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March 2010 Photographers Resource - Monthly Edition 75 |
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Special 3D Issue |
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In This Issue:-
Although there are many shows throughout the year for many different interest groups, March always seems to be when show fever starts to take hold, with many of the long running well known shows, like Focus taking up residence in the many exhibition halls around the UK. A little later than last year, the
Photographers Show of the year 'FOCUS ON IMAGING' takes place this month from
the 7th to 10th at the NEC Birmingham, in halls 9&10. Doors open at 10am each
day and all the latest equipment will be on show and offers to be had. All the
big names like Canon, Nikon, Manfotto, Lastolite, Colour Confidence, Epson and
many more will be exhibiting, all together over 200 exhibitors. Take a look at
the
Focus On Imaging website
Focus On Imaging the annual UK Photographic Show. 2008 Advance information.
Focus on Imaging Show - What to look out for - Feb 2008
Focus on Imaging 2008 A highlighted tour
with many links.
What To Look Out For at Focus 2009
Focus-On-Imaging Show 2009 Review
Probably one of the largest consumer shows of
the year takes place at Earls Court in London,
The Ideal Home Show, If you're into animals and particularly dogs, then the Annual 'Crufts' event is on at the NEC Birmingham from the 11th to 14th. Buying tickets for shows today has many options depending on when you make your decision on when to go, or whether you want to reduce your costs on attending. All shows allow you to buy tickets on the door, the day you arrive. But many, like Focus On Imaging and the Ideal Home Show, also allow you to pre-register and buy tickets online via their websites, usually offering you a discount for doing this. One thing to watch out for with online purchases is the addition of a booking fee, Focus do not do this, but the Ideal Home Show does. It all depends on who they are using to do their ticket operation. Buying tickets direct from the NEC website usually also incurs a booking fee charge.
However there are other ways to get tickets and
for the Ideal Home Show these include getting hold of Preview Tickets offered by
some magazines such as The Ideal Home magazine, who have complimentary tickets
available with their March edition for the first weekend. Or you could take a
look at eBay and see if you can pick up a ticket somebody else already has but
is now unable to attend, these can typically go for around £3 for the Ideal Home
Show, a considerable
saving if the whole family wants to attend. When looking for tickets to any
show or event don't forget to take a look at eBay it's amazing what offers and
bargains you can pick up. For a safe way to use eBay why not take a look at our
article
Buying on eBay,
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Photographic Feature 3D Photography In a few years we will all be taking photographs in 3D, probably not all the time, but a substantial percentage. At the moment we are still on the journey, expecting new technology, wondering why the camera manufacturers have not yet brought out a good 3D digital consumer model, looking forward to the day when the first DSLR is produced with full 3D imaging, and variable automatic stereo base. Wondering what this would look like, perhaps this would look like the eye pieces of a pair of binoculars, with the body of a DSLR, but with two lenses that are moving with a parallelogram system. 3D however has been around from the time of early plate cameras, and in this edition we want to look at the position now, where 3D is at, and what is happening, plus how you can get into 3D using your existing camera equipment, with some projects and some examples to get you started. The main picture above is a still life scene and shot as you can see in standard 2D, but if you put your mouse over the image you will see it was also taken in 3D. As 3D is only two 2D images taken some distance apart you have the individual 2D images to make use of as well. We have introduced a new symbol
The move to 3D Around two years ago, I
predicted that 3D
It has taken time to convert the many cinemas that can now show 3D and the while just about all films are now shot in 3D it has taken a while for the development, editing and launch of these to bring 3D films to every town. As film production companies have agreements with the cinema groups not to show the material as DVD's or on TV before 17 weeks has passed from the cinema launch, this has also meant up to now there has been very few films that could have been shown on TV in 3D. I had expected by now to have seen leading camera manufacturers with 3D models, but there is only one digital 3D consumer model to date and the image quality this has, has not featured well in reviews.
Last autumn, Channel
4 had a 3D week, and transmitted a range of programmes including some older
films in 3D, the glasses to go with this were available free from Sainsbury
supermarkets, it used the
ColorCode
In the last two years
since we looked at 3D coming a very large number of new patents and a few
good ideas have come about in this area, and this includes barrier based
displays that allow 3D to be shown on a display screen. However we
still don't have a screen that has been designed to show
Lenticular images,
There has been talk about ways to put 3D printed photos into magazines, at the moment this is only practical using Lenticular images or images that require people to wear special glasses. One suggestion is that a new technology makes use of a form of polarised image similar to the way a cinema film is shown in 3D, and that this technology could provide a very low cost means of providing 3D special TV's, on computer screens, in print and in many other ways and that those of us with glasses might have the required filters built in as standard and others might use glasses or contact lenses. For this to be practical everyone would need to agree the same standard. My feeling is that barrier technology or something based on Lenticular images would be a better solution and prove more popular as no glasses or lenses are required. We have here a number of 3D photos in photo frames that require no glasses to view. These were taken on a special camera produced by a Canadian company, the special camera is in effect 6 cameras in a box, and uses Lenticular technology. This camera is quite large and the whole system designed for portrait studios. We will look at Lenticular images and this camera in a later edition. Once we have TV in 3D regularly and more professional photographers are routinely using 3D, a lot more photographers will want to take 3D photos. However you don't have to wait, you can get started now. 3D has been around from the days of early plate cameras, and back in the film days there were a range of cameras that were designed to take 3D photos. It became popular from time to time. Getting into 3D photography 3D photos can be taken with a single camera, hand held and free software you can download. You get more consistent results by using a tripod and a sliding arrangement, and for live action photography you need two cameras set up in some way so they both take photos at the same time. The effectiveness of the 3D image is dependent on having the right
separation between the position the two images are taken, This distance
known as the
Stereo base
To
help to get you into 3D we have the start of a new
section on 3D, In addition we have 4 projects, one to produce some 3D glasses, the others are to take and produce 3D photos. You can obtain 3D glasses cheaply, including from eBay, and if you hire one of the 3D videos/DVD's from a hire place they will give you a pack of 4 sets of glasses that you don't return. Throughout this section you will see 3D photos, but you will need the 3D glasses to make them work. The ColorCode glasses used for the Channel 4 TV week will not work with these images. ColorCode We are experimenting with ColorCode, and will bring you more details on this and if we think in real live situations it has an advantage. As there are costs involved in using ColorCode for special glasses and software and only those with the special glasses can see the images, we are undecided at this time on how good an idea this is and we still have to do enough real world tests to see where there is an advantage over what we have come to consider standard 3D, using the left red and right cyan lenses. ColorCode uses a orange left and a purple right lens. Watch out for more We have more projects planned, plus several galleries we are going to produce in 3D. The idea at present is not to have further special editions of this newsletter on 3D, but to include more articles on 3D subjects, to include some 3D galleries. We are trying to balance our enthusiasm for 3D, sharing a lot more of the knowledge available on this topic, and showing you what can be achieved, with the fact that its not a mainstream interest yet, and for many of our readers perhaps something that appears too much effort, or is ahead of its time. Articles on 3D available now:-
3D Photography -
An Introduction
Taking
3D Images with One Camera
Taking
3D Images with 2 Cameras
Stereo Base Look Up Table
(PDF Version)
3D Viewers for Side by
Side Images
3D Projects |
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The Photographers Diary The April diary has been added and the various pointers have been updated. We have also updated the wildlife diary quarter April-June with national activities taking place around the country that you can get involved in, so don't forget to also check this out. Some highlights that are of particular interest during March include:- On the 7th March a parade of clowns along The Esplanade of Bognor Regis in Sussex. A colourful afternoon event led by a Mardi Gras Jazz band. Two Patron Saints are celebrated during March, St David's Day in Wales on the 1st, and Cardiff has a parade of floats, flags, bands, dragons and people in historic welsh dress parading from Sophia Gardens, through the city centre and ending at the National Museum. On the 17th March it's St Patrick's Day for Ireland. On the 14th a St Patrick's Day Parade and Festival takes place in London, while in Cheltenham the Irish visitors to the Annual Cheltenham Festival (horse-racing) from the 16th to 19th are welcomed and made to feel at home in the town during their stay.
Many of the steam railways are starting to open
their doors again ready for the 2010 season, and some like the
West Somerset
Railway
For those who want something a bit more unusual
you could try the Hawick
Reivers Festival
As you can see the UK is full of the unusual, sporting, historic and modern contemporary events which people all over Britain take part in. If you want to have a great day out and get some good photos, then take a look at our diary pages for details on these and more inspiring ideas to spend your weekends. |
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Wildlife Photography In March March is the start of spring and now our gardens, woodlands and hedgerows start to come back to life. On the 28th of this month the UK clocks move forward one hour and our days start to become longer, allowing us more opportunities to get out and take great photos of our countryside. It is also the time of the year when a lot of our wildlife start to build nests and create new homes and get ready to enjoy their courtship rituals to create this years new brood. The mad 'March Hare' comes to mind with the female hares boxing as they have to fend of the overbearing male until she is ready. This activity can take place at anytime but this time of year you can get good views as the vegetation in the fields is still short. Many of our winter hibernators will start to emerge from their winter beds, slightly dazed but on the look out for their first proper meal for months. The first insects hatch, some butterflies take to the air and honeybees start to venture from their hives ready to take advantage of the nectar being produced by the early spring flowers. Plantlife is also starting to add colour
to our landscape. Snowdrops have been out a while now, but in some places still
may be emerging as our weather this year has not been on their side. If you want
to get a glimpse of them before they disappear back into the ground for another
year, then take a look at our
Where to
Photograph Snowdrops
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| Summary of Articles Included In This Issue | ||||
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3D Photography -
An Introduction
Taking
3D Images with One Camera
Taking
3D Images with 2 Cameras
Stereo Base Look Up Table
(PDF Version)
3D Viewers for Side by
Side Images
3D Projects |
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