Stereoscopic Photography

Ch. Lindenbeck, R. Pflug & H. Ulmer

This page discusses the techniques of stereoscopic photography. Examples are focussed on geology at different scales.
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Photo techniques +++ Viewing techniques +++ Photo Gallery +++ Aerial Photographs +++ 3D-Computer Models +++ References

Photo techniques

There is no need for special equipment to generate stereoscopic images. The pair of photographs is taken from two adjacent positions along a so called baseline. The displacement between the two camera positions varies with the camera-object distance. We did not use much of math to calculate this. In general these practical rules apply: An object at 10 m distance is focussed from viewpoints one step apart. For stereo-photographs at a km-scale the distance is increased from some ten to about one hundred meters. Nearby objects can be focussed at even minor displacement (in the range of centimeters). Selecting the same cutting for both photographs is important. It is best to use a tripod, on the same elevation of course.
All shown examples are free hand photographs. The trick is to mind some frame marks while taking the first picture and remembering them when taking the second. A slight difference can be accepted. The brain has a broad acceptance to build stereoscopic models from unexact stereo pairs (but people will become sort of seasick if viewing poor models too long). Objects in the foreground should always be avoided. Also disturbing are moving persons (see Serra do Cipó images) or clouds.

Viewing techniques

A human head is naturally equipped with two eyes. This pair of cameras (see Drury 1987 for a detailed comparision) builds the basis for visual depth perception. The eyes are separated by 5 to 7 centimeters, this is enough for depth perception up to a distance of some ten meters. Focussing objects inside this range results in slightly different eye convergence angles, depending on the distance to the viewer. This so called parallaxe difference is used to process the stereoscopic model by merging the two views in the visual cortex of the brain.

Viewing stereo photographs is nothing more than increasing the baseline of the eye distance due to the different camera positions. The images must be supplied separately to the brain. Different techniques are used. Some of them need special devices.
One method is the crossed eye technique. The left image is focussed with the right eye and vice versa. Images can be viewed parallel too. Therefore the focus has to be set to infinity. This technique is necessary to view the 'Magic Eye' books.

Simple devices for stereo viewing:
The most cheapest device is a simple slide viewer. Use two of them (upper left) with a stereo slide pair. This is the simplest way to establish the necessary photo separation. A pocket stereoscope equipped with a slide holder (upper middle) is used for viewing high quality stereo models. The slide pairs are magnified with lenses. Images at other scales like printed photographs or images displayed on a computer screen can be viewed with a handheld mirror stereoscope (upper right).

Click on this symbol to load the 'crossed eye' version
Click on this symbol to load the 'parallel view' version

Photo Gallery

Location Thumbnail Low Resolution
High Resolution

Erosional landforms
Canyon de Chelly
(USA)

Photos by R. Pflug
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340 kByte

Temple of Serapis
Columns with boring clams
Pozzuoli (Italy)

Photos by R. Pflug
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150 kByte

Windblown block
Death Valley
(USA)

Photos by R. Pflug
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260 kByte

Rock slide
near Baguio
(Luzon, Philippines)

Photos by R. Pflug
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339 kByte

Recent alluvial deposition
caused a rock slide (upper image)
near Baguio
(Luzon, Philippines)

Photos by R. Pflug
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158 kByte

Glaciofluvial deposits
Rhone-Valley near Brig
(Switzerland)

Photos by R. Pflug
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192 kByte

Terminal moraine
of Fee Glacier
(Saas Fee, Switzerland)

Photos by R. Pflug
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233 kByte

Destroyed Bridge
near Simplon-Dorf
(Switzerland)

Photos by R. Pflug
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522 kByte

Creataceous Flysch Deposits
Biscaya coast
Zumaya (Spain)

Photos by Ch. Lindenbeck
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155 kByte

Bambui Outcrop
Serra do Cipó
Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Photos by R. Pflug
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126 kByte

Meandering river cuts
an ancient fluvial deposit
Serra do Espinhaço
Itacambira (Brazil)

Photos by R. Pflug
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139 kByte

Aerial Photographs

Location Thumbnail Low Resolution
High Resolution

Anticline Structure
Jura Mountains
Vellerat (Switzerland)

© Swiss Federal Office of Topography
90 kByte
400x320
130 kByte
600x470

Dammed Valley Lake
Lagoa Bonita, Rio Dôce
Minas Gerais (Brazil)

(Pflug 1968, Pflug 1969)
57 kByte
200 kByte

3D-Computer Models

Location Thumbnail Low Resolution
High Resolution

Silvermine Schauinsland
Black Forest
Freiburg (Germany)

(Lindenbeck & Ulmer 1995)
29 kByte
400x250
41 kByte
680x420

References

Drury, S. A. (1987): Image Interpretation in Geology.- 243 p., Allen & Unwin (London).

Lindenbeck, Ch. & Ulmer, H.(1995): Entwicklung und Anwendung von Computerprogrammen zur Visualisierung geologischer Strukturen und Prozesse.- Freiburger geowissenschaftliche Beiträge, 9, XIV + 280 S.

Miller, V. C. & Miller, C. F. (1961): Photogeology.- 248 p., New York (McGraw-Hill).

Pflug, R. (1968): Quaternary lakes of eastern Brazil.- Photogrammetria, 24, p. 29-35.

--- (1969): Das Überschüttungsrelief des Rio Dôce, Brasilien.- Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, N. F., 13, p. 141 - 162.

Stets, J. (1984): Geologie und Luftbild.- Clausthaler Tektonische Hefte, 21, 199 p.

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