Friday, March 27, 2009

Floating Pau? The secret is this very special Onion!


Shot with the Canon EOS 5D MkII with the EF 24-70mm L lens at 70mm
The image was resized and sharpened with slight adjustment to the brightness and contrast only

Remember our floating pau? Well, that was taken at a whim at the restaurant. When I got home I got a bit more time to refine the technique and so this is a much better photo of the same technique used with the floating pau.


Shot in HD with the Canon EOS 5D MK II with EF 24-70mm lens f2.8

This video will give you a big clue as to how it was done. This clip as not been altered except to to downsize it for uploading.

The concept is the same as some of the illusions performed by magicians.

So any new theories?

The technique will be revealed next week.

Read our readers' theories on the floating pau here.
at

36 comments:

  1. dwcwMarch 27, 2009 at 11:28 PM

    This issue is boggling my mind.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 27, 2009 at 11:36 PM

    my guess is tat thr is some sort of stick poked into the onion tat is holding it up.. cant see the stick becos its behind the onion.. trickery using camera angle..

    how ? is my guess near the mark ?

    Wayang

    ReplyDelete
  3. HeidiMarch 28, 2009 at 12:36 AM

    toothpick! toothpick!! xD

    ReplyDelete
  4. kevMarch 28, 2009 at 2:13 AM

    i give up ! i'm gg to wait for the answer !! lolx ..

    my final guess is reflection + curved surfaced mirrors ..
    and of course the satay stick / toothpick lolx.

    ReplyDelete
  5. hAPPy889March 28, 2009 at 2:38 AM

    My guess it's a composition of 2 images

    ReplyDelete
  6. ieatMarch 28, 2009 at 3:22 AM

    Do you all have problems viewing the video? I might have to post it on youtube if there are issues.

    ReplyDelete
  7. sumosumoMarch 28, 2009 at 4:02 AM

    Magnets. I m quite sure.

    ReplyDelete
  8. tj hanMarch 28, 2009 at 6:10 AM

    Come on you guys, it's obvious that the special trick lies with the onion. It's a bud grown from the Hogwarts gardening department's levitation onions. I thought this was common knowledge sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. tj hanMarch 28, 2009 at 6:11 AM

    And as for why the pao floats, that's because it contains the onions inside! Duh.

    ReplyDelete
  10. doryMarch 28, 2009 at 6:36 AM

    i only notice the basket is all blur out.. only the onion is in focus/sharp..

    muz be the lens that is used!

    uhhhhh... i shall wait patiently for the answer.. =p

    dory

    ReplyDelete
  11. cookiepohMarch 28, 2009 at 7:00 AM

    aiya...must b the bird la...chipping in the background...a special bird that got super power to "chip chip" the onion to float!!!!hahahahahahaha

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMarch 28, 2009 at 7:08 AM

    i guess its just got to do with the lens, most imptly is the angle or how the camera is hold. eg. down right from the onion, the focus lies on the focus of onion, the background is the basket.

    notice that the back of basket is blured out.

    i find this site, kinda describe (hope it helps)
    http://www.desktop-video-guide.com/fundamentals-of-camera-movement.html

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMarch 28, 2009 at 8:12 AM

    Glass i.e. glass table and the basket underneath the wooden platform below it. black velvet cloth to block reflection is optional.

    ReplyDelete
  14. WeikaiMarch 28, 2009 at 8:55 AM

    The bird is using the Force to lift the onion? Just joking.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Chiew KaiMarch 28, 2009 at 5:42 PM

    maybe held up by a satay stick? the pau could be held up by a chopstick?

    both the onion and the pau seems to be contained in "porous" containers, which the stick or chopstick is required to be poked thru.

    i doubt the effect can be replicated using a solid porcelain bowl.

    ReplyDelete
  16. chaozhouziMarch 29, 2009 at 2:25 AM

    ieat, I believe you are using the zoom effects technique for the two shots.

    ReplyDelete
  17. ieatMarch 29, 2009 at 4:39 AM

    I guess with the video, the guys who were guessing that I dropped the pau and took the photo at high shutter speed have re-thought their theory!

    ReplyDelete
  18. thejerrytanMarch 29, 2009 at 5:45 AM

    I am guessing to the extend that little elves are holding the onion in place.

    Oh silly me, there are no such things known as little elves.

    Must be those pesky little dwarves.

    ReplyDelete
  19. The DictatorMarch 29, 2009 at 6:42 AM

    i m guessing its using macro mode, focusing on it and then moving the camera up... a wild guess

    ReplyDelete
  20. thejerrytanMarch 29, 2009 at 7:39 AM

    Gotta post this video on facebook and see how much interest it generates.

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousMarch 29, 2009 at 11:36 PM

    The onion is sitting on a clear glass. And the basket was placed below the glass.

    ReplyDelete
  22. wahcowMarch 30, 2009 at 1:09 AM

    this looks like a scene from the matrix....when trinity was doing her kicks...mooahahahahahahaha

    ReplyDelete
  23. AnonymousMarch 30, 2009 at 1:18 AM

    I'm guessing the onion is on a clean glass top and the basket is below, you know.... those dinng tables with glass top and a bottom layer.....

    ReplyDelete
  24. terenceMarch 30, 2009 at 1:48 AM

    my guess is similar to many other posters above me.
    i think its the satay stick poked through the pau/onion before being stuck on the bamboo/rattan container.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousMarch 30, 2009 at 2:19 AM

    Leslie stood over the onion and sucked in a deep breath, causing it to levitate momentarily. No? Awww shucks...

    ReplyDelete
  26. ieatMarch 30, 2009 at 2:44 AM

    Almost got it! Not!

    ReplyDelete
  27. AnonymousMarch 30, 2009 at 3:37 AM

    tilted misshapped baskets?

    ReplyDelete
  28. AnonymousMarch 31, 2009 at 3:42 AM

    u were having lunch with YODA from Starwars! =D

    ReplyDelete
  29. ieatMarch 31, 2009 at 4:19 AM

    Hmmm, the force is strong in you, Anonymous! Anyway Yoda is from Dagobah not starwars. And I couldn't have been having lunch with him cos he is long dead.

    ReplyDelete
  30. AnonymousMarch 31, 2009 at 7:33 AM

    GUys.. simple lah.. Leslie oledi tell you "Ok lah I give you a hint, I took the concept from David Blaine's levitation trick." from the floating pau blog.

    Heard of Google? That search engine?? Well, type in "David Blaine's levitation trick" and your answers are there!

    God trick though, Les.

    ReplyDelete
  31. liverpool1965March 31, 2009 at 8:03 AM

    Yoda's not long dead, he is one with the Force now! :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. ieatMarch 31, 2009 at 8:11 AM

    I hope you guys are game to take some photos of floating food, cos I am going to run a competition to see what you all can come up with. Got Canon to sponsor some stuff for the winners too! Stay tuned for the details later in the week when I reveal how it is done.

    ReplyDelete
  33. lzyApril 1, 2009 at 6:31 AM

    I thought it was a double exposure picture, but its hard to do with a video....
    Or is it super imposed?

    ReplyDelete
  34. tweetyApril 1, 2009 at 10:24 PM

    I'm not familiar with cameras but let me give it a try to guess after reading about the features of the Canon EOS 5D MkII - I think you shot it with the special feature with : i.e.,
    Taking Still Photos While Taking Movies
    This function provides a great deal of flexibility to photographers to capture both still and video images of the same subject. This is not the same thing as grabbing a frame from the video footage; instead, the still image(s) are recorded as separate files and stored on the memory card the same way as other still images. When taking still images during a movie, Live View is interrupted temporarily. It resumes automatically when the last exposure ends. The movie clip continues to record while the still images are being taken.
    Source:
    http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2186&productID=249&articleTypeID

    ReplyDelete
  35. tweetyApril 2, 2009 at 10:30 PM

    More precisely, pau and onion were taken as still images while the containers were being concurrently shot in "movie" mode.

    ReplyDelete
  36. PzrApril 10, 2009 at 6:22 AM

    Like david blaine levi trick, u've got the bao/onion on a stick or pesdestal, and u use the body of the subject to conceal it.

    ReplyDelete