Writer and skeptic Michael Shermer created this lovely illusion pic on the road to Mt. Wilson in Southern California….
Can you work out how it was produced? Answer after the break…
My thanks to Michael for sending this to me. Were you correct? If not, what other ideas did you have about how it might have been produced?
I pretty much realised that you could hide almost anything with a rump of that size
Aww I like it!
Seeing really nothing hiding behind the last biker some kind of photomontage crossed my mind (I am using Photoshop a lot professionaly so I am derived in that direction).
I looked at the shadows and realised it were three different persons/bikes, not three shots of the same man stitched together.
My last conclusion was the real solution, but still a little suspect of somebody masking away an unwanted knee or elbow
Great shot!
Um, I just thought it was a pretty straightforward photo. Interesting that you could hide the other riders so well, but not that unexpected.
I thought the real answer was too obvious, but I couldn’t come up with anything else.
Knowing how difficult it can be to see multiple cyclists from a car, it occurred to me instantly how it worked.
I’m confused. Are the two pictures supposed to be taken at the same point in time? That’s clearly not the case if you look at the road.
That said, other than hiding in front of the rear biker, I have no idea how they got that first shot!
Bonnie, the first shot all three riders were just in line and it’s a perspective thing, the further away the smaller a person appears plus the rider at the back was the most sizeable – it just so happened that where the camera was and all three in a straight line meant the back rider hid the other two quite well.
Later the car pulled to the side to overtake them, that would be when the side-on shot was taken. This illusion wasn’t on purpose, just coincidental that the photographer happened to be in the right place at the right time, and quite cool.
It also helps that they’re going up hill, this ensures that the rear rider’s body is hiding the other riders, instead of just his bike, where more bits might stick out.
I’m with Jim T. I didn’t “get” it, because I just assumed there were two other bikers in front, and completely missed the point.
I thought it was a few different light sources…
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I wouldn’t really call that an illusion. It seemed completely obvious and unsurprising that the front two riders could be out of sight due to the rear one.
nice picture. hard to even plan something like this.
Fantastic photography!
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poo
Oh, they picked the people especially for this picture … they could have photoshopped them out of it as well ofcourse .. That’s why these type of pictures are not that fun anymore nowadays, to use your brain for I mean … On the other hand .. people into phototechniques might have come up with some other cool stuff (time of the .. erm .. shutter (sluitertijd in Dutch) .. and working with layers … and stuff like that.
Weird that people then get bored if they read about that … tired maybe is a better word .. mind goes blank ..
not hard to guess how it was made, but that guy must be quite big…..
Once again, there is NO ILLUSION HERE.