How to Cheat in Photoshop

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Posted on 21/08/19 11:26:03 AM

Steve Caplin
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[Poll] Up or down?

I photographed this section of a plastered wall while on holiday in France this summer.

My question is: where was the window?

Interested to see your solutions.

Posted on 21/08/19 4:55:54 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

Not sure I understand the question. Am I to understand that you took this indoors and you want to know the direction of the light source?

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Posted on 21/08/19 6:24:34 PM

Steve Caplin
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

Correct.

Posted on 21/08/19 6:54:06 PM

GKB
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[Poll] Up or down?

Steve Caplin wrote:

I photographed this section of a plastered wall while on holiday in France this summer.

My question is: where was the window?

... but surely you must have noticed the window when you took the photograph?

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Posted on 21/08/19 8:10:45 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

Not wanting to spoil the fun, I sent this to Steve privately.

At 6:04:00 PM 21/08/19, DavidMac wrote:

Sending this private 'cos I don't want to spoil the fun.

We are conditioned by light from above even, for the most part, at night time as well. We subjectively tend to assess vision instinctively on that basis.

So, looking at the bump in the middle, the utterly obvious answer is top left.

However .........

There is, in fact, no definitive answer to be deduced from the image alone which is ambiguous. There isn't enough evidence to draw an informed conclusion. It depends entirely upon whether the bump in the middle is a bump or a recess - and there is no other indication except the light. If it's a bump then the light comes from top left - if it's a recess from bottom right.

For the reasons given above I immediately and instinctively saw this as a bump.

But, despite its incredibly bump like look, I have voted for a bottom right lit recess because I suspect you of wickedness and deviousness ........

Here, to my complete surprise, is his reply .......

Steve Caplin wrote:
Oh, by all means post this! I want to generate a discussion about it. And it all depends on just how devious you think I am!

So who is upwinding whom ........? What might I be missing ........ or is he double bluffing?

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Posted on 21/08/19 8:11:41 PM

DavidMac
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[Poll] Up or down?

GKB wrote:
... but surely you must have noticed the window when you took the photograph?

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Posted on 21/08/19 8:27:52 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

Turn this upside down and it is easy to perceive it as a recess when top lit.

To see it as the same in the form posted we simply need to suppose that the 'bump/recess' is high in the wall illuminated by a rather low window.

Given that it was taken in France, could one suppose what we anglos call 'french doors"? Maybe with light gravel or pavers outside to give a good upward light reflection?

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Posted on 22/08/19 00:13:46 AM

lwc
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

There is no way to tell unless a number of assumptions are made:

1. The image orientation shown is as photographed.
2. The photographer was standing with his feet on the floor.
3. The photographer was not holding the camera upside down.
3. The only light source is the window.
4. The photograph is not of the ceiling.

Considering these to be true, I would say upper left. Of course, every assumption that I have made could be wrong.

If one were to assume that the light source is not the window, the window could be anywhere on the wall.

My forensic people will be by in the morning with additional questions, such as:

Were there any witnesses?
Who found the body?
Was someone else paying her rent?
Is this looking north, south, east or west
What was the time of day?

Posted on 22/08/19 07:11:04 AM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

lwc wrote:
There is no way to tell unless a number of assumptions are made:

1. The image orientation shown is as photographed.
2. The photographer was standing with his feet on the floor.
3. The photographer was not holding the camera upside down.
3. The only light source is the window.
4. The photograph is not of the ceiling.

Considering these to be true, I would say upper left. Of course, every assumption that I have made could be wrong.

If one were to assume that the light source is not the window, the window could be anywhere on the wall.

I had taken the first five as a given, otherwise the exercise becomes pointless

I had also wondered about your last point. That's exactly the kind of diversion I might expect from Steve. Except in reply to my question he clarified he wanted to know the direction of the light source.

My problem is that, taken at face value, the answer is too obvious to make the question worthwhile. There has to be something unexpected, be it natural or man made. Now, whilst I certainly suspect Steve of some deviousness here, I don't suspect him of cheating - that would destroy the value of his little conundrum. I think we have to accept the photo as honest .......... but deceptive.

In the end this may be less a question of lighting than of trust.

Is Steve winding us up ........ and, if so, how?

I am sticking with my original supposition and vote.

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Posted on 22/08/19 07:41:37 AM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

lwc wrote:
My forensic people will be by in the morning with additional questions ....

Maybe they could give that poor dog a break from SWAT duties and bring him in on the case ......... <cue animation> .....

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Posted on 22/08/19 09:04:13 AM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

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Posted on 22/08/19 11:13:06 AM

tooquilos
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

DavidMac wrote:

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Posted on 22/08/19 11:16:28 AM

tooquilos
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

I'm looking at the bottom right and I can see an accumulation of dust/dirt and thinking it's possible that the patch is indented rather than raised..

Window - bottom right?

But I can't be certain. The longer I look the more I doubt myself!

I saw this today and I can quite clearly see a bird. But looking at it again I can no longer see the bird, all I see is a bunny with white tipped ears.

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Posted on 22/08/19 11:31:17 AM

lwc
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

It is half bird and half rabbit, I like that sort of illusion.

Posted on 22/08/19 11:34:19 AM

lwc
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

DavidMac wrote:

Love it!

Here's your animation:

Sorry it took so long, but Dr. Watson was an afterthought and I had to do a quick colorization of an old b/w image.

Posted on 22/08/19 12:59:45 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

tooquilos wrote:
I saw this today and I can quite clearly see a bird. But looking at it again I can no longer see the bird, all I see is a bunny with white tipped ears.

This is a very well know illusion. It's usually a drawing of a duck/rabbit. The rounded end of the duck bill doubles better with the ears. This is the first time I have ever seen it done photographically. It's been impressively done. Thank you for posting it. It will be added to my illusion collection.

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Posted on 22/08/19 1:12:08 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

I just discovered that Tooquilos' bird illusion is not just a photo it's a video! Very clever.

Here's the old original.

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Posted on 22/08/19 1:21:24 PM

GKB
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

Looking at the image I would say that the shot was taken looking up at an indentaion. It is more likely to have a sharp edge indentation rather than a soft-edged dome of material.

The lighter rim at the top has a greater 'length' for want of a better description and shows a sharp edge with no diffusion 'feathering' as if it were well picked out by the light. There is no such edge at the bottom until you get towards the right hand edge. This would be the case if, as I said, you were looking up at an indentation. If you look at the other artefacts on the wall they appear to be casting a shadow up and to the left; this would suggest to me that the light is coming from bottom right and the shadow is naturally 'feathered' by some little diffusion of the light.

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Posted on 22/08/19 2:14:31 PM

DavidMac
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

GKB wrote:
...... this would suggest to me that the light is coming from bottom right and the shadow is naturally 'feathered' by some little diffusion of the light.

Preaching to the converted here Gordon.

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The subtlety and conviction of any Photoshop effect is invariably inversely proportional to the number of knobs on it .......

Posted on 22/08/19 9:11:24 PM

michael sinclair
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Re: [Poll] Up or down?

The clue is in the question "Where is the window?"

I believe the window IS NOT on the same wall as the "plaster blob" BUT on an adjoining wall which has to be on the left-hand side; moreover, I also believe the window to be at the same level as the plaster blob--simples

Being the first to arrive at this deduction, I thereby claim the prize of the Rolex Yachtmaster for myself

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