Wildlife photography in your backyard.
Digital Stereo Macrophotographs for Cross-Eyed Viewing.
by Donald E. Simanek.
This page requires a monitor width of at least 1000 pixels in order to see both images for cross-eyed stereo viewing. Since the photos also have large vertical dimension, it helps to toggle the "full screen" view (F11 in Windows). However, if you haven't mastered that viewing method, these may also be appreciated as 2d flat photos. All are copyright by Donald Simanek. Most were taken with a homebuilt 3d digital camera attachment described in 3d Gallery Four.The project has resulted in two versions of the bugshooter attachment.
One uses 50mm lenses 9.5 mm apart and set for a short working distance, resulting in a field of view about 2 inches wide. This one has small apertures and uses the popup flash of the camera with ISO 400. The other has 40mm lenses and a longer working distance of about 10 inches. Typically the camera was set at ISO 200 in daylight, and sometimes supplemental flash was used from the camera's pop-up flash. The apertures of the camera attachment are fixed at about f:40, and the shutter speeds in daylight were about 1/100, allowing hand-held shots without flash.
For instructions on free-viewing 3d by the cross eyed method, see the How to View 3D page.
Many examples of stereo macro photography can be found on the internet. Some of these, though impressively photographed, are not taken "in the wild", but are made in the studio with insects that have been refrigerated for a while to slow them down. It's a lot more challenging to go after them as they go about their daily activities in nature, with hand-held camera. The composition isn't always perfect, nor the poses, but they are natural.
Bees of all kinds like holly bushes in bloom. On a warm and sunny day you can stand near the bush and have bees buzzing all around you, eager to have their photos taken. These bees are not aggressive if undisturbed while going about their business. The last two pictures were taken at ISO 800 at 8 inches distance from the lenses, with the camera's pop-up flash reflected from a white card.
The last picture is "The Caterpillar That Ate My Japanese Maple." Though it was a good model, my wife insisted that its career be ended after this photo shoot. I'm told that it is the Eastern Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma americanum.
To test the resolution and sharpness of this picture, I cropped it and enlarged a small portion.
[June 2008] Catalpa trees are in bloom. These clusters of blossoms are exceptionally beautiful, and some varieties have a sweet fragrance.
[June, 2008] Blooms are getting larger, and some minor tweaking of the adapter lets me cover a larger angle of view, without distortion. 1/16 inch diameter apertures, cloudy day, ISO 200, no flash.
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The bugshooter 3 has evolved. It has a shorter masking tube (4.25 inches) and a reflector for the popup flash, so that the cardboard tube does not cast a shadow onto the subject. The reflector also provides a broader effective source, located higher and forward of the flash lamp. It is made of white cardboard from candy boxes and an aluminum top from a peanut can. The aluminum redirects flash light up to the white cardboard, which scatters into a hemisphere. This gives softer, more natural-looking lighting.
More cross-eyed stereos in 3d Gallery One.
Still more, mostly taken with a digital camera in 3d Gallery Two.
Stereo view cards in 3d Gallery Three.
Review of the Loreo stereo attachment 3d Gallery Five.
Home-built digital stereo macro camera attachment 3d Gallery Four.
More bugshooter 3d macros at 3d Gallery Six.
A home-built digital stereo camera using mirrors 3d Gallery Seven.
Return to the the 3d and illusions page.
Return to Donald Simanek's front page.
—Donald E. Simanek