous authors), depict life in Hell: from walking skeletons with glowing red eyes, to ghouls, and even the Devil himself! At the time of Napoleon III, these stereo views were a strong political and social tool bound to analyse and criticize the French society. And even if some scenes would look quite amusing, they would also hide a deep meaning behind it.

While most of the time the original Diableries were intended to be scary, my approach and interpretation on such Devilments is mostly cheerful and entertaining – we’ll see the skeletons dancing, having parties and taking on various adventures. The models for these stereos are not made from clay as in Victorian times, but tiny plastic skeletons paired with tiny props coming from a dollhouse shop. The background to such scenes is usually cardboard, adorned differently on each occasion.

DISCO INFERNO

This is what a dance floor would look like in Hell. The skeletons are dancing under the disco ball (a Christmas ornament) and they’re truly having the time of their after-life. 

JOYEUX HALLOWEEN

A Halloween-themed scene featuring a spooky pumpkin in the same style of the Diableries. If you look closely, you’ll notice one of them got so excited he even lost his head! 

LE CARNIVAL DES DIABLERIES

Carnival is a very popular holiday in Italy so I wanted to pay homage to it. The skeletons are wearing colourful masks and top hats I made from paper. 

LEÇON D’ASTRONOMIE

We’re attending an interesting lesson of astronomy; someone is raising his hand to ask a question. The crescent moon was made out of an old CD, and the stars in the background are rhinestones. 

MUSIQUE INFERNALE

A hellish concert is happening here, and the two stars are being applauded by a small audience. 

QUAND LA FÊTE EST FINIE

This is a New Year’s Eve party and the skeletons are quite drunk! A tiny bottle of champagne can be spotted amongst the confetti. 

THÉ EN APRÈS-MIDI

A fancy tea party in an exclusive club. These skeletons must be British! 

Der Beitrag A Trip to the Underworld erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

written for the stereosite by Pascal Martiné, Germany

Introduction

Many stereo photographers — especially those who are about to start with the medium — will at some point encounter problems when taking sequential stereo photos with their smartphone. This could be the wrong distance or rotation between the left and right image, the hassle of transferring the images to a computer for post-processing, automatic size reduction by collage apps, etc. There are common solutions and guides available for most of these single steps but this puzzle might get confusing or even frustrating for some. So better to switch to a stereo camera or build a stereo rig even if it’s expensive, heavy, and not always with me?

Personally, I really enjoy taking stereo photos of moving scenes with my Canon rig. But most opportunities are not worth taking the large bag with me and I also don’t have enough experience to make full use of all settings of the cameras. That’s why I actually hardly used my rig for almost two years. In fact, I’ve only used my smartphone and I definitely am convinced that this is a good choice — even for those who want to take stereoscopy more seriously.

Here are some examples of stereo photos taken at unexpected occasions. Luckily, I have my smartphone always with me.

Preliminary remarks

This tutorial is based on my personal workflow for creating side-by-side stereos and includes several apps for taking, aligning, combining, and post-processing stereophotos. From shot to post, all files stay entirely on the smartphone. Depending on the occasion I slightly modify my workflow by adding, replacing, or skipping particular steps. But on average the process really comes down to 3 minutes to get a finished side-by-side stereophoto. It needs a little practice of course, but in the end it’s neither more complicated nor more time consuming than finalizing the shots that I took with my rig. Using a ready-built stereo camera might be easier, but I did not try one of those because of the limitations of a fixed baseline.

That said, I’m using an iPhone 11 Pro and so my experiences are iOS-based. But all the apps I’m using are available for Android as well and should work quite similarly. The same goes for standard editing operations like cropping or duplicating images in your photos/gallery app. More recently, I started using Apple shortcuts to automate certain steps. But indeed, this doesn’t seem to be possible on Android. Therefore, in addition to providing the ready-to-use Apple shortcut, I will also explain the individual steps involved.

If anyone could provide detailed remarks on Android, I will be glad to update this tutorial later.

1: Taking the photos

As you might already know, the baseline (i.e. the horizontal shifting) between the left and right image is crucial for the depth and cannot be changed afterwards. Therefore, I recommend David Kuntz’s article about finding the right baseline for a stereo photo.

For now, what I  want to take away from it is to always take 3–5 photos in a sequence instead of only two. That way, you will have multiple stereo pairs with different baselines. No matter if you are experienced or a stereo beginner, you will always have at least one pair with the right depth. Furthermore, if you have two or more pairs with satisfying depth you may be able to sort out those with rivalries (i.e. movements or differences between the two shots that cause flickering in a stereo view). Finally, this method gives you also a kind of certainty while you take your photos: instead of thinking about the right baseline you can focus on a calm and relaxed parallel camera movement during your sequence and this will surely result in  better aligned photos (although possible, correcting the alignment is limited and causes cropping of your images).

In addition, I want to recommend always rotating your camera to shoot in landscape format. Keep in mind while choosing your point of view that the aspect ratio of your final stereo image may not be landscape, but sticking to landscape format ensures that later on you will be able to adjust the stereo window more easily. As this suggests, stereo photography includes cropping in most cases. You may be tempted to shoot in upright orientation, especially when you want to take quick snapshots in 3D, but you will lose more material than if you shoot in landscape format. The only exception I would note is an extremely narrow image format.

So, after a short while you will end up with hundreds of photos on your camera roll ready to make you despair. Thus, the next step takes the most patience in the whole process.

2: Finding the stereo pairs

Surely you have heard of the software Stereo Photo Maker and the corresponding mobile apps i3DStereoid (or 3DStereoid for Android) which we will use now. It is not possible to save files with the free version but I can promise you it’s worth every cent. Even though they’re sometimes a bit cumbersome to use, developer Masuji Suto deserves lots of recognition for developing multiple stereo apps independently in his spare time.

There are different tutorials and guides available for the app (iPhone-help, Android-help) where every function is explained in detail. Therefore, I will only explain the steps that are essential for this tutorial. I always use parallel view because that allows you to use a viewer or print cards. This tutorial works likewise for cross view, but if you want to use this or other different viewing methods, the later steps need to be modified. When first using the app, please set up for parallel or cross view in the bottom menu by tapping the eye-icon. As long as you want to follow this tutorial completely, you cannot use the frame feature. Tap on the ‘Main Menu’ button on the top left corner and choose ‘Open Stereo Image’ and navigate to your photos. Unfortunately, i3DStereoid won’t remember the last used folder so you will have to do this every time. There is a feature for easy flipping to the next image but it’s not suitable for our purpose.

Now you have to select two photos. You can do this by trial and error and improve with experience. But you can also free view the thumbnail images in different ways: you can fuse adjacent images, or every other image, or every two images, depending on the grid, though this will require a little more practice. Depending on the direction of your photo sequence the resulting stereo view will be either normal or inverted. But fortunately, either way lets you estimate the amount of depth of the stereopair and therefore helps you to choose the right one more quickly. Keep in mind that stereo photos look shallower at thumbnail size and will look deeper at full size. After you have determined the pair with the best depth you can now proceed as normal. Tapping on the ‘L‑R’ icon switches the two photos so that you can change between parallel and cross view.

3: Aligning the stereo pair

Without a bracket to guide the movement of your camera, it’s almost impossible to prevent vertical camera movement or rotation between the left and the right images. This makes it difficult or impossible to view the stereo photo, even with a viewer. Luckily, i3DStereoid has an amazing auto-alignment feature: just tap the white magician’s hat on the bottom menu and you are done.

Optional step: color adjustment

Sometimes the colors between the left and the right image are different due to the autofocus of your smartphone. More recently, i3DStereoid got a second magician’s hat (the colorful one). Tapping on it will adjust the colors of the two images to match better. If you tap once, the left image becomes the color reference; if you tap twice, the right image becomes the color reference; if you tap three times, all changes will be undone.

Optional step: vertical cropping

Although I’ve spent a few sentences on how to reduce the need for cropping, there are some cases that require additional cropping, e.g. if you simply want to remove something from the top or the bottom of the photo.

I have to add that I personally prefer my stereo photos to all have the same aspect ratio, be it  displaying them in a grid, or for printing them. Surely if you only want to display them on social media like Instagram different aspect ratios won’t matter that much. But if you want to keep a fixed aspect ratio, it is necessary that we crop only vertically in this step, or at least that we crop in a way that the result will still have a wide format.

The third icon on the bottom menu opens the ‘Adjust mode’. The stereopair is displayed interlaced and a blue cropping frame is displayed. You can adjust the frame easily with your hands.

Note about the stereo window

Let me take the opportunity to drop a few lines about the so-called stereo window here because that will be the next step we are about to prepare. The stereo window is created by the borders of your left and right images. In addition, their horizontal alignment will create a depth relation between the borders and the stereo photo. In other words, by adjusting the stereo window you determine if your subject is at the level of your screen, lies behind, or even pops out. Like the baseline, the stereo window is essential for a good stereophoto; however, unlike with the baseline, the position of the stereo window can always be corrected later. I highly recommend David Kuntz’s article on that topic to ensure you know how to achieve the desired effect and prevent a so-called window violation.

It is just as possible to adjust the stereo window in the ‘Adjust Mode’ of i3DStereoid. But since we have to switch to another app at some point anyway, I personally prefer adjusting the stereo window later. In particular, that is because I want to immediately see the stereo window while I’m working on it. But this is not possible with the interlaced display of i3DStereoid — even though this is useful for some purpose as well.

4: Intermediate file handling

To export the adjusted stereo image, open the main menu again and choose ‘Save Stereo Image’. Since we want to do further editing you should choose ‘Original resolution’ in the next step. Android users should export the stereo image twice — you will see why later. If you have more sequences that need processing I recommend repeating steps 2 and 3 now, so that you end up with a bunch of properly aligned and cropped stereophotos that are saved one after another on your camera roll. That way, you won’t need additional time to search through your pictures during the next steps.

a) iOS

Right now, the stereo pair is stored side-by-side in one image file. For further processing, we need to separate them. Luckily, Apple offers a kind of scripting tool called ‘Shortcuts’ that allows us to automate processes like this. I’ve written a suitable shortcut for our purpose that you can download if you open this link on your iPhone. You might need to adjust some settings first (more about that here, otherwise proceed as described for Android). After downloading the shortcut, you have two possibilities to run it: you can start it directly in the shortcut app, or on your Homescreen, or you can use the ShareSheet. In this case, open the photos app and select all the stereo images exported from i3DStereoid. Then tap on the share icon, scroll down and select ‘Divide Stereo Photos’. That’s it.

b) Android

The following fiddly step might not be necessary. Still, it could prevent exceeding resolution limits that would cause automatic size reduction. So, it’s best to check if skipping this step has any effect on your final stereo image. As stated above, you should have two copies of each of your stereo photos. Go through each of the files now and cut off the right part of one copy and the left part of the other. This should be possible with Android’s standard editing tools. You don’t need to carefully cut exactly in the middle — this is just to reduce the width.

Now you should have the left and right stereo images one after another, with the right depth, and perfectly aligned.

5: Adjusting the Stereo Window

Now we have to switch to another app that is extremely useful overall. Adobe Photoshop Express (iOS / Android) is also a mobile version of desktop software. It is free with some limitations but with enough functionality for our purpose. However, I recommend buying a yearly subscription because this opens a lot of useful functions for post-processing.

Start the app and navigate to the ‘Collage’ function. After our preparations it’s pretty easy to just select the stereo pairs and import them. The Layout section in the bottom menu lets you change the division between horizontal and vertical (mostly just titled G1 and G2). Tapping on the vertical division icon again switches the two photos so that you can change between parallel and cross view. The aspect ratio section lets you choose your desired format. I recommend 16x9 which results in almost square stereo views. The app also lets you directly choose formats suitable for purposes like Instagram posts or stories. (There are many more layout or zoom functions and plenty of online tutorials to dive into the app.) For now, that’s all we need to start with the stereo window adjustment: while you’re free-viewing the stereo photo, tap and hold one of the two images with your finger. Quickly slide your finger down out of your view. Now, while free viewing, move your finger horizontally and watch the stereo image moving forward and back in the stereo window. This technique enables you to determine exactly the best positioning for your photo.

There are basically two simple rules: moving the pictures towards each other will bring the stereo view closer, and moving the pictures away from each other will push them deeper into the window (when parallel viewing). By moving both in the same direction you can choose the image area. If a disturbing blue frame appears, just wait a few seconds and it will disappear. Sometimes you will accidentally zoom in, just double-tap to zoom out. No matters what happens, you have a comfortable undo function available.

If you are satisfied with the stereo window, tap on the share icon on the top of the screen. Then select ‘Save to camera roll’. If you navigate back to proceed with the next stereo pair, you can choose whether to save the collage or not.

Again, I would recommend repeating this step with each of your prepared stereopairs before the next step.

Parallel and cross grids

You may appreciate showing your images in parallel and cross-view right underneath each other in a square grid as is directly offered in i3DStereoid. I don’t recommend starting with a collage of four photos in Photoshop Express for that purpose. Instead, work as described using your preferred viewing method and export the collage once. Then switch the two images like described above and export again. That serves for the same stereo window in both versions. Afterwards, import both collages into a new collage without any additional borders. Sounds complicated? Well, that may be true. Maybe it’s better to adjust the stereo window in the ‘Adjust mode’ of i3DStereoid in this case.

6: Post processing

As you will know, Photoshop’s centerpiece is post-processing photos, and the same applies to Photoshop Express. If you choose ‘Edit’ instead of ‘Collage’ on the app’s start screen you can re-open the exported stereo photo, choose ‘Adjustments’ in the bottom menu, and apply different effects. Beside exposure, contrast, and other commonly-known settings, it’s especially useful to control highlights and white tones, and similarly shadows and black tones, independently. Try lightening up the shadows while darkening the black tones! Furthermore, I especially recommend ‘Clarity’ and ‘Dehaze’. Finally, artistic color adjustment is possible in the ‘HSL’ section where you can reduce or increase the saturation of specific colors. Most of these are only available in the paid version though.

If you’re done, you don’t need to export the picture manually. Just navigate back and confirm to save. A new copy will be created. Voilà — that’s your final stereo photo ready to post or send anywhere.

Alternatives

If you don’t want to subscribe to Photoshop Express or don’t feel comfortable using this app, it’s also possible to use the built-in iOS or Android image editing in a satisfying way. If that’s the case, you also might need to think carefully about how you want to adjust the stereo window. Like I mentioned above, this is possible in the ‘Adjustment mode’ of i3DStereoid. If you prefer the free-viewing adjustment, there are many collage apps available. But don’t forget to check whether they reduce the file size or insert unwanted watermarks.

7: Tidy up

Depending on your phone’s storage it might be necessary to delete some of the files that were generated during the process. If you repeated step 2 and 3 before starting off with Photoshop Express, and did likewise with step 5, you have your camera roll quite organized despite the large number of pictures. This makes it easy to choose which ones to delete and which ones to keep. I would only like to give you one piece of advice: you never know where you are going to present your pictures at some point. Whenever you change the medium in which you present stereophotos, it can be necessary to increase or decrease the baseline. So that’s another advantage of taking more than two images, and that’s why you should keep your original photos. You can store them somewhere on an external drive or card.

Conclusion

As I mentioned above the smartphone has become my number one device to take stereo photos. Of course, if I need to take simultaneous stereo photos, I take my stereo rig. But even then, I transfer the photos directly to my phone, and luckily, there is a cable for that. This is because of three more reasons that I don’t want to withhold from you: first, I have found a vivid and interested stereo community on Instagram — basically designed for use with a smartphone. Secondly, the smartphone is a really good viewing device, be it for free viewing, or be it inserted into a viewer like the LSC Owl. Even magnified phone screens don’t get as pixelated as computer monitors. Finally, not only do I have my smartphone always at hand to take stereo photos. I also have it readily available whenever I have to kill time. For those moments, what could be better than doing a few standard processing steps to get new stereo photos?

These photos required slightly more artistic post-processing but were still edited entirely on the smartphone.

Der Beitrag Stereo photography to go — from start to finish in 3 minutes erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

Despite the fact that my field of work is experimental Stereographic Art, I am recording and documenting in 3D wherever I go, such as Galleries and Museums, and especially, when a Monumental Installation by an Interdisciplinary artist, or artists takes place. However, I have discovered that 3D can capture and retain a sense of the physical and  geographic  experience of being immersed in such a massive art exhibit, better than traditional 2D recordings. These Monumental Installations can typically take up a city block or more in size, but are unavoidably and tragically impermanent. Fellow participants are an important element of these enormous installations, and their presence and interaction with the piece can also  be captured without disruption by using a pair of small, hand-held cameras for recording in 3D.

Because different people have different experiences, I try to return to the piece and shift my focus and sense of awe to different aspects of the piece so that an edited version can provide a cumulative impression while also capturing the differences that an ever-changing presence of fellow visitors produces. Both of the featured 5‑minute long 3D videos have an informal intro, with occasional text  pages that give the viewer information and insights as the video progresses. This, I feel, helps the viewer settle in and immerse themselves in the  3D rending of the  artwork, as well placing them among the other participants engaging in the piece. Although these present recordings are relatively casual, I believe that more extended 3D coverage and production would help to preserve these one-of-a-kind experiences for future generations (to some extent).

Der Beitrag Bright loose images for the Monumental Art series erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

Here is a step-by-step guide to making flush mount stereo cards. Flush mount means cards in which the artwork extends all the way to the edge of the card itself, as shown in the photos.

For better understanding I’ve recorded the tutorial as a video. This video assumes you have already created and printed the artwork for both the front and back sides of your stereo card, although there is brief mention of some of the considerations involved in doing this. Then, it guides you through the process of:

• Cutting and gluing your photo to the card
• Cutting and gluing your back side artwork to the card
• Trimming your card to its finished size

While this demonstration involves the use of a high quality paper cutter and glue dispensing machine, no specialized equipment is actually required to make stereo cards. You could produce them with a pair of scissors and a glue stick, or double-sided tape. It really depends on the results you want to achieve, and how much time you’re willing to devote to the process. 

I would say that for cutting, an X‑acto knife would give substantially better results than scissors, and probably represents the entry point for cutting. A paper cutter won’t necessarily yield better results than the X‑acto knife, but it would be quite a bit faster. Similarly, there are all sorts of adhesives and adhesive dispensing methods. But, these all produce essentially the same results, so the only differences between them are in cost and ease-of-use. 

So, don’t be put off by equipment or technology. Making stereo cards is easy, and I hope this short video will give you the information you need to get started.

Der Beitrag How to Make Flush Mount Stereo Cards erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

I was first introduced to stereo photography a few years ago by a camera operator named Craig Haagensen, who shot with a 35mm stereo camera. After speaking with him and seeing a few of his slides, I was convinced making stereo photos on film was the way to go. It also made sense to me as I had already been shooting and developing photos on my own for a while. I’m not a purist by any means. I also understand it’s 2021 and I’m talking about shooting on film. From an educational standpoint though, the limitations it imposes forces you to learn the basics of exposure, composition and how to be more intentional with your artistic choices. Especially with stereo photography, every step of making and viewing an image is much more involved and expensive on film so you really have to ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. 

I personally love street photography and meeting people so as I’m walking around, I constantly ask how depth would add to a certain moment or scene. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. But thinking in that way has naturally influenced what I pay attention to. I also shoot mainly with Kodak slide film. It is rated at 100 ISO, which means my day is planned around where the sun is going to be. Having a less sensitive film stock has forced me to observe different qualities of light during the day and gravitate towards parts of the city I otherwise might not normally visit. I sort of just follow the light and see how it plays off of buildings, windows, and crowds of people. I’ve grown to love shooting in harsh lighting conditions and in areas that have lots of contrast and reflections. I’ve even found a few pockets in New York City where at a certain time in the day, sunlight bounces off multiple windows of surrounding buildings, casting this unusual, artificial look to a street corner. 

A prerequisite of making a good stereo photo in addition to an understanding of depth, composition and lighting is the precision that comes with the mounting process, which demands a level of commitment and attention to detail. For those who haven’t tried it, it will seem like a big time commitment but again this is also part of the appeal. Spending an hour or two mounting slides is definitely an exercise in humility as you reflect on all the things you wish you did right. As you get familiar with it, there’s a rhythm that develops with the tactile experience and it’s pretty relaxing. The secret is just taking the time to research the technical understanding, searching for the gear (mostly on eBay), asking questions from those who’ve been doing it for much longer, and being patient with the whole process until you end up with your first stereo slide. When I couldn’t find a piece of gear I was looking for or if it was too expensive at the time, I improvised.

For a year, I showed people slides with a cheap plastic Raydex viewer and a dual LED clip light and it worked great. If you’re handy, make your own cameras or viewers. Developing your own film is also probably cheaper in the long run, but I found a trusted lab and a New York apartment doesn’t accommodate the space for a dark room. 

Below are some of the film cameras I shoot with. The 35mm Stereo TDC Vivid is an entry level camera that has a coupled rangefinder, which I find easier and faster to focus when walking around. It has its downsides like a maximum 1/100th shutter speed and an issue of slightly overlapping frames. But, it is cheap and easy to find online. The Colorist II is similar and has a slightly faster shutter speed which helps with scenes that have  a lot of movement. The Stereo Realist is a great first camera as well. The dual Yashicas and the TL-120 are really rewarding to shoot with as they are medium format and viewing the larger frame size is quite something to experience. The ISO Duplex is fun because it’s really small and I can get closer to my subjects because of the narrower stereo base. 

Overall, I think the learning curve is pretty steep and has been trial and error, resulting in mostly errors, wasted film, and sighs of disappointment. But that’s part of the process and it’s worth it to capture those moments that you feel really proud to share with people. I think in a time where a lot of our creative consumption takes place on a phone, it’s a refreshing and unusual experience for most people to be given a viewer and a tray of slides. It’s a form of photography that’s meant to be shared in order to enjoy and requires you to stop what you’re doing and give your full attention to it even for just a few minutes. The responses and encouragement I’ve gotten from others has been rewarding enough to continue pursuing it. I’m also grateful to have found a vast community online and on social media. My buddy Dave Ross, who has been a mentor in many ways, makes some pretty wild stereo photos and has been a great inspiration and source of guidance when I fall into a pit of despair about one of my cameras not working properly. I would encourage anyone interested in getting into stereo photography to start on film and see it through to your first mounted slide. You’ll learn a lot very fast. After that, see how you feel and build on it!

Der Beitrag A Plea for Analog Stereo Photography erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

Introduction

When I started to take my first own stereo photos I soon realized that I can kind of adjust the amount of depth by shifting the camera more or less between the two shots. Like most of us it took me quite a while to develop the right feeling and reduce the amount of stereo pairs that were not really satisfying. But capturing landscapes was still a challenge when I first heard of so called hyper stereo photos. After my personal discovery of stereoscopy this opened a whole new world once more. During the summer of 2020 I had the long awaited opportunity to take stereo photos with a drone. But to tell you all about the magic of hyper stereos it’s best to start soon after the birth of stereoscopic photography.

While stereoscopic photography always had more technical requirements, including the camera as well as viewing devices, the viewing experience surpassed that of mono photography. This may not apply on portraits but does certainly on travel photography, where you could step right into the scene depicted in a stereo view.

But when it comes to wide and distant landscapes their flatness is an undeniable drawback for the stereoscopic effect when a stereo camera with lenses spaced at the same distance as human eyes is used. Watching the following slides through a Brewster stereoscope would offer a little more depth than free viewing them. Nevertheless, one can see that the lack of 3D is already quite boring compared to the two stereo slides shown above.

If you ever took your own stereo photos and referred to the distance of your eyes when shifting the camera between the two shots you may have encountered that all distant objects appear as one single flat background. The same effect explains why we cannot estimate the different distances of clouds when we look to the sky.

Stereopsis

To understand why this is not possible we need to consult some theory. The ability of extracting depth information from our binocular vision is called Stereopsis. One of its conditions is related to the fact that our eyes have a certain distance to each other. Now, if we look at an object (F) both our eyes will immediately turn towards the object, leading to a vision of the object right in the center of both retinas, resulting in one single vision for both eyes (Fig. 1).

The vertical orange line represents the distance between us and the object. The horizontal orange line is called baseline in the context of stereoscopy, i.e. the distance between our eyes, or the distance between the two camera lenses.

One could assume that every object which is as far away from us as object F would cause such a single vision. But this is not true. If you would draw two rays from equal points on both retinas through the two lenses you would find out that their intersections rather create a circle. This circle is called Horopter (Fig. 2).

Note that this is only the theoretical horopter. There also exists an empirical horopter and a certain neuronal tolerance, summarized in the so called Panum’s fusional area. But we will now focus on stereopsis again.

If an object O (red) is closer than the horopter its vision will have different positions on each retina (Fig. 3). Those different positions on the retinas cause a double vision which enables our brain to sense the distances of objects. We also use additional techniques such as comparison of size, movement, etc. to enhance that sense, but we can ignore that for the discussion of stereopsis.

Let’s take a closer look at Fig. 3. For the right eye, the red object will hide point 3. This means that there will be no vision of point 3 on the retina of the right eye, i.e. it would not appear at all on the right image of a stereo photo. But this does not happen on the retina of the left eye. Moreover, it’s shifted even beyond the vision of point 4. If you would place an object behind the horopter you could easily find out that you would have the same result vice versa.

Unfortunately, the double vision method works only for close objects. Here’s why:

Fig. 4 shows what happens if you increase the distance between us or the camera and the object we are looking at (vertical orange line). The baseline and the distance between the horopter and the closer object are the same as in the previous figure. It’s just like you were stepping back to take a look from further away. As you can see, the left vision of the red object moves closer to the vision of point 3. Ultimately, this is what happens:

The former double vision of the red object transforms into a single vision. This means stereopsis is not possible anymore and we are thus not able to sense the different distances of the two objects — we are just too far away now.

This problem affects stereoscopic photography even more. If you want to take a photo of something that is just too large to fit entirely on your lens — like a building, a mountain, a landscape or a city panorama — the only way is to get farther away from the subject and loose the stereo effect. Furthermore, we sometimes wish to get closer to particular object but we can’t — like a ship on the sea, an animal or the clouds mentioned above.

Wait! Didn’t we conclude that it’s just impossible to sense depth in distant clouds? Yes, that’s true on one hand, but obviously clouds are also as three dimensional as a mountain. Luckily, we are not only able to bring back the depth, we are also able to make it visible in a way that we have never seen it before. That’s why the title of this article speaks of magic.

While magicians work with illusions or distractions we will actually not do anything more than revealing reality. That means making stereopsis possible for distant objects. In theory it’s quite simple to bring the double vision back. All you have to do is increase the baseline (Fig. 6).

If you want to examine the effects between distance and baseline on your own you can access this figure as an interactive GeoGebra file online here.

The effect might seem poor in the example above because the double vision on the last figure is far less than on the first. But as I said you will use that technique for large buildings rather than for a still life on a table. So, if you increase the distance to your subjects, their inner distances will grow likewise (while the distance between the red object and the horopter remained the same through all figures).

Historical hyper stereos

It’s time to leave theory behind to prove that the technique works. And how it works! When I looked through my collection of glass slides I can easily conclude that hyper stereoscopic photography is no new discovery, but was used for the same purpose as today as it was in the 19th century:

Typical settings

There are a few requirements to take satisfying hyper stereos such as an empty foreground, equal ground, and space to move sideways. This results in typical situations suitable to take hyper stereos:

Walk along the riverside

Walk over bridges

Look down from large buildings

Take photos while you’re in a moving vehicle, …

… a plane or watching a movie.

Don’t move at all, but let the scenery move.

In my experience, it does not matter if your baseline is a little too big — at least in most cases I don’t have time to calculate, or I just don’t know the distance between the camera and the subject. That’s why I always shoot a horizontal sequence of 4 to 7 photos, and choose the final stereo pair afterwards. If I take simultaneous stereo photos I leave one camera where it is and increase the distance to the other camera multiple times. That way I can choose the best pair afterwards as well. For more information about how to choose the baseline I recommend David Kuntz’s article Getting the Right Depth in 3D Photography.

Hyper stereos taken by a drone

A few years ago, a great possibility for stereoscopic pictures went rather unnoticed when drones became available for everyone at a moderate price level. Here are a few examples that I took together with Ihab Zaidan who flew the drone:

Castle Waldthausen, Mainz, Germany

Russian Orthodox Church, Wiesbaden, Germany

Flying high obviously enables you to have an empty foreground wherever you are, and lets you choose the perfect perspective. But one of the most important benefits is that the remote control allows you to move exactly sideways — no slope of a road, no accidental circular movement.

Of course, there are also drawbacks and limitations such as strong wind, flight restricted areas, and the battery of the drone. The conditions of sequential stereo photos also affect drone stereos – but since you are quite far away and can move rather quickly this is not a big problem. I would say it has never been easier to take satisfying hyper stereos than with a drone.

A series of more drone stereo photos can be found in the corresponding gallery Castles along the Rhine.

Der Beitrag The Magic of Hyper Stereos erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

Ready for a journey into deep space? Then why not create your own universe by drawing it?

Space and galaxies have always fascinated me and when I started painting some years ago I created several galaxies in the classical way —  in 2D on canvas. But when the book Cosmic Clouds 3D by David Eicher and Brian May was released in 2020, I got the idea of converting my paintings into 3D by using a depthmap. And I realised that the result was far from satisfying. So I switched from canvas to digital artwork, which has the advantage  of being easier to convert into a stereoscopic drawing than a traditional one. 

But how can you create your own 3D universe? My deep space drawings were made on an iPad using Photoshop and Procreate, but basically any program which provides different layers will serve the purpose. The layers are the key to creating the 3D-effect. 

After starting with a dark background, it is time to add the clouds. The easiest way to draw them is by using cloud or fog brushes that come with the program. But I recommend the use of different brushes to create a more realistic look. There are plenty of free presets for Procreate available, or you can just design your own brush. Be adventurous and mix different colours and shadows to achieve more variety. 

It’s important to not draw all on one layer; rather, divide it onto at least two or three layers, which will be moved sideways at the end to create the stereoscopic effect. Once the nebula is finished you can put in some stars: Place them using different sizes and opacities on different layers. I use at least five or six layers because I have found that the more layers you can move, the more depth you get.

When you are happy with your drawing you can start the conversion into a stereoscopic drawing. Don’t forget to save the original one because this will be your left image. The right one is created by moving the layers some pixels to the right. The individual amount you should move the various layers depends very much on the subjects and the effect you want to achieve.  

Once you have moved everything you can save the right image. Place left and right image side by side onto a new layer, or just use the StereoPhoto Maker or the i3DSteroid App which works perfectly on an iPad. I prefer the app because you I can easily check if the 3D effect is good enough or if I have to change something. I am lucky that I can freeview stereoscopic images (parallel only), but of course you can use a stereo viewer as well.

The advantage of SPM or the iD3stereoid app is that you can easily save the image for parallel and cross view. But I discovered that sometimes the same stereopair looks satisfying with both viewing methods. These are the final results.

There is not one right way of doing it, especially because my galaxies are artistic images and not photographs. Sometimes it is just trial & error until I´m satisfied with the result. And sometime I just delete it and start a new one.

Start your own space journey and always remember: There is no boundary in art. Enjoy the process of creating something new! 

Want to see more? The space shuttle is waiting for you to take you to another Journey Into Deep Space!

Der Beitrag Deep space stereo drawings erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

I present you a series of modern stereo cards, inspired by the Victorian way of depicting reality: Stereoscopic photography. I’ve been inspired and fascinated by the atmosphere of old stereoscopic cards, which were, in their time, the most realistic way to immortalize and then relive the memories driven by the sight of a particular scene. Stereoscopic photos were also considered an effective travel ticket or boarding pass to places around the World during bygone times when travel was not within everyone’s reach.  Such stereo ‘postcards’ allowed people to switch off from reality and bring their minds to other places. Stereography made travel more comfortable and affordable for everyone – and as Oliver Wendell Holmes implied, it also “allowed the viewer to own the scene, to place it in a viewer and stand gazing over it”. Another quote that would perfectly reflect the Victorian heyday of stereoscopy comes from William Darrah:

“A steady stream of stereo views depicting the classic antiquities of Rome, Naples, Athens, Egypt and the Holy Land, together with those of cathedrals, public buildings and palaces of the tourists centres Europe provided mementos of the journey and vicarious adventure for those who had to remain at home.”

By the latter half of the 19th century, many towns had their own resident stereoscopic photographer, which means there were plenty of local subjects available for people with stereoscopes, as well as travel cards from far-off lands. I’ve been inspired to create my own virtual travel cards after encountering many stereograms published by the Stereo-Travel Co. (on Google and various stereoscopy blogs); and the Scenes in our Village series by Thomas Richard Williams – a collection of stereo cards in which Williams depicts life in a small English village at the beginning of 1850s. For my series of stereo cards I wandered the paths of such stereocards, with the aim to take you on a virtual walking trip around the streets and old footpaths of my town. I’ve also tried to recreate the unique atmosphere that a vintage card would give to the viewer, from the framing style to the warm sepia tones as in Williams’ works. The result is a collection of gathering places, landmarks, landscapes and secret corners of the Old Town. Here is another example:

I took these stereo photographs with my Smartphone, using the 3DSteroidPro app, which you can easily download to your mobile phone. I use Photoshop Lightroom to enhance colours, light and shadows. I align and crop my stereo pairs with Stereo Photo Maker, which has various built-in tools that make it easy to avoid violating the stereo window. Once aligned and cropped — in a semi-square format — you can find the ‘Print stereo card’ tool (File/Print stereo card). You can choose between different types: Custom stereo card, Classic stereo card, Holmes stereo card, 6x13 Format, and finally the Cabinet card. The characteristic sepia tone is also done with Stereo Photo Maker (Adjust/Colour adjustment/Grey scale/Sepia colour [L/R]). You can also add a title, description, and even the authorship. You can create your own modern stereo card in 10 minutes!

If you want to see the full series of modern Stereocards from Iglesias, visit the corresponding gallery Villa Ecclesiae.

Der Beitrag Stereo cards from modern times erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.

The reason for this article is to attempt to explain the relationship between my profession as a sculptor and the stereoscopic image.

Unlike painting, in sculpture, the perception of spatial depth may be the most important thing to consider. The relationship of each of the elements distributed in the space is the real challenge to take into account in creating sculpture. In the vast majority of cases, color is dispensed with to focus attention on three-dimensional shapes. In a traditional two-dimensional photograph of a sculpture that perception of depth is lost, and therefore two-dimensional photography is a very ineffective means to represent the spatial awareness of a sculpture.

When one day I had the opportunity to learn about the stereoscopic representation of an image, I understood the true meaning of photography and the magic it can bring to any type of image. Since then, etheric photography has been an important tool, if not the most important, to capture, copy and represent everything I see and believe, not only in the world of sculpture, but in all aspects of life. I also want to relate my photographs to the stereoscopic daguerreotypes of the mid-nineteenth century as a tribute and reminder of a technique that despite being more than 150 years old, is unequivocally more modern in concept than the standards we use today.

Female sitting nude

This slightly larger than life size sculpture represents a portrait of a woman. A tribute to a person who loves himself. The pose is idealized, while the face responds to reality. In this piece, the position does not portray very exhibitionist spirit,  but is rather relaxed and natural, without looking for anything expressive beyond the simple fact of being aware of being naked. The position of the hands and the treatment of the hair is what I have enjoyed the most about the sculpture.

I am still working on finishing this sculpture  in my workshop.

In some images I want to show visually where the sculpture is located inside the marble block before starting to carve it. To do this, I have utilized one of the possibilities that photography offers, which is photogrammetry. It is nothing more than the ability of stereoscopy to understand depth, guided by a computer program. This allows me to get a polygonal model of the marble block fresh from the quarry. Once digitized, I manipulate it in a three-dimensional environment, taking into account the scale, using the computer. Here I can combine it with the digitized model of the sculpture, to place the completed sculpture exactly where it suits me best within the block of marble. It is interesting to view the possible results in stereoscopic images, playing with transparencies and other elements to understand the three-dimensional environment in which the sculpture is located within the block of marble.

Extremófilo (Extremophile)

Extemófilo is a 60 cm tall bronze sculpture. It is found in a private collection.

It represents a girl in an unnatural, purely exhibitionist position, intended only to attract attention. The accessories are also absurd, only justified by the clear intention of enhancing the figure of the body on display.

The purpose is not to criticize the absurdity of the girl’s intention with her posture,  but rather, to show one more facet of the human being that causes me to pigeonhole her as a being with extremophilic capacities.

Equilibrio

White Carrara marble sculpture of a young woman lying on her back. It is represented in life size.

It began as a commission to make a stand for a table. The only condition was that the main motive had to be a female figure. The first sketches resulted in this position and it was ruled out that it should serve as a support for a table. The posture made sense on its own.

Balance represents an ideal state between the mind and the body, a kind of natural connection that thoughts transfer to the body; and the mind, in turn,  receives the result of the stimuli from the body.

In this piece, I felt very comfortable with the type of marble, since it offered me the possibility of representing the anatomical details that I considered very necessary to give realism to the human figure. I also wanted the material from which it is made to be evident and also to show contrast between the soft leather and the raw stone.

Monument to the Fisherman

The Monument to the Fisherman is a 250cm high marble sculpture. It is located in Carboneras, a town on the coast of Almería in Spain. It represents a fisherman who has just caught a swordfish. He is leaning on a fishing net and gazing out at the sea, aware that the  battle he has just fought has ended in the same difficult scenario which he faces each day.

Swordfish is one of the typical products of the fishing of this town.

Goddess of Fishing

This sculpture is part of the sculptural group that forms the cover of the hotel “Maravilla Palace” in Estepona (Malaga).

The group is made up of two goddesses, fishing and agriculture, and a central shield with the hotel’s logo. The figures are life-sized,  sculpted in cream-colored limestone, which is the same stone used in the building itself.

I am currently working in the final phase of competing these sculptures.

I thought  it would be interesting to show photos of the work in process, since it is the least known aspect of stone sculptures.

The Goddess of Fishing has as representative attributes, an anchor, a headdress with typical sailors braids and a squid that seems to attend to the gestures that she makes with her hands. Her position is very sedentary, looking down to greet  people as they approach the front door of the hotel.

The Game

This sculpture is two meters high. It is carved from a single block of marble. The scene represents a girl and a boy playing. The intention is to represent a power competition, in which each player uses different strategies  to achieve their goal.

The child  below, plays with a doll that is a soldier, representing the power of force, and a chest that represents the power of money. He protects it under his knee. The girl is given a doll.

The game consists of the girl trying to achieve  the power that the boy has. To accomplish this, the girl is snatching one of the keys that the boy has in his possession, taking advantage of the fact that he is distracted trying to recover his doll. The child does not use a thoughtful strategy, he only becomes enraged and tries to achieve his goal by force. The girl is interested in economic power, so she focuses on getting one of the two keys that open the chest that the boy controls. She has reflected on her strategy, feels confident with her plan and is more elegant as she can envision how her plan begins to succeed.

In short, the boy, confident in his strength, believes that he can remain dominant without issue, while the girl has had to draw up a plan, since she could not best the boy using her weapons.

This sculpture was one of the first works that I created when I had the opportunity to buy a block of marble twenty years ago. I still have it in my workshop. For me it was a complicated technical challenge, a test to demonstrate to myself how far I could go when transitioning the model of a sculpture with complex shapes to a block of marble without making irreparable  mistakes.

Der Beitrag Symbiosis of art — a sculptor’s stereo photos erschien zuerst auf the stereosite.