Are we In or Out of the Box by ctfchallenge


09-DEC-2007	John Prichard

This corner is so dominant that it comes out and goes in

Canon PowerShot G9
1/6s f/3.2 at 14.8mm iso200 full exif

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ctfchallenge		17-Dec-2007 20:15
wonderful optical illusion! Armin

ctfchallenge		17-Dec-2007 00:10
TV. You are right in that the inability to determine convex/concave along the ceiling/wall border is what is making the corner work so well. We are used to seeing a bright spot light on convex things since it draws and reflects light from everywhere. We are used to seeing shadow in concave things because of its light gathering/reflecting limited to small angles. In this case we have a lighted sign (see pending) underneath that is hitting the sweet spot on the concave and hitting us right in the eye at this angle ... this high reflection reinforces our wrong assumption that high light is on the convex surface thus completely tricking our senses. I didn't notice feature when I took the picture since I had many visual clues grounding me ... I just thought it was cool. When I got to cropping/manipulating the image is when I noticed it. John

ctfchallenge		12-Dec-2007 23:33
All my training in visual perception didn't give mt the creativity to come up with this excellent optical play on convex-concave. (You can create the same sensation in real 3-D by concentrating on the inside of a spoon held vertically.) -tv

ctfchallenge		11-Dec-2007 23:09
Fancy shot John. Tricky on the eyes. -COAmature

ctfchallenge		11-Dec-2007 08:22
good find John, it really does look like one of those illusions, although I agree the birdhouse in particular kind of snaps you out of seeing the corner come out towards you - b.c.

ctfchallenge		11-Dec-2007 02:15
Yes, now that i have viewed a few times i see it! Very clever. Good one :) jano

sven		11-Dec-2007 01:39
If I stare at this long enough, it can be either way. Nice work. :)

ctfchallenge		10-Dec-2007 18:37
Nicely seen, John. And you too, Maurice! If the birdhouse and leaves weren't it would truly be an optical illusion... perfectly fiting the title. ~Lydia

Maurice Allain		10-Dec-2007 08:30
Another clever idea, that works really well... With the highlights on the ceiling cornice, it gives the optical illusion that the corner comes out towards you...

ctfchallenge		10-Dec-2007 01:43
On our way back from our annual (since '90) Christmas tree cutting, we stop at Shumardii's Steakhouse. Good steaks. Plant shelfs have all kinds of paraphernalia and the ceiling is silver metal with an interesting box pattern on it. I go get my camera out of the car. This corner of the ceiling has an bright orange glow from a advertising sign on the plant shelf making for a bizarre look. After I try every kind of crop I realize I cannot get away from this dominating ceiling corner ... my son says feature it and make it be a corner to a box. I will post the whole picture in pending. John

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