Stereo photographs are relatively easy to make using little in the way of specialized equipment. The method I use produces stereo pairs that are viewed by keeping your eyes parallel. The basic equipment consists of a single 35mm camera, a tripod, a rule or tape measure, a notebook, and for distant landscape photos, a compass. You will also want a pair of stereoscopic glasses to make viewing easier. The diagram below shows the basic layout for a stereo photo.

Steps to taking a stereo photo:

1. The distance from the camera to the nearest object in the photo is measured or estimated. Using this distance and the focal length of the lens, look up the separation distance on the tables below. Separation distance is measured from the center of the camera lens for the first shot to the center of the camera lens for the second shot.
2. Set up the camera for the first photo. In order to maximize the amount of overlapping coverage on photo pair, orient the camera vertically. Note the exact direction the camera is pointing as it is vital that the two photos in the pair be taken in the same direction (parallel, not converging). Take the first photo.
3. Move the camera to the left or right so that the new camera location is exactly the separation distance from the first camera location. Make use of available objects to make sure the camera stays parallel for the second photo. Resting the camera back against he edge of a table or a book can help when photographing small objects. I built a special camera slide to make this easier but special equipment is not needed. Take the second photo. Try to use the same exposure settings as used in the first photo so that the two images match closely. For photographing distant objects such as mountains, canyons, and large buildings, use a compass to help you orient the camera correctly. Roads, curbs, railroads, powerlines, and other relatively straight features can be used to help orient the camera.
4. Keep a record of what you do. Record the frame number of each photo, the separation distance you used, the focal length of the lens, and the object distance.
5. You may wish to "bracket" your stereo pair by taking several photos with varying separation distances. Later, when you examine your prints, you can select the two photos which yield the best stereo effect.

Preparing and viewing your stereo photographs:

1. Have your film developed specifying 3x5 inch prints. Larger prints are too big for proper viewing with standard stereoscopic glasses. I prefer glossy prints for stereo viewing. When you get your prints back from the developer it is a good practice to number the print on the back so that you can keep them in order.
2. Select a pair of prints. Place the prints side by side on a table. Place the lefthand print on the left and the righthand print on the right. If you forgot which print is which, look for clues on the prints themselves. An object that appears in the center of the lefthand print will appear to the left of center on the righthand print (see diagram below).
3. Overlap the prints so that the same objects on each print are approximately 2.5 inches apart. Use the stereo glasses to view the prints.& You may need to slide the prints back and forth to determine the separation needed for optimal stereo effect.
4. Once you have a good stereo image you may wish to trim the photos to remove the parts that do not overlap and therefore are not seen in stereo. You may also wish to place the prints on an album page in the proper position to view in stereo.

Preparing Anaglyphs using Adobe Photoshop 5.5

1. Open the right hand and left hand image files in Photoshop.
2. Open the Channels window by clicking on "Show Channels" under the Window menu.
3. Bring the left hand image to the foreground.
4. Click on the word "red" in the Channels window to select the red channel. The image should become black and white.
5. Select the entire image by clicking "select all" under the Select menu or typing ctrl-a.
6. Copy the selection by using the copy command under the Edit menu or typing ctrl-c.
7. Bring the right hand image to the foreground.
8. Again click on the word "red" in the Channels window to select the red channel. The image should become black and white.
9. Paste the red channel from the left image onto the red channel from the right image by using the paste command under the Edit menu or typing ctrl-v.
10. Reveal all three color channels by clicking on the blank "eye" square to the left of the RGB box in the Channels window. The image should now be in color and the red channel should be the only channel highlighted in the Channels window.
11. Use the Move tool (the heavy black arrow tip with cross on the tool bar) to position the red channel to gain the best stereo effect. Red/blue glasses must be worn while positioning the red channel. By repositioning the red channel you can cause the image to sink into the screen by matching images of near objects or cause the image to pop out of the screen by matching the images of more distant objects. The objects which are more closely matched will show clearer detail. It may be helpful to close your right eye (blue filter) while trying to match images.
12. Save the image under a new name. If you save the image in Photoshop format you can reposition the channels later. Saving under other file formats will permanently fix the channel positions.

Tables of Minimum Separation Distance

The following tables give the minimum separation distance needed to create a stereo effect with a pair of parallel photographs. The tables cover three ranges of object distances. The object distance is measured from the film plane to the nearest object in the photo. Smooth ground or other plain surfaces can generally be ignored in determining which object is closest. Be sure to select the separation distance needed for the focal length of your lens. If you are using a zoom lens be sure to check the focal length before taking each photo. The focal length must be the same for both photos in a pair. It is a good idea to print out the tables below and have them with you when taking pictures. Note: these tables are suitable for 35mm cameras only. For other film formats, you may need to adjust these separation distances.

	Focal Length (mm)
	35	50	70	100	120	150	500
Object Distance (feet)	Minimum Separation Distance (Inches)
1	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1
2	1.0	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.2	0.2
3	1.5	1.0	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.3
4	2.0	1.4	1.0	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.1
5	2.5	1.7	1.2	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.1
6	3.0	2.1	1.5	1.0	0.8	0.7	0.2
7	3.5	2.5	1.7	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.2
8	4.1	2.8	2.0	1.4	1.1	0.9	0.2
9	4.6	3.2	2.3	1.6	1.3	1.0	0.3
10	5.1	3.5	2.5	1.7	1.4	1.1	0.3
12	6.1	4.3	3.0	2.1	1.7	1.4	0.4
15	7.7	5.3	3.8	2.6	2.2	1.7	0.5
20	10.2	7.1	5.1	3.5	2.9	2.3	0.7
25	12.8	8.9	6.4	4.4	3.7	2.9	0.8
30	15.4	10.7	7.7	5.3	4.4	3.5	1.0
35	18.0	12.6	8.9	6.2	5.2	4.1	1.2
40	20.5	14.4	10.2	7.1	5.9	4.7	1.4
45	23.1	16.2	11.5	8.0	6.7	5.3	1.6
50	25.7	18.0	12.8	8.9	7.4	5.9	1.7
60	30.8	21.6	15.4	10.7	8.9	7.1	2.1
70	36.0	25.2	18.0	12.6	10.4	8.3	2.5
80	41.1	28.8	20.5	14.4	12.0	9.5	2.8
90	46.3	32.4	23.1	16.2	13.5	10.7	3.2
100	51.4	36.0	25.7	18.0	15.0	12.0	3.5

	Focal Length (mm)
	35	50	70	100	120	150	500
Object Distance (feet)	Minimum Separation Distance (Feet)
200	8.4	5.9	4.2	2.9	2.4	2.0	0.6
300	12.6	8.8	6.3	4.4	3.7	2.9	0.9
400	16.8	11.7	8.4	5.9	4.9	3.9	1.2
500	21.0	14.7	10.5	7.3	6.1	4.9	1.5
1000	41.9	29.3	21.0	14.7	12.2	9.8	2.9
2000	83.8	58.7	41.9	29.3	24.4	19.6	5.9
3000	125.7	88.0	62.9	44.0	36.7	29.3	8.8

	Focal Length (mm)
	35	50	70	100	120	150	500
Object Distance (miles)	Minimum Separation Distance (Yards)
1	75.4	52.8	37.7	26.4	22.0	17.6	5.3
2	150.9	105.6	75.4	52.8	44.0	35.2	10.6
3	226.3	158.4	113.1	79.2	66.0	52.8	15.8
4	301.7	211.2	150.9	105.6	88.0	70.4	21.1
5	377.1	264.0	188.6	132.0	110.0	88.0	26.4
6	452.6	316.8	226.3	158.4	132.0	105.6	31.7
7	528.0	369.6	264.0	184.8	154.0	123.2	37.0
8	603.4	422.4	301.7	211.2	176.0	140.8	42.2
9	678.9	475.2	339.4	237.6	198.0	158.4	47.5
10	754.3	528.0	377.1	264.0	220.0	176.0	52.8