There is an obvious explanation for this one in the angle of the sun, but it is still cool looking nonetheless. It definately makes you look twice.

Holy cannoli. That's really cool. I wonder what it looks like when you're really there...

that definetly looks awsome

just looks like it is laying right in front of the stairs to me

This is definatly a cool illusion... although it looks a little computer animated.

the bridge in the background is called the golden gate bridge. it is located in san francisco, california. the site of the picture is an old military base used to guard the bay that the bridge is built over in san francisco back in the war days and is now a tourist attraction. perhaps that gives anyone a clue whether the stump is real or not? cuz i can't tell. visit the site, maybe you'll find a floating stump?

If you look closely there is a shadow under the stump - see right hand end. The other shadow is from an object in the foreground right, out of shot. More importantly, what's a dump like this doing in the middle of San Francisco.

The shadow at the bottom of the picture seems like it's coming from the stump, so your mind thinks it's floating, but the shadow is actually from a tree not in view of the camera. Looks very cool none the less.

Looks like a straight forward case of Photoshop to me.

if this is a legit photo, with no photoshop, I'd say the shadow is coming from a tree out of shot or something.

yer definately infront of the stairs. but cool nonetheless

I love people that when they can't figure something out automatically say "it's been Photoshopped" They absolutely floor me with their ignorance. This was a case of misplaced shadows. I had to look twice to see what the illusion was. I like the effect and it was very observant of the person who sent it in.

This is the Presidio in San Francisco, not a dump.

its not floating you can see the shadow is from something behind it

but still really neat

you can see the actual shadow that the stump casts on the ground. as jason said, the shadow that makes the stump appear as if its floating is mostlikely being cast from a tree out of the picture frame.

you can see its shadow directly under it. the lowest shadow is probably a tree.

This is pretty cooool illusion. But hey, in the back, is that bridge of San Franscico?? :D

It just looks like a normal tree trunk on the floor to me. i don't see the illusion...can someone help me?

Here's a link to the site where I spotted this picture. As the image was likely taken by a realtor I wonder if there was any PhotoShop involved. There may have been as the original contained two other views of the property. Realtors tend to be more creative with words, I wonder if there would have been a need to be this creative with an image. I thought the picture was rather interesting and that's what prompted me to send it.

From my photograpy BA, it appears to be floating but with further examination the illustion is created by the natural occurences of events at the time the photo was taken. The stump, although seems to be floating in thin air, is actually on the ground. The shadow at the edge of the picture is what makes it seem that it floating. it is mearly just a shadow being casted from another object or objects, from my guess some tourists' heads, that has gotten in the picture. From our line of sight it creates an illusion of the log floating.

Yes, I can confirm that these are gun emplacements, as alex alluded to above, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The base is called The Presidio and was decommissioned a number of years ago.

A quick glance, to me, looks like it's floating but when I actually "look" at it, it doesn't appear floating. But to rerererereiterate: pretty cool.

wow i've been there i didnt see that

It took me a VERY long time to find where the illusion was. Calling it a stump was misleading. I was looking for a stump IN the ground, not a log on the ground.

Finally after sleeping on it and taking another look, I see the log and the shadow that makes it look like it's floating, but the shadow directly underneath it is also visible, so that undermines the illusion. It's interesting how this was discovered, but overall, this was disappointing.

this is cool, but there is one way that you can tell it is fake. if you look carefully under the right side of the stump, you can see a shadow directly under it, showing that it is, in fact, not levitating.

the shadow that appears to be that of the stump is clearly from something not in the shot. No photoshop, you guys just over-analyze this pictures.

The stump is fake.

aaron

the log is not floating and yes this is around sa francisco as alex said no photoshop would be used because its a log on the ground and the shadow isn,t the rigt size for the log idont like at all