I have always loved things in 3D. I had a ViewMaster when I was a kid and would study the differences between the right and the left eye images. How amazed I was to find that this kind of illusion has been around for several hundred years. Dad had a few stereo optic scopes like the one above, and I always enjoyed looking at the 7" cards. He even made one with a 25mm camera when I was in fifth grade that was not stereo, but just a duplicate image for both eyes. But I came upon shooting stereo photos quite by accident. One roll of film I got back had two photos I shot that looked similar. I remembered how I had seen two aspects of the same view in the stereo photos growing up. So, I thought I would see if the two shots I had taken had similar properties. To my amazement, it worked. I saw depth to my image, and a light bulb went off in my head that I did not need to have a fancy stereo camera to shoot stereo images. I just needed a very still subject.

Since the early '90s, I have been experimenting with stereo images using a standard 35mm camera. At first I used a tripod and moved it from shot to shot, but lately, I have been shooting without the tripod and just using a steady hand. I have found that the eye (or brain) is incredibly forgiving when it comes to shooting perfect stereo photos. I typically find a scene that is as calm as possible (nothing moving), then I shoot one shot noting a land mark as an edge marker. Then I move the camera about four to six inches right or left and line up with the same land mark and shoot the second picture as quickly as possible to avoid any changes like clouds moving or the wind blowing. Below are some of my attempts to make 3D images for the old stereoscopes. If you do not have one, you can reverse the images and view them cross-eyed to see the 3D effect. Enjoy!