Michigan Ave Wobble

Chicago Stereograms – an experiment with GIFs

‘Stereoscopy is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. Any stereoscopic image is called a stereogram’ – via Wikipedia

While I was quickly flipping between two consecutive frame from my recent night flight, I thought it looked a bit 3D, and then I realized I could turn it into a GIF. Well, it turns out the slight perspective change experienced when circling a building via helicopter can produce the perfect stereoscopic frames if you’re shooting them in quick succession. When I figured this out, I went to town digging through my RAW images from previous flight to create a bunch of stereograms. Some people love them, some get motion sick. While I can see both sides, I think it’s a pretty interesting way to re-purpose existing photos.

From what I’ve experienced, the effect is most enjoyable if you focus on the portion of the image which is moving the least – where the image appears to pivot. Here are a few of my favorites…

1. Michigan Avenue at Night

 

 

 

2. Hancock Shrouded in Fog 

 

 

 

3. Sunrise over Chicago 

 

 

 

 4. Wrigley Reconstruction

 

 

 

5. Over The Loop

 

 

 

6. Looking over the Skydeck

 

 

 

7. Trump Tower

 

 

 

8. Lake Point Tower shrouded in fog 

 

 

 

9. Another night scene

 

 

 

10. Museum Station 

 

 

 

11. River Bend

 

 

 

12. Skydeck