Canon PowerShot G9
ƒ/4.5
36.781 mm
1/80
200
An unusual perspective that caught my eye…
Can you tell how the shot was taken? The air was clear and the photo unprocessed…
21 responses to “Tallinn Sunset”
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Multiple overlayed reflections off of a wall or similar ‘shiny / smooth’ surface, at a fairly steep angle (the angle of the surface this is being reflected off of is revealed by the pattern passing through the photo). I would suspect the semi transparent buildings are actually a bit to the left and behind you in real perspective and further off in the distance than the more clear near buildings.
Perhaps it’s similar in style to the way, just for example, the Vietnam Memorial in DC will reflect better / much more clearly at a steep angle than if you’re looking at a spot on the wall in a direct manner (due to aligning the ‘shiny’ parts of the micro surface when you look at it at an angle, versus being able to see the dull parts from a straight on shot).
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is the sharper, more saturated image the one that is on your reflective glossy computer LCD display, and the faded larger buildings with the variegated light artifacts being reflections of a real life scene behind you?
p.s (when you say ‘no glass’, i’m assuming you mean no see-through glass:))
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wow… Just got back from a trip to the Russian Federal Space Agency, and I think Jonathan & PatrickAdams nailed it.
We are looking through a reflective metal screen with ~1cm holes spaced in a 2D grid about 1.5cm apart. Yes, it is a steep angle as I am resting the camera against the screen to get a steady shot in low light. So the angle of incidence to the surface would be totally reflective if it were bouncing off glass (way beyond the critical angle).
We see two images here though – one through the holes, and the other reflected off the silvery mesh. Since the camera is very close to the grid, there is an interesting fusion of two images, as if looking through a partial mirror at an impossible angle, and with a degradation of the through-hole image. I’m not sure of the optics involved when a mesh is added away from the focal plane, but the reflected image looks crisper than the through-hole image. (Both are crisp in other shots, so it’s not an air quality issue, but perhaps an autofocus or optics issue).
Oh, and I now notice that the image quality changes a bit from left to right (related to different angles and distances from the focal plane?)
Notice the continuity of the overlapping images. One is degraded, but both are mostly uninterrupted, except for the faint rows of circles you can see in the sky.
It also leads to a strange perspective compression of near and far objects.
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Stunning beauty!
A wonderful souvenir!
It was good that you caught this unusual perspective and effect.
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Hi, I’m an admin for a group called the sun in all its glory, and we’d love to have this added to the group!
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