MAC members win in 3D awards

Mid-Atlantic Chapter PSA, Established 1997

MAC members win four of the six top 3D Image of the Year Awards

Former MAC Chairman Robert Leonard won both the 2019 and 2020 PSA 3D Division Image of the Year competitions and the 2020 Best 3D Print. Bob has been involved with photography since he was 14 back in 1964, but did not take up 3D stereo until 1983. He holds a Master Stereographer 10 star rating.

Henry Ng the current MAC Chairman won the 2020 Best Digital 3D image. While Henry is a long time 2D photographer, he just recently took up 3D. He won several medals in his first year entering 3D Exhibitions. Both added two honorable mentions to their award list.

2019 PSA 3D Image of the Year (PSA Gold)

“Masai Dancers”

By Robert J. Leonard, HonPSA, MPSA, AFIAP

Master Stereographer 10

After a 5-hour morning photo shoot out in the Masai Mara of Kenya, the tour group paid a visit to a Masai warrior village. The visit was informal when compared to the very formal presentation at a Samburu village earlier in the trip.

The most prominent part of the visit was the Adumu, the traditional dance of jumping, but with few warriors participating.  The Masai warriors continued to dance for just one photographer, even after most of the photographers wandered away. The short attention span of the other photographers created the problem of keeping them out of the photos of the dance.

Bob was shooting a Fuji Real 3D W3, with a Cyclopital3D attachment and wide angle lenses (17.5mm). The camera was set on full automatic. He used the 4:3 format, but still had to crop heavily on both the left and right for photo bombers. Stereo Photo Maker (SPM) was used to convert the MPO file to JPG format. Color and tonal control was then done in Photoshop, before being cropped and aligned in SPM.

The photo had a 6 for 6 acceptance rate in 2019, with a Best of Show and 3 other medals.

2020 PSA 3D Image of the Year (PSA Gold)

“Camels and 3”

By Robert J. Leonard, HonPSA, MPSA, AFIAP

Master Stereographer 10

On the east side of the Nile is Cairo and on the west are Giza and the great Pyramids. Using both his Fuji Real 3D W3 and iPhone with the i3DSteroid app, Bob tried several wide base hyper photos. Unhappy with these photos, Bob went for his camel ride – not optimal for stable images. After his ride, Bob wandered through groups of tourist and camels, framing the 3 Great Pyramids in the background. He lucked upon this unattended camel making a perfect photo op. This camel was looking straight ahead (to Bob’s right). Bob called out “Hey sweetie look at me,” and the camel looked right at him. Bob claims the camel smiled and winked at him, but there is no independent corroboration.

The W3 was set on automatic with a 4:3 format. The zoom lenses were at their widest of 35mm. Stereo Photo Maker (SPM) was used to create at JPG file. Very little was needed in the way of color and tonal control in Photoshop. The photo went back to SMP for final alignment.

The photo had a 6 for 6 acceptance rate in 2020, with a Best of Show, 2 medals and one honorable mention.

2020 PSA 3D image of the Year (PSA Silver)

“Misty Wu Forest”

By Henry Ng, HonFPSA, EPSA

Henry Ng has had a very successful first year as a 3D photographer winning several medals in 2020 exhibitions. All his winning photos come from his regular annual photo trip to China. Henry shoots with a Fuji Real 3D W3 at the 4:3 format. The photo was first processed in Stereo Photo Maker and then in Photoshop for color and tonal control. This photo has many awards including Best of Show in the Detroit 2020 exhibition.

Fourth Honorable Mention

“Foggy Morning Work”

By Henry Ng, HonFPSA, EPSA

2020 3D Print Image  (PSA Silver)

“Samburu Hands”

By Robert J. Leonard, HonPSA, MPSA

This photo could have easily been titled “Smart Kids.” Taken after the formal Samburu village (Kenya) presentation, these two boys were shown the back of Bob’s W3 camera. Bob felt sure this was the first time that these boys saw a 3D image. So, when Bob turned to take their photo they knew just what to do:  Out went their hands. Bob using his W3 with the Cyclopital3D lens adapter attachment and fish-eye lenses got the photo.

The camera was set on automatic at the 4:3 format. Because of the round image create by the fish-eye lenses there could be no cropping. Stereo Photo Maker (SPM) was used to create a JPG file. Very little was needed in the way of color and tonal control in Photoshop. The photo went back to SMP for final alignment. One more time back in Photoshop to resize to a 7 inch wide stereo pair print. The print was made by COSTCO.

First Honorable Mention

“Dancers at Masai Mara”

By Robert J. Leonard, HonPSA, MPSA