238 THREE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
made, and you may be assured that if the model did not change
pose between the exposures, you will have the effect you want.
It is advantageous to have a napkin or the like crumpled on
the table so the model’s feet can be hidden behind them, or make
use of a dark table and place the feet in the center of the table
allowing the lighter flesh tone to override the dark top.
For best results it is advisable to have the model pose upon a
panel or sheet of metal which can be dragged into the new posi-
tion, as it is almost impossible for a pose to be duplicated with
the exactitude demanded in parallax work. If the subject permits
a bicycle, wagon, sled or the like to be a part of the picture, the
task is much easier.
We have made stereo registration easier by recording the first
pose with a Land-Polaroid camera placed just above the center of
the stereo camera.
Such work does demand some preparation, a loss of time and
film in acquiring skill and you can never count upon perfect re-
sults. However, with patience you can acquire sufficient skill to
be reasonably sure of making four hits out of five tries. Of course
the cooperation of the model is essential, and it is advisable to
explain in detail just what is required.
When you, for the first time, see a living miniature, you will
probably burn up more film than you should in making these
fascinating freaks of nature. And by going a bit to extremes, you
can make use of a preserved butterfly to make a subject such as a
butterfly with 24-inch wing spread carrying on its back a ten-inch
human. Fairy tales come to life... and the beauty is that the
“faking” is nothing more than a warping of natural law in such
a way that the layman can never guess how it is done. All he
knows is that his intelligence is affronted by an utter impossibility
which is undeniably fact.
As we go to press we are engaged in some new work on space
control. It is obvious that because of the successive exposures em-
ployed, a single camera will serve as well as a stereo type. The
existence of reflex cameras makes alignment much easier than
with the usual optical finder. For 6x1 3 we have used the Rolleiflex
with satisfactory results, but in the 35mm field, for making color
stereograms to match modern stereo format, some difficulty has
been encountered.