Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Header Challenge - Fool the eye

I was taking some photos near the Post Office when I notice a house across the street with blazing windows. Was there a fire or just bright yellow-orange lights in side? My idea for this week's header challenge was images that are not what they seem - something that fools the eye.
Fountain by Carroll Creek

When the City of Frederick began planning a flood control project for Carroll Creek, they decided to create a linear park along the path of the creek. One of the key elements of the project was the Carroll Street bridge. It was proposed to make the bridge a work of art. William Cochran was the lead inspiration and artist for the project. Many people contributed ideas for the bridge and it became a Community Bridge. The above fountain was one of the features.
 
But it is not real. No! The scenes are painted on the concrete walls and the bridge structure The technique used to create the art work on the concrete bridge is "trompe l'oeil" (fool the eye). Seen from the edge, the fountain is flat.


Which duck is real? One is a painting by Cochran and his artists. The other is a real live duck photographed by me.


In fact my header was just a reflection of the setting sun. The stark contrast fooled the sensor in my camera, making the result look like night with a blazing fire inside. With some adjustments with PhotoShop, the image below is what  I actually saw. The sitting duck is the painting and the standing duck was heading to the creek and swam to the other side. Images of the park and bridge have appeared on my blogs in the past. These bridge images, appropriately, were taken April first!
 

Additional images: BridgeFlood controlLive duck

4 comments:

imac said...

I thought it was candle light Lew lol.
Real nice shots and you fooled my eyes.

Rune Eide said...

That idea for the bridge was just great, and well implemented too.

Craver Vii said...

Clever to relate the theme to April Fool's Day.

I used to paint trompe l'oeil murals between 1981 and 1983. Cochran is brilliant... mine were no where near his level.

Your header reminds me of the burning bush in Exodus... how it was burning, but not being consumed. Great shot!

Katney said...

Great shots, Lew. I love tromp l'oeil. I knew it was sunset, though. that one did not fool me.