Who is DrT?

The following is from an interview with Assistant Editor Dennis Petti, published in the Stereogram 3.4 (December 1997).  Updates to the original article are inserted with italics.

Q. How did you get started in stereo?

I was a graduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston IL, when, around 1988, I started recording Scanning Electron Microscope stereo pairs and viewing them in a mirror stereoscope. I was fascinated with the results and used SEM stereo pairs extensively in my research. Unfortunately, my thesis advisor did not have vision in one eye and could not share my enthusiasm, but that did not stop me. Wanting to learn as much about stereo, as I could, I found McKay's "Stereoscopy" book at the university library. At the same time, "Sky and Telescope" had an article on stereo, which directed me to NSA and Reel 3-D.

I used my Minolta camera for sequential stereo prints (which I viewed in the same mirror stereoscope as the SEM stereo pairs). The results were OK but it was in June of 1988 that I bought my first Stereo Realist in a garage sale in Evanston and was hooked with my first roll of slide film! Later the same month Liz and I went to Greece where I took my first half dozen rolls and, after coming back, I attended my first NSA convention in Cincinnati OH. This was the beginning of what would turn out to be my most serious adddiction!

Example of Stereo Electron Microscopy stereo pair recorded with about 10 degrees tilt. This is a fractured metal surface. The series of parallel lines are known as “Fatigue Striations”.   The are caused by the advancing front of a moving crack during fatigue (cyclic deformation of the metal)

Q. What happened next?

I spent the next 2 years taking family pictures (our daughter Lea was born in November 1988), reading everything I could about stereo, using stereo imaging in my research and spreading the 3d bug to friends around me (quite a few of my fellow graduate students got infected!) I also learned to freeview and wrote a computer program to draw stereoscopic wire models based on their coordinates in space.

Around 1988-1990 I wrote a computer program to create a stereoscopic pair based on a list of (x,y,z) coordinate and simple drawing instructions. The program would draw the pair in the screen and the user could rotate it using the arrow keys or alter the parallax or perspective, while viewing the results in real time. This is one example.

In 1990 I graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science, got a job with LTV Steel as a Metallurgist and moved to Cleveland. For the next 3 years I was busy with job, family (our son Tony was born on Christmas 1991) and our house. I still took plenty of stereo pictures with my Realist (also a single and twin SLRs), but that was not enough to keep me busy because I remember I had time for other hobbies like Astronomy, wood working and house maintenance. But not for long...

My "addiction" took a turn for the worse around 1993-1994. That's when I joined the Stereoscopic Society of America, PSA, the Detroit Stereographic Society and photo-3d.  At the same time I developed an interest in stereo viewers, wrote a book on the Realist red button viewer and started offering repair services and supplies (light bulbs, transformers, etc.) for stereo slide viewers. Now, instead of taking pictures in isolation, I found other stereo enthusiasts to talk to about stereo, show my work and get inspiration from other people's work

In 1996 I wrote a short biographical note in photo-3d and included the following as future goals: Start a stereo club in Cleveland. Present a stereo slide show to the public. Both goals became reality on a single day, May 6th 1997. This was the first meeting of the "Ohio Stereo Photographic Society" (Stereogram 1.1)

Around 1993 I developed an interest in Realist-format viewers, starting with my favorite, the Realist red button. The result of this interest was the pictured book, self-published in 1994 and offered for sale for $7.95. John Dennis, in a review in Stereo World (March/April 1994) wrote: “The amount of detail and the clarity of illustration in this 52 page book will impress even those who are familiar with the viewer.”

Q. What kind of stereoscopic activities keep you busy these days?

First, I take plenty of stereo pictures. Family and vacation snapshots continue to be my favorite subjects. I use two Realist cameras, one of which is modified for 7 sprockets (Stereogram 2.7). I also use Minolta X-700 cameras either one on a slide bar or handheld or two connected together. Also, I collect stereoscopic images (stereo views, View-Master, Realist slides from the 50s, etc.) and books. I do not collect stereo equipment but I buy and recondition them and resell them.

In addition, I share stereo slides in postal folios (SSA and PSA) and compete in club (Detroit, Cleveland) and PSA level. (I now have 75 acceptances in PSA International competitions, which qualifies me for 3 stars.).  As of February 2003, I have a 4 star rating with over 200 acceptances in PSA-approved stereo slide exhibitions.

 Finally, in addition to being club Treasurer and Editor of our newsletter, I am also the Secretary of the Gamma folio of SSA (Stereogram 3.2), second Vice-President of the Stereo Division of PSA (Stereogram 2.9) and a moderator in photo-3d (Stereogram 3.3) and participate in the discussions there. That's enough to keep me very busy!

Update: I am not longer OSPS Treasurer, 2nd VP of PSA-SD, Secretary of the Gamma folio of SSA, or photo-3d moderator.  But I continue to be the newsletter Editor of OSPS and I am now the Editor of Dimensions Three, the newsletter of the PSA Stereo Division and also the Star Ratings Director for PSA-SD.

Family snapshots continue to be my favorite subject

Q. Do you have any other interests besides stereo?

No! :-) Well, not many... I play basketball, teach Greek, take piano lessons with my daughter and do various activities with my children. I try and combine stereo photography with most of my activities, even work related!

Update:  The piano is history now... I did enjoy taking lessons but my lack of musical talent is just too painful to deal with :).  Starting in 2000 I took up running and in one year lost 50 lbs of weight!  In the process I fell in love with running.  My plan is to run my first Marathon in October 2003. 

Q. What's in the future?

Looks like "more of the same". I will continue to pursue these stereo activities with various degrees of intensity. I recently got an RBT stereo camera and that will surely mean shooting even more rolls of film! (I will have this camera in our “Open House” this coming meeting, with a few slides from my first rolls and a Hugo de Wijs viewer.... Don’t miss it!) My collecting interests have been focused on stereo slides from the 50s and anything related to Greece. I see myself continuing with the repairs and reconditioning of stereo equipment. I am now working on a book on the Stereo Realist camera, which also serves as an introduction to stereo photography and will soon start on another book on the TDC stereo projectors and stereo projection in general. I hope to have both ready by the NSA convention this summer.

Update: I now have a collection of RBT stereo cameras, high quality stereo viewers and also a couple of RBT stereo projectors.  See my "toys" section for more details about the stereo equipment I use and enjoy.

Finally, I will continue to share ideas and images through the various stereoscopic organizations. I would like to work more on some of the programs that I have presented in our club (Greece, Cleveland, general 3D, Stereo in Science and Technology) and, when ready, present them to the public (both locally and in the NSA conventions).

Instead of programs with good stereo photography, through the years I have developed a specialty in stereo workshops.  In my stereo workshops I show a mixture of 2d (mostly titles) and 3d slides with the objective to explain a subject.  My list of stereo workshops is growing.  Some examples: Getting Started in Stereo, How To Take Single Camera Stereos, Creative Stereo Photography, How to Take Better Stereo Pictures, etc.  I have given these presentations in NSA and PSA conventions and OSPS meetings.  These presentations take a lot of time and effort.  So, I was very happy when Dennis Green came up with the idea of recording these to make them available to the public (see my catalog for more details).

Any final thoughts?

Stereo photography has been a fascinating interest for me, over the years. It is not only the visual stimulus but also the people in it. Even though I would like to see stereo become popular again, like it was in the 50s, I am satisfied that our hobby is practiced by a small but fine group of enthusiasts. And I am very pleased to see that our club is doing well and I hope we will continue promoting stereo and developing long lasting relationships for many years to come.