Lying Images (part 1)

With the latest technology and newest all-in-one gadgets, taking pictures is becoming one of the hobbies, not just of the youth Filipinos, but seemingly of most of the people today. Different poses, different angles, wacky facial expressions, peace/victory signs, and other creative shots-- taking pictures is just so enjoyable that most people take perceptual cues in their photo for granted. We don't usually wonder why a particular object is perceived farther than another as it is shown in the picture. Yet how come we automatically understand the relative distances of the objects we see-- in this case not just in the photos but also in our environment?

Goldstein (2010) explains that it is so because we learn to perceive depth from our previous experiences. According to the cue approach to depth, in our previous experiences, we had encountered a number of signals or cues which tells us that an object is farther or nearer than the other. One of this cues is the ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE.

See and observe this picture:


If you look closely at this Bataan beach photo, there is a mountain in it. However, due to the dust, water droplets, and airborne pollution present in the atmosphere, the mountain appears hazy and bluish. This photo exemplifies the atmospheric picture which is a cue that farther objects appear less sharp and most of the time bluish-- which is because of the elements mentioned earlier.

Reference:
Goldstein, E. Bruce (2010). Sensation and perception, 8th edition. California, USA:
Wadsworth

Thanks to my brother Marc Elison Capco for taking this photo! ^^,