(Aside from watching the Leprechaun horror movies)
On St. Patrick’s Eve: “FYI, kids, remember they update the St. Patrick’s Day rules this year. Yeah, you remember from school: the Church of St. Patrick sets the rules, and they change every [10, 15, etc.] years. Usually they switch between easy and hard rules. So that old ‘wear green or you get pinched’—that’s obviously an easy one. I mean, we all have something kinda green, right? But this year—and I know you know this already—it’s wear something FOREST green or get your arms chopped off. Yeah, all that research and preparing we all did last month to get clothes with the exact right shade of forest green—that will really pay off. I’m glad you pay such close attention in school and heard about this from your teachers weeks ago. Oh yeah, don’t forget the day officially starts at midnight! Yay, it’s almost time.”
This is a ‘pure’ geeky (and unfunny) post for my stereophotography friends. If you’re unfamiliar with it, briefly: stereophotography is the art of taking 3D pictures, usually via a stereopair: two pictures—each representing the view of one eye—which, when fused, recreate the 3D scene. See a ton of examples I have made here: http://instagram.com/WorldOfDepth
Taking a Stereopair
Though there are specialized dual-lens stereocameras, you can take a stereopair with any camera in a sequential fashion: take one photo, then while keeping the camera pointed straight ahead, move to the left or right, exactly perpendicular to the camera view, 2-3 inches or 4-5 cm, and take another. You want:
- the magnification/zoom to be constant (don’t move closer/farther to/from the subject)
- the top and bottom edges of the scene to be constant (don’t move or point up/down)
When you move sideways, things at the opposite edge of your view will get cut off slightly, of course; this is OK. Do NOT pivot the camera to compensate (this creates trapezoidal so-called keystone distortion).
On St. Patrick’s Eve: “FYI, kids, remember they update the St. Patrick’s Day rules this year. Yeah, you remember from school: the Church of St. Patrick sets the rules, and they change every [10, 15, etc.] years. Usually they switch between easy and hard rules. So that old ‘wear green or you get pinched’—that’s obviously an easy one. I mean, we all have something kinda green, right? But this year—and I know you know this already—it’s wear something FOREST green or get your arms chopped off. Yeah, all that research and preparing we all did last month to get clothes with the exact right shade of forest green—that will really pay off. I’m glad you pay such close attention in school and heard about this from your teachers weeks ago. Oh yeah, don’t forget the day officially starts at midnight! Yay, it’s almost time.”