Autumn Experiments.

Two images around 1,300 miles apart. The doors of the Church of the Martyrs, Leicester UK, and a crossing in Rome. Four images to make two 3D pictures. The image of Rome has inspired me to try 'documentary' or street photography in 3D. So I have prepared one of my three Nikon F90 cameras, loaded with Fomapan 100 asa black and white film, with a Neptune 35mm lens. And, we will just see what happens. With one roll of film, I should make enough images to make 15-16 3D photographs.
 

Through The Eye Of A Fish.

People who know me well, know that I'm a big fan of what I call the 'poor relations of photography - Pinhole, 3D (obviously) and Fish Eye Lens images. Well here I have managed to combine two of those genres, by using my Lumix GF1 with a Lomography four-thirds Experimental Fish Eye lens, to create 3D images.

So far, I haven't done all that many, but the combination is growing on me, and I plan to shoot a lot more before the end of 2022. The colour image shown here, has been made with a remarkable app on my iPhone6 called 'Fishi". It has four lens options under the titles; Perch, Cod, Salmon and Herring. All give a slightly different fish eye view and distortion, and such fun to use.

There are several more fish eye lens apps out there, and I will try to use them all and report back on this blog.
 

Home Is Where The Art Is.

 For the last two years, I have been photographing our back garden from the beginning of October, to the end of March, under the project title 'Winter Garden'. The images for this body of work have and still are, being made with three different 'Pinhole' cameras, one of which is a LUMIX GF-1, with a Wanderlust Pinhole Lens. Looking through the files, I decided to pull out some 'identical' shots, and combine them to make 3D images, like the three we have here. The black and white image of the bedroom window, was also made with the LUMIX, only this time with a Lomography Experimental lens.

It's a lot of fun combining what I call the 'poor relations' of photography, 3D and pinhole. but by doing this, it has opened up a whole new way of making an image. There are of course 'ready made' 3D cameras like my recent purchase, the Minuta Stereo, which I'm still experimenting with. More about that in another blog.

Archive Trawling.

 These early winter afternoons have induced me to take a hike through my archive, looking for 'doubles', two almost identical images, that I can manipulate in Photoshop Elements, to create a 3D image. These are what I've come up with so far, Some are more easy to see than others, the walker for instance is in two different strides, but as I've said before, I like to experiment.

Later today (Saturday, November 19), I'm taking my 1951 Coronet 3D camera into town, I will be attempting to shoot some images in Jubilee Square (Leicester UK), but will also use an app on my iPhone 6 called KulaScope. I have heard very mixed comments about this app, some love it, some hate it. I need to give it a try!.

Bright Colours.

 Nothing connects these two images, unless one says 'Breakfast & Birmingham'. The delicious porridge was made at Ninety Six Degrees Cafe, Braunstone Gate, Leicester UK. The gold statues are located in Central Birmingham. The only reason I strung these two together was the strength of the colours, which make for a good 3D image. 

It's a crying shame that 3D, is still in the minority reguarding photography in this country. It's the forgotten cousin really, but there are good signs that it's slowly coming back into popularity, and for me that is down to one man, Brain May (guitarist with the band Queen), and stereo enthusiast. More about that in another blog.

Rainy Day Cafe 3D Shoot.

 On our way to the cinema today, my wife and I stopped by 200 Degrees Cafe, in Leicester (UK), city centre for tea and coffee. While there, two images screamed for me to record them using the i3DStereo App on my iPhone6. This is an amazing app, and I find myself using it more, if none of my cameras are to hand. I think there is something similar for Android phones, but I couldn't say what.

However if you do have a reasonably modern Apple phone and fancy giving 3D a try, download this free app, and have a go. you'll be amazed.

Using A Pinhole.

 As I have said many time before, I love to experiment, especially with 3D. This image was made by using my ageing LUMIX GF1, with a Wanderlust Pinhole Lens. These are pictures from my ongoing 'Winter Garden' project, using three pinhole cameras to record the death and rebirth of an urban garden, over two years. Some of the photographs from this project have been been made with 3D in mind, and this is one of ten I've mad since the beginning of October 2021.

It's the washing line that makes this image work. If it had been let down, there wouldn't have been much of a shot left. The LUMIX GF1 is a beautiful camera for 3D work, tough and lightweight, perfect to keep in your pocket for 'grabbing' stereo images.

Coronet 3D Experiments

 In an earlier blog, I spoke about my purchase of a 1951, Coronet 3D camera which uses 127 film. That film size is still available from specialist shops, but comes at an enormous price. There is a device however which cuts a 120 size film roll down to 127, and that's what I did here with these grainy, less than perfect 3D images, made over the summer in our back garden. On the camera itself, because you are shooting a double image, one has to use 1,3,5,7,9 in the film counter. but this didn't quite work out and there was some over spill of images.

However, this is all part of the experimentation, and I enjoy seeing the results, either good, or not so good. in a future blog, I will have more to say on the camera, film, and film cutter, as I have just cut, re-spooled and loaded another film into the Coronet. I'm very excited about the possibilities of this camera, especially with colour film.

Out In The Parks.

 Over the past couple of years, particularly since the Covid Pandemic, I've spent more time outside, much of that time walking in areas of Leicestershire, like Aylestone Meadows and Bradgate Park. Apart from improving my mental health, roaming these wonderful spaces, gave me some splendid opportunities to shoot some 3D images, using one of my LUMIX four-thirds cameras, and a couple of Lomography Experimental Lenses.

I travelled light on these walks, and my levels of fitness went up tenfold.

Local Urban Stereo.

 One of the loves of my life is urban or street photography. Sometimes I combine this style with my passion for 3D image making, which result in images like this, a stranger walking through the centre of my hometown, Leicester UK. 

The camera used was a LUMIX GF1 with a Lomography four-thirds Experimental lens. This was the wide angle version. The software I use to create many of my images is Photoshop Elements on my 24 inch Apple Mac, which has been gutted and had a new 120gb SSD drive installed. The Mac itself is around twelve years old, but it does everything I need it to do.

Over the coming Winter, I intend to make many more images by combining Urban with 3D. Much of this will be on 127 film, in my 1951 Coronet 3D camera.

Stereo Panoramics.

This is something I had never tried before, making 3D images using a Panoramic Camera. This little beauty was purchased from a charity shop in Holt, Norfolk, UK for £2.50, yes two pounds and fifty pence in 2010. It laid gathering dust in a drawer for many years, until I started to shoot images with it, four years ago. I think the camera was mass produced in China, and it's never failed me yet.

The overall quality is lets say, reasonable but the plastic lens, glued into a plastic body, can produce some half decent work, but it depends on the subject. Watch this blog site for more examples.... soon.