photo #5977664

//@jerryscience: Japanese photographer Kenichi Ohno makes regular visits to a local marsh in order to practice his nature photography. But one image in particular, which shows an egret wading in the shallow water, is causing a stir. After being awarded an honorable mention in the Nature in Japan photo contest organized by the The All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies (AJAPS), Ohno's photo went viral. People weren't sure if what they were staring at was real or the result of Photoshop..The image, which is titled Gap, has been confirmed as being completely real. Even though it can take a minute to understand what's happening, everything makes sense once it's been explained. The odd split in the frame, where one half is blue and the other half is pale orange, creates a strong illusion. In fact, this illusion is part of what made the jury single out the photo from the 5,600 images entered into the contest..So what is happening behind the egret that is causing the illusion? In the upper right-hand corner, there is a cream-colored wall. What we see below the wall is its reflection in the water and the position of the photographer has allowed for a perfectly straight “cut” in the composition, so one side is all water and the other side is the wall and its reflection. If it's still not clear, AJAPS also provided a pulled-back photograph of the scene, without the bird, where the wall is clearly visible..Credit: Gap by Kenichi Ohno