# The quirks and distortions of photography

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-quirks-and-distortions-of-photography/675140>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 30, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-quirks-and-distortions-of-photography/675140 "2013-11-30T15:59:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-quirks-and-distortions-of-photography/675140/21 "2013-12-01T12:52:31Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Actually, I thought of a more dramatic example to show how focal length/distance-to-subject changes the relationship of foreground to background. It’s a film effect called the [dolly zoom](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv41W6iyyGs&noredirect=1) or the “Hitchcock effect.” Basically, what you’re doing here is starting with a wide shot and then zooming IN while moving back (on a camera dolly) so that the size of your subject remains relatively constant in the frame.

Neat. I had never seen it like that before.

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