Rangefinder Magazine
October 2005

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Digital Photography by John Rettie
Creating 3D Pictures and LAB Color

SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS of photography there has been an on again/off again interest in stereography (3D pictures). Some would say 3D photography peaked in the 1890s before still photography became available to the populace. 3D imagery then declined in popularity before gaining again in the 1950s—you may fondly remember ViewMaster viewers with their slide shows on numerous subjects.

Photo3-D 303 is a complete kit that enables one to produce quality anaglyphic 3D images.

It was never really possible for an individual to produce 3D images easily, which is probably why stereography has remained a specialist genre of photography. This is a shame, as most of us enjoy viewing 3D images since we see things in stereo in real life. Over the years there have been numerous methods devised to display images in 3D.

In the 1980s a unique camera, the Nimslo, appeared on the market. It used four lenses to produce four images that were then processed into a lenticular print that could be viewed without resorting to a special viewer or colored glasses. It proved to be a fad that faded away as quickly as it arrived. Despite this, there are still some Nimslo fans around, and it is still possible to get 3D prints made.

Every now and again a magazine or book will produce 3D images that need to be viewed through colored glasses. Although it’s a nuisance to have to use these red and green (or red and blue) glasses, the end result is usually amazingly realistic. The 3D images are called anaglyphs, and the glasses are also used for viewing 3D movies in theaters.

It’s become fairly straightforward to produce anaglyphs using Photoshop as long, as you know what you’re doing. I’ve read several tutorials on the subject, but I’ll admit I have never tried any of techniques.

Now there’s a much easier way that takes all the pain out of capturing and producing 3D images. Sam Ramada founded Mission3-D three years ago. After making a 3D photo for one of his children, he went about developing a kit to make 3D images using a digital camera and a computer. The Photo3-D kit contains everything you need (except the camera and computer). The fundamental part is a mount to which the camera is attached before being placed and leveled on a tripod. The nicely designed and comprehensive kit even includes a miniature tripod, suitable for point and shoot cameras.

In order to produce a 3D image, two photographs have to be taken side by side using a special camera mount.	The real magic is in the Photo3-D Mixer software that merges the two images together to create a 3D image that can be printed or viewed on a monitor using red and green (or blue) glasses. Model: Ivy Nijinsky in Seattle

To use this system, you first take one photo with the camera mounted to the left (to represent the view seen by one’s left eye). Then slide the camera to the right to capture the second image. There are markings on the mount, which indicate where to position the camera for the second shot depending on how close the subject is to the camera. Transfer these two images to a computer, and open them in the Mission 3-D Mixer software. You can move the center of focus of the two images and make some other tweaks before creating a composite image. Finally, the end product is the green and red overlays that you can display on a monitor or print on paper. Naturally, to look 3D the images have to be viewed through the colored glasses included with the kit. Fortunately, these use the same colors as in other 3D glasses, which many people probably have lying around from trade shows or movie theaters.

LAB Color is a comprehensive book that delves deeply into using this underutilized color space in Photoshop.

I tried the Photo3-D system on several subjects and was pleased with the results. It takes some experimenting to find what makes a good 3D subject. Obviously a drawback to only using a single camera for this type of imagery is that the subject must remain still for the several seconds it takes to physically move the camera between the two shots. It works okay for sleeping children or pets and still lifes but would not work with active subjects.

The kit sells for $129 and works on a Mac or Windows system. Interest in 3D photography has been in the doldrums for the past half century, but if history repeats itself, we’ll see increasing interest in the coming years since it has become easier for any photographer to create good 3D images.

Photoshop LAB Color

This started out as a quick review of a new book, Photoshop LAB Color. But once I delved into the subject, I realized it warranted more than just a paragraph.

The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace is an unusual subtitle to see on the front cover of yet another Photoshop book. Fittingly, the book itself is unusual as it contains over 350 pages ($54.99, Peachpit Press) on just one subject—the use of LAB color space. The subtitle refers to author Dan Margulis’ discovery that using LAB for color and tonal adjustments makes images of colorful canyons more vibrant than using other color spaces.

Anyone who has used Photoshop will have come across LAB Color, which appears as a choice in the Mode submenu under the Image tab. It’s right there with RGB, CMYK and Index as one of four color space choices. Most photographers work in RGB mode unless they are delivering images for publication, in which case it might be necessary to convert to CMYK if the printer requests. Index mode is unlikely to be used for photographs as it limits the total amount of colors in an image. On the other hand LAB Color maintains the full level of colors found in RGB and can be switched into and out of without altering the levels of color in an image.

This is an example of the dramatic image that can be created in LAB colorspace by reading Dan Margulis’ book.

Like RGB, LAB Color, or CIELAB, which is its full name, has three channels—L is luminosity or lightness, A is each pixel’s color value on a green to magenta axis, and B is each pixel’s color value on a blue to yellow axis. But there the similarity ends. If you compare the channels between RGB and CMYK, you’ll find similar-looking “images” in red to cyan, green to magenta and blue to yellow, respectively. In the LAB colorspace the L channel looks familiar, but the A and B channels are visually very different in character

Most Photoshop books cover LAB Color in one paragraph or less as they deem it too complicated or esoteric. Indeed some books even suggest avoiding its use altogether. The most common recommendation is to use the L channel to sharpen images in order to avoid certain color artifacts. After that, they suggest immediately converting back to RGB for other adjustments, and that’s about it.

In this book, though, Margulis delves into incredible detail, explaining exactly how the LAB color space works and how it can be used to adjust colors, change colors, sharpen, and even retouch images. While the author admits that LAB is not ideal for every subject, he shows how it can be used for portraits as well as vibrant landscapes. Certainly the before and after images shown in the book are proof that LAB is an effective tool. There are plenty of examples that show what can be done in the LAB color space as compared to RGB.

This book is not easy to grasp in one reading. It is aimed at adventurous and skilled Photoshop users looking to produce the best possible photographs and willing to use techniques unfamiliar to the majority of Photoshop users. It’ll be interesting to see if LAB becomes more popular as a result of this book. After all, RAW formats have become increasingly popular as photographers have discovered that digital images can be improved dramatically with tweaking that is not available in a simple JPEG file.

You don’t have to be a dummy to gain knowledge and improve your skills after reading this book.

Quick Book Review

Photoshop CS2 for Dummies

Almost at the other extreme from the LAB Color book is the first ever “Dummies” book published in full color. I think this is the first Dummies book I’ve reviewed: I normally consider them too basic. This all-new book, though, seems to be a shade above the others, not just visually but also in the way in which topics are covered. It is not a step-by-step, tutorial-type book. Instead it can be used as reference book as well as a training manual. Yes, it does start with basics, but it also includes a fairly detailed look beyond the basics at subjects such as RAW formats, color adjustments, creating precision edges with vector paths and using layer styles. The 292-page book ($24.99, Wiley) is written by Peter Bauer, an Adobe Certified Expert and the Help Desk Director of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP)—he does know what he’s writing about.