We're so used to seeing edited photos these days that it can be hard to believe those that claim to be original - that's probably why one impressive, unfiltered photo has got so much attention.
From a quick spot removal on a selfie to a boost in saturation on a landscape pic, all we need to edit photos now is the touch of a button.
Advert
We can easily make collages and change the colours on images, and it's exactly these kinds of changes that look to have been made on a photo of an egret bird taken by Kenichi Ohno, from the Saitama Prefecture in the Kantō region of Honshu in Japan.
The image shows the bird making small ripples in the water as it wades through a river bank, but the colours and seemingly changing landscape in the background makes it look like two different images stitched together.
On the left, the bird looks to be wading into deep blue water that takes up the entirety of the photo. On the right, it's a yellow-orange scene as the river seems to extends to a river bank, which then meets the same orange-yellow sky.
Two totally different scenes, with only the bird connecting them. But they actually aren't different scenes at all.
Advert
The image, named 'Gap', was entered it into the 39th Japanese Nature Photo contest hosted by the All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies and quickly went viral after being picked up by Twitter users.
"While it may look at first glance like a composite image, this mind-bending picture by Kenichi Ohno and titled 'Gap', is a real single-exposure photo and not the result of Photoshop manipulation," one person wrote.
Many can't get over the fact the image hasn't been edited, with one refusing to believe it altogether.
"There is no way this is not photoshopped!!!" they wrote, while another admitted to spending hours trying to get to the bottom of the snap.
Advert
"Nearly after 13hrs, I understand the image. It's a great illusion," they said.
The image shows just how natural lighting and angles can confuse our brains, as it turns out that the water wasn't abruptly changing colour, as the photo makes out.
Twitter users have shared some of their own images to help explain the scene, which has been created with the help of a wall which is reflecting onto the water, creating the bold line down the middle of the photo.
The upper half of the golden section is the wall, the horizontal line cutting across it is the bottom of the wall, and the golden water below it is the reflection.
Advert
Understand it yet? It's tough, but it's worth it when you figure it out!
Emily Brown