September 25, 2007
Panorama
At the market this weekend I picked up a curious pair of photos- two relatively small panoramas featuring a family sitting in their living room with the same trio of people sitting on each side of the living room. I'm assuming these were done with a panoramic camera with a moving lens- one that could be set to stop at a certain point that would allow everyone to get up and change position. I know the old cirkut panoramic cameras had lenses that moved slow enough that someone who was standing on one end of a group photo could run from one end to the other while the photo was being taken and wind up appearing on both ends of the group in the photo. I do think the lens used in these pictures would have to stop as don't think the travel time in that small a space would be enough for the whole family to reset itself (I'm guessing this is what causes the line running vertically through the middle of each photo). I don't think it's a double exposure or some kind of masking of the negative using a regular camera with a wide-angle lens- you can see some very strange distortion in the middle of each photo caused (I think) by someone moving at the same time the lens was moving- check the bottom scan to see what I'm talking about. There would be no reason for that much distortion in a double exposure even with a wide-angle lens. Of course I could be totally wrong so if anybody knows more about how these were done please let me know. I've posted bigger scans of both panoramas here.
Posted by nick at September 25, 2007 01:05 AM
Comments
Wow! Those are pretty fantastic! Awesome find.
Posted by: perwin at September 25, 2007 06:57 AM
Ozzie & Harriet meets Gumby!
Posted by: Gerry at September 25, 2007 11:47 AM
There doesn't seem to be distortion in the middle, if you look at the background - coffee table, sofa, ceiling molding - it all goes through in 'straight' lines.
I think this is an old matte trick: there are two flaps in front of the lens that meet at the center. A double exposure is taken first with one flap and then with the other.
This looks like the photographer took one exposure and flipped both flaps closed while the people ran from one side to the other. The blurs in the middle are the images of them running across.
The middle being white at the top and dark at the bottom indicates the flaps had a gap at the top and overlapped a bit at the bottom.
The technique, if done well, is pretty seemless. It was used in older movies and TV shows for gags about twins and dopplegangers.
Posted by: Nicholas Lindan at September 25, 2007 05:04 PM
You were right the first time - a rotating (lens) panoramic camera. Everybody is actually photographed 3 times - sitting at left, moving across the centre and seated again at the right.
In 2=4 the 3rd person only just manages to squeeze her foot into shot as she is sitting down.
One person comes in front of the table, giving a high and narrow image as she can get through the narrow vertical strip that is being exposed very quickly, close to the camera.
Posted by: Only Me at June 22, 2008 09:01 PM