Backlit keyboard on the fritz....

My beloved backlit keyboard my Matias has died. Well, not really but it’s space bar popped off, and I cannot get it back on. I guess working too late and hitting the space bar too hard will do that. Maybe I can blame photoshop for crashing….ah, nope. It was my fault.

If you are not familiar with the Matias keyboard, I suggest you check them out.

the keyboard from the Maxtrix….

This is an amazing keyboard, nearly matching the Mac form factor, and you can change the color to boot. Perfect for those people, like myself who work almost entirely in the dark!

Maxwell Point Tunnel in 3D

Back when I was a kid, I saw lots of tunnels, lava tubes and caves. From Minnesota, to Hawaii, to Oregon, and Washington. I love exploring caves. When I was about six my parents took my sister and I to see the tunnel carved into a cliff in Oceanside, Oregon. This tunnel was the only way to get to Tunnel Beach, that is without a boat. Well the tunnel is open off and on, but closes now and again due to rockslides, cave-ins and other erosive dangers. Here is a a 3D shot of the tunnel from 2010.

Now on Instagram...

Well, I did it. I kept running into roadblocks posting links to my current works due to them being on social media. I loathe social media. It seems….artificial. But felt I had to do it. I’m building a new presence on Instagram to showcase my professional work as well as personal.

I am a novice at this, so if you have any suggestions out there, please let me know!

Meow.

Silver Falls in 3D

Shot some images at Silver Falls State Park sometime ago, here are the 3D images. I wasn’t able to capture many shots of the falls due to the large number of people at the part that day. My 2 exposure method makes things difficult but not impossible if the images need to be edited.

Stairs to Lower South Falls

Lower South Falls

Slow time so...working on some silly 3D stuff!

Work has been slow this month, but I’m keeping busy and enjoying myself with some 3D work. I’ll keep posting my progress.

The Wrap Cover

A late post, I did not get word that this went to press last December, but I worked on some images appearing in the December 2021 Issue of The Wrap (International Edition), including the cover.

I usually don’t get to see my stuff in print unless I run down to a newsstand, but who does that anymore? Luckily this was posted as a readable magazine via flipdocs.com. You can see the whole magazine and check out my images on the cover and on pages 14 & 15. Link is here!

You can also see other images I did on The Wrap’s page! Photos by Jeff Vespa.

D'Pharoah, Woon-A-Tai by Jeff Vespa

Worked on these great images of D’Pharoah Woon-A-Tai by Jeff Vespa for NOW magazine. Check them out here!

Kylie Jefferson Images for Birks Jewelry

Got to work on these amazing images of Kylie Jefferson shot by Jeff Vespa. Jeff shot a video as well, and you can check it out below.

Website: https://www.maisonbirks.com/en_us/kylie-jefferson-birks-splash

The Great Mazinga....in 3D

When I was my daughter’s age, I was really into the Shogun warriors. I had several of them, though only one of the 24” figures. For my birthday, I got this amazing AMT Model of the Great Mazinga, and my dad built it for me. I still have it so I shot it in 3D, just for kicks!

That box was sure exciting back in ‘77!

COVID Sale ending

After about 2 years, I am ending my “covid sale” on retouching services. Nothing lasts forever, except maybe this silly pandemic!

Jan 31st is the last day for the sale.

Licorice Pizza

Just saw the new Paul Thomas Anderson picture, Licorice Pizza, and absolutely adored it. Matter of fact, I braved the pandemic and saw it twice, in 70mm no less.

I’m a huge fan of PT Andersons work, been a big fan since Boogie Nights, and love pretty much all of his flicks. The past several releases have been hard to catch in the theater due to myself becoming a father, but now that my girl is older, I can make more trips to the movies! Seeing PTA’s films on the big screen is a real treat, and the cinematography is mind blowing.

Soundtrack album looks like a pinball backglass!

Check out this amazing article about Michael Bauman, discussing his lighting on the film!

https://thefilmstage.com/michael-bauman-licorice-pizza-cinematography-paul-thomas-anderson/

Happy New Year

2021 was way better than 2020, lets see if we can’t make 2022 kick 2021’s ass!

Vasquez Rocks in 3D

With all this Star Trek stuff I have been posting about, I wanted to share some 3D images I took at Vasquez Rocks in Southern California. I’m sure everyone has seen the episodes of Star Trek famously shot at the beautiful Vasquez Rocks formation (at least 10). I shot these in winter months of 2007.

Amazing rock formation!

This was from my second trip there. I accidentally found myself in the area without my gear, but vowed to return again to get these images. Hope you enjoy them.

3D Images from Hawaii part 1

Here are a few images in 3D from Paradise. Loved visiting the big island, wish I could have stayed….

Hail King Kamehameha!

Many of these were shot hand held, so there may be a bit of a glitch to them, but I think they turned out all all things considered.

Exciting View Master Reels!

Holy Cow! King Kong on View Master!?!?

Yeah, ashamed to say I never knew this was a thing but my friend showed me her set of King Kong reels for the View-Master. Unfortunately she does not have the package or the booklet, but whatever. The package looked like this when it came out:

He looks like he has a hangover…

The Reels are a bit fades but it is super cool to see Kong in 3D!

quite faded, unfortunately!

Star Trek View-Master Reels!

My sister gave me this years ago but not having a View-Master to view them, they went into a cupboard for nearly a decade. Now I’ve been able to check it out!

SUPER AWSOME!

The images and story all come from the season 2 episode “The Omega Glory”. Not one of my favorite episodes, but anything from the original Star Trek is cool nonetheless.

Images were shot on set with a stereo camera. I wish they shot them all like this!

I read on Memory Alpha, the most comprehensive Star Trek Wiki, that View-Master actually had more sets for Star Trek, including a set from the animated series, and The Motion Picture, among others. Very excited for those other sets, and I need to keep my eyes peeled for them in the future!

Cosmic Telescope

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Captain Kirk got sent into space on the Blue Origin spacecraft. I mentioned that Blue Origin owner Jeff Bezos could have done something else with his 5.5 billion dollar 10 minute vacation spending spree to help space exploration. Here is a great example of something he could have done. Funded the construction of a Cosmic Telescope.

I first learned about a cosmic telescope while watching Cosmos: Possible Worlds. Host Neil deGrasse Tyson explains the concept, using our Suns own gravity to bend light to see “…detailed images of mountains, oceans, glaciers, and who know maybe even the cites of these worlds.” Our own sun would become the lens of the cosmic telescope. “Galileo’s best telescope could magnify an image 30 times…”, “…our cosmic telescope could make things appear 10 billion times closer”. Wow! Think of that!

deGrasse Tyson continues: “…what I cannot understand is: why we haven’t built one. We already know how to do it. We have the technology right now. When would you like the future to begin?”.

Amazing show about science!

Hey Jeff, why not skip the 10 minute ride into space and build one of these? I’d gladly buy more products on Amazon if you did. You could even call it the AMAZON Telescope!

Happy Halloween!

This is by far my favorite holiday, and since I am now a father it gives me great pleasure every year when my daughter and I get together to make her costume.

Here are a couple of amazing Halloween store displays I encountered in Rialto California, along Route 66, back in 2006. I did not have my 3D rig with me, I had to shoot hand held, so they are a little imperfect.

Can I help you find anything sir?

Ship of the dead. Died of sugar overdose….

Awesome King Kong Movie Book!

I recently found this awesome King Kong 1976 book about the making of the movie. I’ll probably never find the time to read it, but it is awesome to have. Lots of pictures of the production, unfortunately small images in black and white. Would really love a large book with full color photos, but I’m not holding my breath.

A thrilling story indeed!

I love finding things like this book, but I really love finding a “bonus”, like when you buy a coat at a thrift store for 10 bucks and find a Jackson in the pocket! This one had a movie ticket as a book mark!

$3.50 for a movie? Damn, I hope it was worth it!

One of the images in the book had this rad t-shirt for the crew. I wish I could find a higher resolution of this shirt. It needs to be remade!

Remember View-Master?

While exploring a neighborhood thrift shop with my daughter we found an old View-Master viewer. She thought it was binoculars. Having one as a kid I splurged the buck fifty cost on the item (I did already have some old reals in my possession). Bringing it home and trying it out reminded me that his was really my first exposure to 3D, something I have equated to the original “virtual reality”. Its a simple principle, basically same as an old stereo viewer but looking through transparency lit by a diffused opening in the back.

Daddy, are these binoculars?

This got me thinking, would it be possible to create 3D anaglyph images from View-Master reels? I’ll explore that later, but I just want to mention that View Master is or actually was a local company. They were manufactured here in Portland, and later in Beaverton for decades. I looked back into the dusty cobwebs of my mind to try to remember the View-Master factory. They had a water tower, and if I recall correctly it was by Washington Square Mall. I only found this one picture of the tower on the internet: