Tomasz Korościk asked me what do I think about his submission. It reminded me of Ames room a little. I was puzzled with this photo, like with many others on this site. First I thought the difference in size occurs only because of the distance of the other person. Then I realized it couldn’t be only that, since they both are sitting very close to each other. Then I though to myself, maybe one person is extremely huge while the other is dwarfish. Both of my theories don’t have much sense. There is a slim chance that both of them combined could make this illusion like it is. Then it struck me – I finally realized the truth. I won’t tell you, though. As normally, I advise you to empower your brain cells and work this one yourselves :)
Another site improvement I did in my spare time! Aside giving the web page darker blue border, I added top list for links! You can see it in my sidebar under “Recommended Sites“. I just started with this, so if you have a website, there is automatic link exchange you might be interested in. Be sure to add your site, since currently you can make it to the top very easily. I just started adding some friendly links, and you can check them here. Be sure to add yours if you own a website as well! It is completely automatic, so your link will appear instantly! Top referrers get huge traffic in return..
photoshop, anyone?
Seems ath the very least they are sitting on an incline which may be making the second person appear to be smaller than he is. It could also be that what they are sitting on, the way it slants downward and appears that is may be circular as well could contribute to the distortion of sizes.
-adb
You are right, the are on some sort of an incline
What? Photoshop? Naw man, open you eyes and mind. The “big guy” is sitting on the edge of a wall of some sort, and the “little guy” is sitting on the ground level made of the same concrete material. Cool effect. I love looking for opportunities like that.
the guy on the left is missing an arm – according to his shadow, it should be there.
They are sitting on a hill?
this is were they are
http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/parks/hyde_park/diana_memorial.cfm
I agree with anonymous #2. They are definitely on an incline. When they put their feet in the water the water washes over their feet. This means the water is moving. Which means it is probably an incline.
I’m guessing that a combination of slope and wide-angle lens on the camera is creating this illusion.
It’s pretty funny though… the more I look at it, the more I smile. That guy just looks HUGE!!
okay…this totally stumped me…can they really only be sitting on an incline? i think it’s something more. Vurdlak please tell us the answer!! :)
The entire pix is a Photoshop fabrication.
1. Each guy was shot sitting in relatively the same position.
Then Lil’Abner was isolated on a Photoshop layer, reproportioned and seated next to BigBoy.
2. Check out the arm and body shadow of Lil’. His are identical down to the bump in the t-shirt with Big’s.
3. Then there are the foot “splashes”.
Many giveaways:
a. Clear water, like that shown at bottom right of pix, will not turn skin dark, only wet and shiny.
b. Water would however, turn the granite darker. Check the “real” wet granite by Big’s raised foot. Now look at the fake darker wet granite surrounding Big and Lil’s splashing legs and Lil’s raised foot. Wet granite in those areas would not be any darker than granite near Big’s raised foot, nor would it be darker or wetter under the lapping water at left of Big’s splashing foot. Totally shopped.
c. Extended legs on both guys are not submerged, which is the only thing that would cause a real optical color variance akin to the darkened calves shown. These guys are only splashing their feet.
d. Lil’s “splash” leg as well as raised foot are borrowed from Big. Check the proportions of Lil’s lower leg in relation to his upper leg. Whoa! Freak-show long in comparison to correct proportions of Big’s leg. That was to get it near the water.
c. Then there is Lil’s raised foot. Same on both guys. Check out the toes. Recognize the same stretch limo version of Big’s? Splice is just below ankle bone and then more fake dark water shadowing applied to attempt to fool observer to think it is another foot.
4. Grass. Hard to see, but you can make out repeat patterns.
5. Perspective edge of water does not pan out with perspective edge of granite. It curves slightly. Water does not curve when running on a plane like the granite slab.
And, so it goes . . .
Is it just me, or does the guy on the right look like his pants and legs to go with his upper body?
i thought that, too. like maybe he was peeking up from behind a wall, but then i thought, if he were doing that why would his legs be there? but it does look like they don’t match
It appears the water is running straight but if you look at the saturation line of the chap on the left, it is under his knee, while the other fellow has it bellow his foot. So it lends that the granite is slopped aggressively and has a notch of sort right between them.
It is a wonderful shot.
Cool illusion.
I have a question, it seems like you’re still posting them all, what happened to all of the guest editors???
Am i missing something?
wow! cute! seriously, those guys, ow! the trick; mediocre, but the guys; pretty attractive! score!
–Lauren ;)
At first I thought it was something to do with a wide-angle lens because if you look at the large version of the image, the edge of the stone they’re sitting on and the grass towards the right side of the picture doesn’t really look right. Then I went to the link that Anon #6 put in there and you can tell from a picture on the page that the water way has sides that wave up and down. It’s definitely because of the up and downs of the stone and being at the right angle. However, they still look sort of extreme in sizes (one very big and one really small). So maybe standing next to each other they have some height difference as well.
As a side note and rant caused by Anon #1. I’ve come to this site close to every day for the past 4 or 5 months now because I really enjoy it. One of the things that annoys me the most is to see someone with less brain capacity than a lobotomized hamster instantly state “Photoshop” as the ultimate answer to something they can’t figure out. Vurdlak, I think you should start banning the IP addresses of those people. :)
this is really good, i like this one. thanks
look where they are sitting….
it is definatly the lense :)
if the guy was sitting a foot more over to the right, he would be even smaller.
1st comment is way off … this is not Photoshopped to be an illusion. These guys are sitting on an incline … very cool though! =D
The angle of the shadows are weird.
No photoshop to me. Indeed it is the combination of all the factors. It’s an incline and the concrete is not dead straight, there is a little curve in it. Secondly the first person is sitting bolt upright while the second person is sitting crooked… :-) someone agrees?
It’s a fish-eye lens, the guy in the foreground is in the centre of the focus and the guy next to him is at the edge. It seems to be taken at the Diana Memorial in London which has a slight but not huge slope that would contribute to the effect.
I notice that (even though the back guy may be smaller anyway) the camera angle justifies this shot hugely, check the crack in the stone (at the water). Then there’s also that the second guy is facing the camera, allowing him to put his top half back more. If you look at the back guys legs they are closer to the camera(I think) shown be the gap between block. Maybe all this maintains the illusion?
Looks like photoshop. Little is standing behind the wall. There seems to be a slightly off-horizontal line where the pics were spliced together. In Little’s shirt, it’s right where the dark shadow on the bottom left of his shirt ends (just above the edge of his shorts). This line looks like it might extend to the right side of Big’s shirt. There’s a pixel sticking out on his right side, just above the height of his knee.
>.< Eh? It looks like the second guy is standing behind the lip of the concrete, so you just see his top half, but then the legs are small too… I don’t know – Vurdlak, post what you think it is! Had enough time on this now, and if you post it in the comments, people will think about it first. #10 – People swear blindly everything is photoshopped, citing things that are just normal parts of a picture… The darkness is probably algae, and the rest is dubious guessing at things you think are odd, but probably aren’t.
UA (#15) – I completely agree with you about the Photoshop comments! Down with the skeptics!
Great illusion!
AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!! Why are so many people saying this illusion is photoshopped!?! What a waste of time it would be to spend ages trying to make it a seamless illusion, which would always appear slightly computer-manipulated; when these simple relative size illusions can be made easily, by using perspective and the nature of the environment, combined importantly with the main limitation of a camera – being a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional world. I think badslats will see what I mean. I reckon photoshop would be pointless for an illusion as simple as this one.
Just one problem for me…WHERE is Big’s LEFT ARM? We should be able to see it according to the shadow.
Answer me that please?
um ok the lil guy is standing beind the wall if that helps
For some reason, it seriously looks likt the ‘little guy’ is not sitting on the wall? It looks like he is standing on the ground and some other legs are in front of him.
BTW- Do you ever post the answer to your illusions? It would be nice to look at them again ina couple weeks and know the answer…
Thanks…awesome site!
I agree, the “photoshop” crowd needs to exercise their brains a little more. I feel bad for Anon # 10, he seemed to have put so much thought and work into a completely-wrong answer!
This is a cool “real” illusion, they are obviously sitting on an incline; my first thought was sitting on the edge of granite steps…
The “wet granite” that darkened the skin (anon # 10) is actually the shadow cast by the water bubbling into the air. Pay attention!
The “missing arm” that is troubling some of you? Could he be leaning on that arm and we’re unable to see it behind him due to the perspective?
C’mon, I get puzzled by some of these illusions; I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but do you honestly think this site would post something that was created on photoshop? Where’s the fun in that?
Let me put it this way: for those of you that believe this illusion was created using photoshop, check your email… you’re probably luck enough to get an email from Nigeria and Bill Gates is on his way to give you millions of dollars (and a gift certificate to Applebees)!
this is a classic case of sawing the lady in half. just there is no saw or lady. Mr Small is really standing behind the wall there is no special lens or anything like that just his legs really are not connected to his body. for him to be at that angle (sitting I am refering to) his bottom would need to be closer to the water. I do think it is a great effect I have been staring at it all day. It was not until i put a post-it note on my screen to caver up his legs, then it hit me. do it you will see what i am talking about.
Come on people it is a classic sawing the lady in half just no saw or lady. It is photoshopped. mr small is standing behind the wall that mr big is sitting on. mr small’s lower body’s angle does not match his upper body. cover up just mr small’s legs and you will see what i am talking about.
the big guys arm is behind him keeping him upright as there is a steep slope involved and the sun is coming from the right thus making the shadow behind him appear that the arm is outstretched
This photograph was taken at the Diana memorial fountain in Hyde park. It is a fountain with some strange bends and dips in it, and one of those bends/dips will have been used to create the illusion.
I dont know if this will help, but both of there shadows are the same size. If you match the big guys shadwo with the little guys, they is a very small dufferance.
AARRRRGGGHHH
This is a computer edited photo, and in my view there is nothing wrong with a fabricated illusion if it is created well.
Not mentioned above is the fact that littles finger actually overlaps bigs leg. He’d have to be some kind of contortionist to achieve this, plus he’d basically be molesting the bigger fellow.
Also none of the incline arguers have explained away the missing arm we should be able to see (as he is sitting in the same position as the little fellow, who’s arm we can see, and the shadow shows also).
Perhaps it’s a real photo of some magic at work. :p
– Bob
The person on the right seems small because his right arm seems to be touching the other guy, when it’s really not. Also, they seem to be sharing that splash of water with both their feet, but I think it’s only the guy on the left that’s touching the splash of water. That splash makes it seem they are closer than they really are.
Love it!
got it, after some time. Big guy is regular, “little guy” is actually two people: his top half is one person who is standing up, and the legs belong to a second person who is bent backwards over the concrete, so you can’t see his top half.
Great illusion! Love the site! No photoshop required!
Robin
Robin, you’d have to cut the guys legs off for that to work, plus they’d still have to be way smaller than the big guys legs. It’s way too seamless for that trick to work. Plus still nobody’s answered the missing arm or the overlap.
Does anyone notice that the “wet granite” that some people say to be the shadow is casting a wrong shadow angle than the shadows of the two men.
Jsyk they r sitting in london on Princess Diana’s memorial in hyde park 4 all u american’s
noo! its so not photoshop. i get it now. tilt your head 45degrees to the right.
His arm is behind him just where you can’t see it.
I agree with post 33, i have been there. :)
I think that there the same guy
they are on a rounded incline
It’s a regular illusion based on line of sight errors. Check on the website for Mystery Hill in North Carolina. There is are two pictures of 2 little girls standing on a concrete slab. One is smaller than the other. When they switch positions on the slab, the smaller one looks much bigger, even though the photographer hasn’t changed position. It occurs because the concrete slab is tapered at the right side, making the brain perceive the person on that end to be further away. The same thing occurs in the picture above. Because we see the edge of the fountain sloping away from us to the right, the guy on the right looks much farther away (and thus smaller) than the guy on the left, even though they really aren’t that far apart.
They are on different levels, if you look at the shadow of the big dude, you’ll see that his hand doesnt rest on the paivement, but over open space. His arm is behind him- which is why you cant see it.
If you look, the guy on the right’s pants have a “lip” on the right side. I think the are fake, and that guy is standing behind the wall.
buy on the right is behind a wall, legs have been added later
it looks to me as if the small man is standing behind the wall, and the legs are painted. i noticed that the angle of his waist seems to be irregular
THATS THE PRINCESS DIANA MEMORIAL WATER FEATURE THING IN LONDON, I GO THERE ALL THE TIME I RECOGNISE IT!!
Not a lot of comments for this one. i still dont think i get how it works tho. -_-
The water is running downhill but the picture makes it look as if the scene is flat.
they are sitting on steps? :D
Got it (hopefully!) Artificial legs and hands. The man is sitting BEHIND the wall, with proper angle. Am I right? Or at least sum where close?
photo alterations.. photoshop or paint probably…
the first guy’s shadow suggest that both hands are on his side, meaning both guys have the same position, even at that angle, his left has should be visible in the picture like the other guy, but it’s not. the guy at the back also showed some not clean cut, no shadow from the shirts sleeve(right arm). nice try…
i don’t get that
:S
is that even an optical illuson !
it appears that the pic is taken on a slant or hill…therefore making the 1st man appear larger, and the 2nd, smaller…am I close?
I think the ground is a slope. The smaller guy sits at the down part of the slope. The camera view makes the ground look straight, thats what I think
The shadow of the bigger person did not match.
Does no one notice that the person on the right is standing…. look at his waste it didnt take long to find personally, although it is a good illusion
their upper halves have been shopped onto the other ones bottom half!