Three-Dimensional Photography - Principles of Stereoscopy

96 THREE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY

satisfied with the results. Nothing more than that need be said
here.
The subject of close-ups, however, does bring up a most im-
portant question of stereomatics. Those who are disappointed
with their stereo souvenirs of a vacation are usually so because
the stereograms fail to reveal certain things which are affection-
ately remembered. I
Let us borrow from the motion picture. The successful motion
picture has two elements of the utmost importance. First it has
continuity. The amateur film should be so made that it tells its
story so well that most of it could be grasped without the use of
titles. (We refer of course to the usual silent amateur film.) The
second element is that of visual transport. The audience sees a
scene as a whole. A distance change gives a more detailed aspect.
Another change and the semi-close-up concentrates attention upon
a relatively small area and picks up details and finally the close-up
pins attention to one particular object or character, and detail is
paramount.
Let us take a simple example. You take a walk in the park and
see a tree in bloom. You want to preserve this scene, so you make
a shot of the tree. When the stereogram is done, you show it to
your friends and find that to tell the story you have to talk on
and on. You tell of the day, where you found the tree and the
exact appearance of one of the flowers. The slide may be beauti-
ful but the narrative easily becomes boring. Now let us see how
this story can be told stereomatically.

1. Entrance to the park, groups of people visible within the
   park.


2. A portion of the park. The tree in question not particularly
   noticeable among many other trees.


3. The selected tree fills the frame (with due allowance for
   spacing of course).


4. Semi-close-up shows one or two branches. The individual
   flowers are visible, but structure may not be.


5. Close-up. The structure of the individual flowers can be
   seen easily.

Certainly it takes five exposures instead of one. But when it is
all done YOU have a complete narrative of your experience. In-