Which tracheal tube is longer?

When I first saw it, two questions immediately captured my attention: A) What is “tracheal tube”? and B) Will the illusion work for others, where I wasn’t even sure it worked for me. Still, based on its popularity on the various social networks (=read: Facebook), I suppose it is OK.

So, not being lazy, I have searched the web and learned that tracheal tube is a catheter (?!) that can be inserted into the patient’s trachea in order to establish and maintain clear airway…

Never would’ve guessed the day will come when we would have catheter illusions appearing on this site! It would probably be the last thing I could come up with, if someone asked me in prior to give my wildest prediction regarding future illusion submissions! In this illusion the lower tube should appear longer when positioned vertically… What do you think of it?

In the end, the images are not only a great way to document all the ways the school has changed in the last century, but also to thank the students, faculty and administrators who allowed it to grow. For many of the people pictured, it might also be the only way they can visit their Alma Mater during Homecoming season one last time.

While the project is of particular interest to those with ties to UF, I think we can all appreciate the artistic merits of the photos…even if they aren’t technically illusions. For more pictures and information on how the school has changed over the years,  be sure to visit the homepage of the UF, Then & Now project.

Have any of you ever tried to make your own then & now photographic projects? I’ve always wanted to, but have never had the time to set up the shots just right.

Now, I wouldn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention, asking all them security questions (lol), yet young engineer-problem-solver minds are always curious and strive for knowledge in diverse fields :D Having such a big audience can actually be a mighty tool – just like that time we got insight into Free Masonry, which basically translates to networking/philanthropy brotherhood for what I could sum it up to(?). Anyhow, sorry for pulling you off the illusion course for a moment – won’t happen again… So, can you decide which of the police officers below is the biggest? You might be surprised what comes out of it, specially if you own Photoshop or some tools to inspect…

Same goes for the three L-Shaped objects below: there are at least 2 L-Shaped roofs on below buildings that are exact same in size. Which ones are they?

To see the solution, expand the hidden explanatory pictures after the jump, and be sure to see Greenpro’s original videos explaining the illusion here. Both illusions are just a variation of something we’ve already seen at some point before, yet after seeing these many times, amazingly they still work – at least for me they do.

Click To Expand The Solution!

The coin, made from painted and lacquered wood, was created at a 20:1 scale to an ordinary 50 cent Euro piece, meaning everything appears to be 20 times smaller than it is in actuality.

Here’s how the team’s coin mover looked in between setting up the shots above.

The Skrekkogle art design group responsible only made one coin so far, but they say they may make more and put them up for sale if they get enough requests. So, if you want to be able to make your own images like these, you’d better head over to their site and start asking them to sell you one.

In the meanwhile, here are a few images showing what it took to make the original coin.

What do you guys think, would you be interested in purchasing your own giant coin so you could make your own cool illusions? I’m sure it would also make a great conversation starter while sitting around your home between uses.

Earlier this month, a report was released, showing that the moon may be 200 million years younger than researchers previously believed, dating at about 4.36 billion years old. This information came from the detailed inspection of a moon rock that was brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 astronauts back in 1972. The discovery only applies if the moon was in fact created when a Mars-sized rock crashed into the still molten Earth and shot debris into orbit around us. Since this is the current theory most scientists believe, it means that either the collision occurred much later than they thought, or that the moon was created some other way entirely.

Of course, since the dawn of time, children have looked up at the moon and fantasized about being able to pluck it from the sky if only they had ladder tall enough. That’s why I love this playful series of images by photographer Laurent Lavender showing people interacting with the moon in all kinds of ways. We’ve featured some of his images before and while they may not be the strongest illusions featured here, they are stunning photos that truly capture the childhood feeling of being able to reach out to the moon and turn it in to a new toy!

Check the below gallery for rest of the shots:

Artist who goes under the nickname of “smsilton” captured this amazing image after about two hours of attempts. All in all, he said that it probably took him about 150 shots to get it right.

If you were wondering what kind of a set-up a person needs to actually achieve something like this, here’s this picture of his Escher-shooting studio. Smsilton used a 60mm macro lens at f/2.8. He shot the image at ISO 640 and 1/250. But figuring out the right settings for the job wasn’t even the hardest part:

The hardest part was focusing. In the set up picture you can see a piece of string above the eye dropper. I would let that hang down off the eye dropper and focus on that, then move it and squeeze the dropper and the shutter at almost the same time. I have like 30ish more pictures with the drop clearly in the shot but the sketch behind it isn’t in focus, this was the clearest one I got.”

Personally, I’d think the hardest part was being patient enough to shoot water drops for two hours just to get the one magical shot, but that’s why I’ve never had any interest in being a professional photographer.

If you think this picture somehow looks familiar, sans the illusion part, you’re probably right. It’s actually a famous picture of bridge painters hanging from the wires of the Brooklyn Bridge near the end of the construction phase. You can even see the skyline of Lower Manhattan in the background – can you imagine how different that skyline must look these days? Those of you who live in New York know exactly how true that is.

While I was disappointed to not get to live out this fun memory from my youth, I was at least able to find a website that shared a variety of pictures and information from the attraction. So at least this way I still get to share the cool illusions that once stood at the park with all of you.

The Mystery Shack was built on a hill, which would mess with your perspective just enough to create a variety of cool illusions. The first trick involved forced perspective that made two people appear to change heights right in front of a whole audience. Next, your guide would take you inside where you would see a chair that stood perched on the wall without nails or magnets.

Near the end of the shack was a water trough that would seemingly send the water uphill.

By the end of the tour, you’d feel like you didn’t know which way was up and how to walk straight. It was a great illusion. While I couldn’t visit the shack, I’m still happy to get to share its memory with all of you. Hope you enjoyed our tour.

When you think about it, one of the strangest things about tilt shift photos is the fact that generally pictures of models are made to look realistic. If you shoot a model so it looks as though it’s not real, you’re doing a disservice to the model itself. So in a way, tilt shift photos involve a skilled photographer shooting a real setting to look like a model that was shot by an amateur who doesn’t know what he’s doing. And that intentional imitation of a mistake is precisely what makes these photos so fun.

These six examples, each taken by a different photographer, all show just how powerful the illusion can be in manipulating a scene to look like it’s an imaginary setting.

There isn’t much info about this lonely casa on the photographer, eljoja’s Flickr stream, other than the fact that it is located in Barcelona, Spain. Even so, the cute brick building looks stunning when pictured all alone with no other homes or businesses in the area.

I’m not sure where Juan Pablo took this tilt shift picture of a typical city scene, but it’s particularly great in that even the construction workers look like they are miniature.

I don’t know about you guys, but when I fly out of an airport, I focus on trying to pop my ears and thinking about how much longer I can wait before I can turn on my iPod. But Flickr user disparkys has much bigger ambitions during this short bit of early flight time, working on instead improving his tilt shift photography skills. I’d say he certainly nailed it in this picture, taken while leaving the Gatwick Airport in London.

While most tilt shift images are shot from a high angle to add to the miniaturization illusion, they don’t have to be shot from any particular view point, as evidenced by this tilt shift image of Santorini, Greece by Flickr user Stëve.

Ordinarily, a regular city scene presumably shot from an office building wouldn’t be all that remarkable of an image, but when the tilt shift effect is used, things quickly become much more interesting. WagsomeDog’s image of downtown Cincinnati makes the whole street look like it’s no more than a foot tall.

Rolohauck’s tilt shift image of altes rathaus in Munich makes the old city hall look like a paper model so delicate that a gentle sneeze could cause it to rip and melt apart. While the photographer doesn’t give any details about how he crafted the photo, the perfect focus separation between the front of the building and the rest of the image make it appear that he used the technique in camera, rather than using photo editing software.

As much as I enjoy this effect, I have to admit, I’ve never been able to use it myself. I don’t have the photography skills or photo editing skills to try it. Have any of you ever played with tilt shift imagery? If so, feel free to share the links to your images in the comments section.

This picture by Alexandre Duarte shows how a simple vacation photo can become something a lot more fun with just a little planning and some careful distancing of the subjects. While forced perspective pics of the Leaning Tower of Pisa are the most common examples, I think a lot of people should start trying to incorporate these tricks into the occasional vacation pics -it sure makes the pictures a lot more fun for the family members you show them to when you get back.

I’ll actually be heading to Universal Studios Hollywood in the next few weeks. Anyone know some good places to work with this photo trick at the park?

Anyway, check out how perspective plays with us in the following photo! The soldiers appear so close to each other, yet the difference in their size suggest different! BTW, there is a bonus Easter-Egg animation called “Superman Experience” hidden somewhere inside this article… let’s see how many of you can find it ;D

I’d just like to remind you how great percentage of illusions posted here was originally discovered by you! So keep sending your marvelous creations and discoveries, and if they’re good enough, I’ll make sure they’re presented to everyone! Just please be objective when judging the illusion before you send it in!

BTW, I have acknowledged your comments about the “annoying” ad that expands and pushes the content down. As much as it disturbs you, please be kind and endure this with me for few more days until the campaign is over. We got ourselves a brand new dedicated server recently (which costs thousands of dollars), so bear with me cause them ads pay for site operations, and cover all of the expenses. I’ll see what I can do about it, but the alternate “donation” route isn’t something I would prefer…