Just because I don’t use a camera for a while, that isn’t necessarily the same as abandoning the camera.
And, for the purposes of today’s blog, that includes my Trio3D triple-image film camera.
Take a look.
That’s right. It has three lenses.
The Trio3D camera was designed to capture three simultaneous images, and then the negatives were sent to a special processing lab that would produce a lenticular 3D image for you. But the technology was clunky at best, and the cameras devolved into “orphan” technology.
That doesn’t mean that I haven’t stopped using them.
Case in point. I can still use this camera as a quirky 35mm shooter, as it will still take “triptych” pictures with every press of the shutter. Then, you have to cross your eyes (“free-viewing”) so that the left and right pictures blend into one three-dimensional image. Yeah, it’s not on the same level as putting a View-Master reel in the View-Master… but hey, it’s vintage technology.
Last week, I took this freaky-looking camera on a weekend getaway. First off were a few shots taken at the Saratoga Race Course – no, I didn’t photograph any of the horses with this camera; I was more concerned about getting pictures that would show off the camera’s ability to create three-dimensional images. So if you want to free-view these pictures from the track.. here they are.
And do you know what they have at Saratoga besides horse racing? That’s right… flower beds and horticultural arrangements. Like these.
And these.
And I actually took this print and created a 3d “wiggle” graphic to show the depth of the flower bed.
Last weekend, I took my girlfriend Nicole to Niagara Falls for a fantastic getaway. Wonderful vacation. We had a great time. And although we took plenty of pictures of the Falls, I gave the Trio3D camera a workout as well. That’s how I got these images.
Now I’m thinking about actually combining some of these images into physical 3-D “lenticular” prints – perhaps for competition in 2013-14 – and as soon as I find a company that can produce some prints for me at a reasonable price and with reasonable quality, I think I can make this work to my advantage.
But for now, I’ll keep playing with this little oddball camera. You know me… somewhere along the line, when I least expect it, I’ll come up with a great photo idea for this little shooter.
And when that happens… watch out.
Chuck The Writer 