First, I am delighted to announce the launch of a new project that I have been working on with historian and magician Peter Lamont – I give you…. The Edinburgh Secret Society! Feel free to spread the word.
@toon81 sent me this wonderful tennis illusion…..
And this is kinda neat too (via @jacqofspeed)..
Do you like them? Any ideas about how they created?
The pidgeons look to be created by their shadows against the dark surface of the asphalt.
I think they were all standing up and this is there shadows
Looks like the tennis one is an upside-down photo, and the players and their shadows are pictures laid down on the court, and everything else is real.
Yeah, the tennis one definitely isn’t an illusion, it’s just shopped. The ball-people are upside down, that would be impossible to achieve through any means, unless they balance on their heads very carefully. But even then, the umpire is upside down, and so are some of the team at the top left.
Yeah, the tennis photo is just a photoshop job to rotate the tennis players back to upright after flipping the picture upside down.
The pigeon picture is fake too – the shadows are going in different directions for each bird.
The second photo isn’t particularly unusual, although it definitely has been tampered with to make the shadows fill as much space as possible.
The tennis photo makes me dizzy, while the pigeon one looks good. Although, it’s very unlikely that both of them are illusions/”unshopped” photographs.
the shadow of the players don’t match other shadows, flip th eimage vertically and then horizontally and you will realize the player look flat… my guess is those are drawings on a tennis court
The shadow on the the pigeon third from top right is the wrong way round. It’s head is making a tail shaped shadow and vice versa.
You’re overthinking the bird image – it looks more like a multiple exposure shot of birds on asphalt, edited and overlaid to only show single birds and their shadow when there’s no shadow overlap. I’ve seen it done a lot with multiple shots of, for example, a single person moving round a room, edited to look as though the room is full of doppelgangers.
No, that’s just the stretch of the shadow.
Tom is right, it was one of the first things I noticed about this picture when I saw it elsewhere. Go to the top right, then go left 3 birds. That bird’s shadow is the wrong way round. It isn’t “overthinking” to go beyond stating the obvious (that it is multiple images manipulated and combined), nor is it just the stretch of the shadow. It IS the wrong way round. Maybe deliberate, maybe a mistake, but nevertheless a tangentially interesting detail and a valid observation. Also evidence that Tom has actually looked at the picture rather made his mind up from a superficial glance.
The picture is reminiscent of MC Escher’s tessalations: http://www.cord.edu/faculty/andersod/escher_sky_water1.jpg
It took me a few seconds to work out what was wrong with the tennis photo.
I think the terrain the pigeons are standing on is not flat, but it is curved, perhaps in a shape of a big bowl or one of those concrete skateboard parks (?).
On a second though, I think it’s unlikely that Photoshop was not involved.
Somebody was in a square (or whatever) where all these birds were congregated, and shot a bunch of frames under the same lighting conditions. They were then assembled in Photoshop. Some of the shadows may be fake.
the pigeons seem to be photoshopped (there are 3 pigeons that seem to be idenitcal (look e.g. at the feet))
The same for the tennis court… the shadows of the players indicate that is may not be just an upside down photo of
photoshop is taking a lot of fun out of illusion pictures
The tennis players are just dropped in to an upside down image – they’re both playing shots at the same time, for a start.
The pigeons are multiple images that have been strategically placed so as not to overlap. Several are the same image that have been resized and reversed. Very cool.
In the tennis image, it appears they layered a copy of the original, masked out the players and the ends of the court while mirror imaging and inverting the net, the sideline people and the center of the court. Then masked the center of the duplicate image. Then aligned the foul lines
If the answer is simply “photoshop” I’ll be a little disappointed!
Very nice, but easily shopped.
The direction of the pigeon’s shadows do not converge at the same point (i.e. the sun).
What is wrong with photoshopped illusions?
If the eye is fooled, it is an illusion.
If it is fun and reveals a little about the psychology of the viewer, it is worthwhile.
I for one quite like them both, no matter what their provenance.
IMHO the tennis image is an anamorphic painting on the court that is flipped upside-down. The pigeons are a lovely pattern for my kitchen curtains. They both made me think and chuckle a little.
Not the best illusions ever, but what sort of standard do we expect nowadays? Must everything improve on that which has gone before?
Things can be good but not better and still be worthy of praise.
The tennis players could still be a cut and paste jobbie – I don’t really care. I looked at it, did a double-take, and laughed. All is good.
I would guess photoshop for both images. They both have very similar qualities: one can wonder which side is up. (the bird image a little less so)
This one is real: http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/camelshadows.asp
Regarding the pigeons. The light comes from the top of the picture. It could be a bike or a any other single-bulb lamp that is close to and facing the ground. Each pigeon creates a shadow of himself on the dark surface of the asphalt.