S T R A N G E photos

[iart7]

All the laws of perspective that I know show that anything close to the camera is larger than what is farther from the camera.

I was looking for F4F photos for WILZ's latest skin project and came across a really good Airshow page. BUT... some of the photos look very strange to me.

Go here:
http://www.air-and-space.com/20060521%20Chino%20Flying%202.htm

... and scroll down the page. Go a little past halfway down the page and look at the Wildcar, Bearcat and Mustang. Several pics show the nearby wings of planes much shorter than the one on the far side. Some are extremely distorted.

Can anyone explain this because I'm losing sleep over it.

Art

[e-b-o-]

For such a close up you'll need a very good teleobjective. I guess that's the reason for the distortion, but a photographer may explain this better ;)

[eretrc]

either we all need glasses or the factory got the planes design wrong

[Kraken]

I'm really an amateur, but I think this effect has something to do with the "depth of field." More specifically, it's likely the result of a long lens, small aperture, and great distance from the subject.

The combination of these factors will keep all the subjects in view in clear focus while it also diminishes the sense of depth between them. In other words, it makes the subjects "flatten out" and appear as though they are all at the same distance from the camera- almost as if they were all painted on a flat wall.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the nearby wings of planes much shorter than the one on the far side" as I can't find an example of that on the webpage you linked.

If I could explain it more clearly, I'd be a better photographer. At least now you can get some sleep, though. :)

[iart7]

Kraken, look for the Wildcat, Bearcat and Mustang photos in consecutive order.

It's like your Mustang Avatar on your post. Imagine the (port) wing with the star looking smaller than the other (starboard) wing.

??? oh well, thanks for the good answer, but i still can't sleep.

[eretrc]

perhaps some sleeping pills may help :)

[Kraken]

Ahh... ok, I see it now.

The reason the far wing looks longer is due to the dihedral of the wings (the upward V shape which makes an airplane more stable).

When the plane is rolled slightly to one side so that the closer wing is pointing toward the camera, the V shape causes the far wing to point upward. This makes more of the far wing visible.

Add in some of that depth of field phenomenon I described in my last post and you end up with a far wing that looks longer.

Now, go to sleep! :)

[thorwb]

it's your brain ...

actually it's the lack of it ...

the perspective shift is caused by a wide angle lens which does

not have your brain to re-adjust what it see's like your brain does.

you eye does the same thing but your brain corrects the image for you,

because it knows both sides of the wing are the same size.

you can over tax this power of your mind, and see the same effect.

just walk up to a plane from any anlge you wish, the closer you get

the larger the closest part of the plane will appear to you, and the

smaller the furthest parts will seem to be. the eye brain connection is

very cool. it is how we can look at something and still see everything

else in our field of view.

it looks different because the camera is usually much

further away from the airplanes, which causes the opposite effect,

i am sure the p51 and the bearcat were not nearly as close as they

appear in the flying photo.

the lenses on the camera are opperateing at much more extreme

angles of view than we normally operate our sense of sight.

when you try to represent these things on a 2d surface,

the effect jumps out at you.

in other words, it's normal, don't worry, feel better

t



All the laws of perspective that I know show that anything close to the camera is larger than what is farther from the camera.

I was looking for F4F photos for WILZ's latest skin project and came across a really good Airshow page. BUT... some of the photos look very strange to me.

Go here:
http://www.air-and-space.com/20060521%20Chino%20Flying%202.htm

... and scroll down the page. Go a little past halfway down the page and look at the Wildcar, Bearcat and Mustang. Several pics show the nearby wings of planes much shorter than the one on the far side. Some are extremely distorted.

Can anyone explain this because I'm losing sleep over it.

Art

[iart7]

:confused:
Thanks for all the explanations and help. But I found a better solution and it works for me. I can sleep now...

I place a mirror behind my monitor. I turn my head sideways when I look at my monitor. Then using another mirror in my left hand, I fool my eyes into seeing the plane from behind the monitor. Since my right eye is further than my left eye, the mirror compensates.

It hurts my hand though and now I can't fly Warbirds very well... now i can't sleep because of that.

Other techniques that might work are shown here:

http://forum.macbidouille.com/index.php?automodule=gallery&cmd=sc&cat=11

http://www.doitlater.com/tags.php?Mac

http://www.gemcor.com/media/randomaccess/C1018474727/E20050819103632/index.html

http://mightyillusions.blogspot.com/2006/03/transparent-desktop-trick.html (http://mightyillusions.blogspot.com/2006/03/transparent-desktop-trick.html)

http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/24/the-transparent-desktop-optical-illusion/

http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/apple/transparent-screen-imac-mockup-185119.php

http://www.silvermac.com/2006/new-imac-design/



[sorry Target for mis-using your Forum for this]