The effects of habitat structure and lighting on object and background appearance

In 672 natural scenes, direct versus diffuse lighting combined with local 3D geometry systematically changed scene and target colors, patterns, and spatial-scale relationships, especially via shadows.

• Why it matters: Appearance statistics used to compare animals and backgrounds may be biased if lighting conditions and three-dimensional habitat structure interact, yet this joint effect is poorly characterized.
• What they did: Using color-calibrated photographs and 3D scans of 672 scenes, the study quantified background and standardized target appearance under diffuse and direct lighting, tracking luminance and blue-yellow versus green-red information across spatial scales.
• The result: Shadows under direct lighting increased luminance and blue-yellow contrast across spatial scales, most at larger scales in habitats with greater 3D variation, while green-red information stayed highly stable and pattern directionality shifted with cast and self-shadows.

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