Digital graphics are so realistic these days that you can hardly tell between a photo and a computer-generated image. If you don’t believe it, try to distinguish between the photos below, which have real photos taken by photographer Karl Taylor and computer images edited by artist Ethan Davis, both creating identical images. but only 1 is real.
A: The top photo is a photo taken by Taylor while the photos below are CGI created by Davis. Below are photos of both when zoomed in.
No matter how demanding a client’s needs may be, a deep understanding of lighting is vitally important, Taylor says.
“One thing I’ve learned from this process is that even the best CGI artists need knowledge of photography and lighting to complete a realistic-looking product.“, Taylor said.
Here are a few more examples of images taken by Taylor and some created by Davis in random order. Do you know which is real and which is virtual?
In order, these 6 images are CGI, snapshot, CGI, snapshot, snapshot and CGI respectively.
Reference: Petapixel