Stereo Photography: 3D in the Digital Era

This clearly written and easy-to understand short course on stereo photography in the digital era explains step-by-step how you view, share, capture and edit your exciting 3D images. This guide is currently available as a 244 page (8.5 by 11 inch) full-color, fully searchable PDF eBook you can order on a CD or download instantly by clicking buttons to the right.

Click here to see a PDF file with typical sample pages from the book.

Introduction

Skim the table of contents and preface that follow to learn more about this exciting new book.

Contents

Preface

Eventually that era passed, along with its signature tail fins and sock hops, and stereo photography has been in the photographic background for decades. It was only with the 2009 introduction of the Fuji W1 stereo camera that stereo photography moved seriously into the digital era. This camera and its successors have reinvigorated and greatly simplified what had previously been a laborious process from beginning to end.

With so much happening all at once it's easy to get confused. The goal of this book is to sort things out for you so you can understand not just the digital stereo camera but the rest of the digital world in which it is embedded. If we talk about stereo film photography at all it's only for historical perspective. We also concentrate on the newer twin-lens digital stereo cameras, leaving esoteric two-camera combinations to others. However, much of what you learn here can be used with single-lens cameras—which are as good as twin-lens cameras when taking stereo close-ups of subjects such as flowers or distant scenes such as landscapes.

As you begin your journey in stereo photography, you are following in the footsteps of some our most esteemed photographers. Many of these, especially those practicing in the 19th century, photographed in stereo extensively because there was an insatiable market for stereo cards showing wonders of the world in 3D. Early stereo photographers include the inventors of photography Henry Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre and other well-known photographers including George N. Barnard, Felix Beato, H.H. Bennett, Charles Bierstadt, Matthew B. Brady, Roger Fenton, F. Jay Haynes, Jack L. Hillers, Thormas Houseworth, William Henry Jackson, Eadweard J. Muybridge, Timothy H. O'Sullivan, A. J. Russell, Charles R. Savage and Carleton E. Watkins. Search the Web for any of these names to see examples of their work. Although we know the work of many of these photographers, those who worked as employees of the large stereo photography publishers such as E & HT Anthony and Keystone were usually not credited so remain anonymous. Also the negatives captured by well known photographers were traded and sold so it's sometimes hard to know who took which photos.