Rooms photographed from above
July 3, 2012 4:05 AM Subscribe
Rooms photographed from above by Menno Aden.
Similar to the work of Aneta Grzeszykowska and Jan Smaga
(and, pardon me, some of my wife's work!)
posted by JBennett at 4:37 AM on July 3, 2012
(and, pardon me, some of my wife's work!)
posted by JBennett at 4:37 AM on July 3, 2012
I figured out a way to do this a couple of years back and was amazed at the results - it's such a unique perspective, and one usually denied to us. the denizens of the floor ...
posted by kcds at 4:50 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by kcds at 4:50 AM on July 3, 2012
Wow... this makes me really want someone to develop a photo-realistic top-down RPG.
posted by themadjuggler at 4:56 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by themadjuggler at 4:56 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
That burned out car looks just like my living room.
posted by orme at 5:05 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by orme at 5:05 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Pretty cool. Now I know why my cat hangs his head off our tallest bookcase to stare at the floor upside down.
posted by something something at 5:42 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by something something at 5:42 AM on July 3, 2012
That's a small shower.
That's no moon... er... shower.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 5:55 AM on July 3, 2012
That's no moon... er... shower.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 5:55 AM on July 3, 2012
then what the heck is it?
posted by leotrotsky at 6:02 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by leotrotsky at 6:02 AM on July 3, 2012
These make me feel super paranoid, but maybe that's because I'm also listening to Einstürzende Neubauten.
posted by Mooseli at 6:34 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Mooseli at 6:34 AM on July 3, 2012
I figured out a way to do this a couple of years back and was amazed at the results - it's such a unique perspective, and one usually denied to us. the denizens of the floor ...
I'm just starting out with photography... Anyone care to explain to me like I'm five years old how to get shots like this without destroying the ceiling?
posted by gagglezoomer at 7:14 AM on July 3, 2012
Gagglezoomer, you could do it with a compression pole between the walls and a clamp in the middle for the camera.
Add a really wide rectilinear prime, like the Canon 14mm to make sure the lines are straight, or use a fisheye with post-processing to flatten the picture out.
posted by tomierna at 8:03 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
Add a really wide rectilinear prime, like the Canon 14mm to make sure the lines are straight, or use a fisheye with post-processing to flatten the picture out.
posted by tomierna at 8:03 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
I am saving all these images for my new game-in-development, "Photorealistic Clue."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:30 AM on July 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
What's wrong with Menno Aden? I heard everyone looks down on his work.
posted by mazola at 8:37 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by mazola at 8:37 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
I am guessing he's using multiple pictures and puts them together. See the differently leaning bottles in the shelf in the bar shot.
posted by Henrik at 9:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Henrik at 9:25 AM on July 3, 2012 [2 favorites]
I'm sneezing just thinking about the amount of dust the camera would see in my house from up there.
posted by straight at 9:29 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by straight at 9:29 AM on July 3, 2012
Thanks, tomierna! I believe that lens costs like 2 grand :(
posted by gagglezoomer at 10:11 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by gagglezoomer at 10:11 AM on July 3, 2012
I have seen many, many, many imitations of the Lynne Cohen "picture of a room without people in it" shtick, but this is the first one -- and the gimmick is so simple! -- that I really super enjoy.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:12 AM on July 3, 2012
posted by Sys Rq at 10:12 AM on July 3, 2012
I am guessing he's using multiple pictures and puts them together. See the differently leaning bottles in the shelf in the bar shot.
Oof, good catch. Yeah, that's not done very well at all.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:15 AM on July 3, 2012
Oof, good catch. Yeah, that's not done very well at all.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:15 AM on July 3, 2012
If you're not doing it in a single shot, you could stand on a ladder that you moved from one side of the room to the other while shooting the opposite side, leaning out so that even the floor right below the camera was clear. Try to keep the nodal point of the lens in the same spot for each shot to avoid/minimize errors like Henrik spotted. (Maybe hang a small weight on a string from the ceiling, and keep the lens right below that?) Take enough pictures to cover the whole room and with enough overlap to find matching features to align the images (and to let seams avoid any errors/discontinuities). Toss all the photos into panorama stitching software like Hugin (open source, free, cross-platform), align the images, mask out any bits of and then pick a rectalinear projection looking straight down.
If you go with the same technique but also include images looking up above the horizon, you can use a stereographic projection instead to create little worlds (these are some of mine) reminicent of The Little Prince.
posted by JiBB at 12:30 PM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
If you go with the same technique but also include images looking up above the horizon, you can use a stereographic projection instead to create little worlds (these are some of mine) reminicent of The Little Prince.
posted by JiBB at 12:30 PM on July 3, 2012 [3 favorites]
JiBB - I was sufficiently interested in your wonderful "little world" pictures to look for a tutorial in how to make them (with Photoshop/Gimp). In case others are interested here it is.
posted by rongorongo at 3:04 PM on July 3, 2012
posted by rongorongo at 3:04 PM on July 3, 2012
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