The push of Stereoscopic 3D for Photography

This is a completely different tangent than what I've been doing for class but it's something that been gnawing at me lately. I will always love celluloid film and hope it never goes away.
There's a level of aesthetic quality that can't be matched by digital and the journey towards making an image with film with your bare hands is always a more fulfilling experience that
digital cannot have. With that said, I am also embracing the technology & mediums of the future and one that I have grown far more appreciative of is 3D. I was uncertain of the format when
it was 1st getting pushed in the cinemas with the release of "Avatar". The images of the film in 3D looked interesting but between the need to wear the glasses to achieve the effect (I already wear
glasses so wearing 2 pairs of glasses on top of each other is an even bigger pain.), the alterations of the lighting due to the glasses, the amount of money to pay to see a 3D film and the quality of the 3D & film itself made the format feel gimmicky and
unpractical for further actual artistic development.

The amount of films pushed out in 3D only furthered the idea that it may not be anything more than a money-making gimmick. But 3 major factors have turned me around in thaty regard:

The 1st was seeing the film "Hugo" which was directed by film legend Martin Scorsese, who in reading articles, pushed to make the film in mind with a precise use of the 3D to build a deeper level of immersion
than when previous films achieved. It was definitely a success in that regard and had me appreciate how careful the 3D was used in making the film's world feel more alive and vibrant. Practically no use of the typical
"throw stuff at the screen" use you'd see in most 3D films.

The 2nd was purchasing a portable video game device called the "Nintendo 3DS" which was developed by the same company who created the wildly successful "Wii" home console. The 3DS is designed in a large, clamshell form which when opened,
had buttons, a slide pad and 2 screens inside, with the bottom being a touch screen and the top screen allowed for Stereoscopic 3D still and moving images to be seen WITHOUT the need for glasses. The screen is about 3.5 inches large, diagonally. Nintendo designed the screen along with
Sharp and works by simultaneously sending an individual image to a certain eye repeatedly.

It also has 2 cameras on the outer part of the system, which allows for taking 3D pictures and videos. Even though it was built to be primarily a video game system, I have heavily enjoyed the use of the cameras to take still images that feel alive in 3D. The cameras themselves are not
very good but are ok when viewing on the screen itself. The images are 640x480 when viewed on the computer screen. The joy I find in shooting the images are that I'm in control of what I shoot, I'm not bogged down with a 2nd pair of glasses on my face (not to mention no light loss) and the 3D really allows
for some details to emerge that you would not normally see in 2D. I've shot some scupture images in 3D and the extra dimension allows for information to be communicated back to the viewers that they wouldn't normally see in 2D. I likely would not do any major projects with this camera but the feeling of shooting
with it feels comparable to the "my 1st camera" from when I was a toddler. The device has potential to really push for the development of similar 3D cameras & technology as the device is marketed to people of all ages and thus far, 12 million 3DS's have been sold worldwide. Nintendo themselves is also
cultivating the uses of the cameras, hosting photo entry contests across the world for the best 3D images.


The 3rd and arguably most important factor was sitting in Katheryn Shields' Modern Art class this semester and for 1 class, talking about how long 3D images have actually been around for. She showed off some old film-based images that originated as far back as the 1920's. My favorite featured a dog in a wheat field nearby
a car. The image is quite striking in 3D as the wheat envelopes the dog further in 3D.The images as a whole are very interesting and offer some really strong and good use of 3D. This gave some perspective in realizing the development of 3D should not really be a shock as much as a long time coming. There have been many attempts to craft devices that allow for practical creation of 3D images and things like the 3DS are only the next logical step in the development.

These things are what have shown me the potential in 3D images and what they can do in communicating pivotal information to viewers that can't be accomplished in 2D.

Getting my hands dirty with film again.

With such a long semester centered around planning and coordinating events, it felt really nice to get my hands dirty with simply shooting on film again. This time around I got a DIY Twin-lens reflex camera that took a long time to build. The box said "1 hour assembly time. Excuse the language but My ass, it took 1 hour. That would have been the case, had the
instructions been less confusing (The parts needing to be assembled would differ from what would actually need to go into place.) and had it come with the
screwdriver it needed to come with. After around 6 hours (there were breaks in between) I finally completed the camera and works quite well.

After receiving a few rolls of film from a classmate, I so far have shot 2 35mm test rolls to see how the camera works. It holds up well in outdoor settings, favoring the golden hour.
It also worked in indoor settings. I took some shots during my shift at the greenleaf, in the library and the caf. Most of the images have a solid and natural vignetting effect applied to them which works for a number of photos. My 3 favorites invole a simple shot of a sculpture outside the art building, a hallway in the library and of a friend of mine opening her mouth with food inside. I'm very excited about the prospect of this camera and shooting some more film with it. I'd love to go to the next step in the future and buy a real TLR camera that takes 120mm film.