In this picture, the aerial perspective effect is emphasized by a series of mountains in different planes photographed in a near contre-jour situation

Aerial perspective as viewed towards a sunset, with the colour shifting toward red as a result of scattering.

Dai Jin, "Landscape in the Style of Yan Wengui", Early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644); a Chinese landscape painting using "atmospheric perspective" to show recession in space.

Frans Koppelaar, Landscape near Bologna, 2001; a painting depicting aerial perspective: distant objects are lighter, of lower contrast, and bluer than nearer objects.

Aerial perspective or atmospheric perspective refers to the effect the atmosphere has on the appearance of an object as it is viewed from a distance. As the distance between an object and a viewer increases, the contrast between the object and its background decreases, and the contrast of any markings or details within the object also decreases. The colours of the object also become less saturated and shift towards the background color, which is usually blue, but under some conditions may be some other color (for example, at sunrise or sunset distant colors may shift towards red).

History[link]

Aerial perspective was used in paintings from the Netherlands in the 15th Century, and explanations of its effects were with varying degrees of accuracy written by polymaths such as Leon Battista Alberti and Leonardo da Vinci. The latter used aerial perspective in many of his paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Optics[link]

The major component affecting the appearance of objects during daylight is scattering of light, called skylight, into the line of sight of the viewer. Scattering occurs from molecules of the air and also from larger particles in the atmosphere such as water vapor and smoke (see haze). Scattering adds the sky light as a veiling luminance onto the light from the object, reducing its contrast with the background sky light. Skylight usually contains more short wavelength light than other wavelengths (this is why the sky usually appears blue), which is why distant objects appear bluish (see Rayleigh scattering for detailed explanation). A minor component is scattering of light out of the line of sight of the viewer. Under daylight, this either augments the contrast loss (e.g., for white objects) or opposes it (for dark objects). At night there is effectively no skylight (unless the moon is very bright), so scattering out of the line of sight becomes the major component affecting the appearance of self-luminous objects. Such objects have their contrasts reduced with the dark background, and their colours are shifted towards red.

Why reducing contrast reduces clarity[link]

The ability of a person with normal visual acuity to see fine details is determined by his or her contrast sensitivity.^[1] Contrast sensitivity is the reciprocal of the smallest contrast for which a person can see a sine-wave grating. A person's contrast sensitivity function is contrast sensitivity as a function of spatial frequency. Normally, peak contrast sensitivity is at about 4 cycles per degree of visual angle. At higher spatial frequencies, comprising finer and finer lines, contrast sensitivity decreases, until at about 40 cycles per degree even the brightest of bright lines and the darkest of dark lines cannot be seen.

The high spatial frequencies in an image give it its fine details.^[2] Reducing the contrast of an image reduces the visibility of these high spatial frequencies because contrast sensitivity for them is already poor. This is how a reduction of contrast can reduce the clarity of an image—by removing its fine details.

It is important to emphasize that reducing the contrast is not the same as blurring an image. Blurring is accomplished by reducing the contrast only of the high spatial frequencies. Aerial perspective reduces the contrast of all spatial frequencies.

In art[link]

In art, especially painting, aerial perspective refers to the technique of creating an illusion of depth by depicting distant objects as paler, less detailed, and usually bluer than near objects.

(One caution: in common speech, the words perspective and viewpoint tend to be used interchangeably; however, in art, aerial perspective does not imply an aerial viewpoint, such as that forming the basis of the aerial landscape genre. The example by Frans Koppelaar pictured here shows the difference. This landscape is a good example of aerial perspective; however, it is not an aerial landscape, since the observer is apparently standing on the ground.)

References[link]

See also[link]

• Aerial landscape art
• Aerial perspective (disambiguation)
• Aerial shot
• Haze
• Landscape art
• Rayleigh scattering
• Tyndall effect

Bruce Lietzke
Personal information
Full name	Bruce Alan Lietzke
Born	(1951-07-18) July 18, 1951 (age 60) Kansas City, Kansas
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Nationality	United States
Residence	Dallas, Texas
Career
College	University of Houston
Turned professional	1974
Current tour(s)	Champions Tour
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	22
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	13
Champions Tour	7
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	6th/T6: 1979, 1985
U.S. Open	T17: 1981
The Open Championship	T6: 1981
PGA Championship	2nd: 1991

Bruce Alan Lietzke (born July 18, 1951) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.

Lietzke was born in Kansas City, Kansas. He moved to Beaumont, Texas with his parents in 1960 and lived there until 1977, graduating from Forest Park High School in 1969.

Lietzke credits his older brother, Duane, for introducing him to the game of golf at age five. He also credits Henry Homberg, a local Beaumont professional, along with Duane for having the greatest influences on his game when he first started playing. Lietzke attended the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. He graduated in 1973 and turned pro in 1974.

Although he had to wait until the Champions Tour to win a major, Lietzke has had a relatively successful career. He won 13 PGA Tour events and has so far won seven times on the Champions Tour. His career year on the PGA Tour was 1981, when he won three times. His best finish in a major on the PGA Tour was a solo 2nd at the 1991 PGA Championship.^[1] He played on the 1981 Ryder Cup team.

Lietzke was well known for not practicing a great deal, and not playing in a large number of tournaments compared to his fellow competitors, electing to spend more time with his family. Despite this he never finished below 74 on the money list.

In recent years, Lietzke has been plagued by the so-called "frozen shoulder syndrome" – the correct medical term is adhesive capsulitis – which has caused him to miss a considerable amount of playing time.

Lietzke enjoys collecting classic cars and has built an 11-car garage at his home in which to store his large collection; the crown jewel is a 1967 yellow Corvette Stingray convertible. He lists Bruce Springsteen as his favorite entertainer and Don "Big Daddy" Garlits as his favorite athlete. He makes his home in Dallas, Texas. In 1978, Lietzke was shown in print ads for the Dodge Magnum coupe, as also being a 1970 Plymouth Barracuda owner.

Lietzke was an avid supporter of the Sour Mash Open in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He has played in the event numerous times. "The Bryce-Lietzke-Martin Scholarship Fund was the first fund established by the Sour Mash Open Golf Tournament Committee in 1990 in honor of the late Dr. John Coyle Bryce, PGA Golf Professional, Bruce Lietzke and Larry Martin. The earnings of the fund are used to provide scholarships to worthy Wood County students who have shown an interest in golf."^[2]

Professional wins (22)[link]

PGA Tour wins (13)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jan 16, 1977	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	-13 (70-66-70-69=275)	Playoff	Gene Littler
2	Feb 6, 1977	Hawaiian Open	-15 (67-70-67-69=273)	3 strokes	Don January, Takashi Murakami
3	Jun 25, 1978	Canadian Open	-1 (76-67-67-73=283)	1 stroke	Pat McGowan
4	Feb 18, 1979	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	-17 (63-66-68-68=265)	2 strokes	Buddy Gardner, Jim Thorpe, Tom Watson
5	May 18, 1980	Colonial National Invitation	-9 (63-68-71-69=271)	1 stroke	Ben Crenshaw
6	Jan 18, 1981	Bob Hope Desert Classic	-25 (65-66-65-70-69=335)	2 strokes	Jerry Pate
7	Feb 8, 1981	Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego Open	-10 (68-72-70-68=278)	Playoff	Raymond Floyd, Tom Jenkins
8	May 10, 1981	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	+1 (68-74-69-70=281)	Playoff	Tom Watson
9	Aug 1, 1982	Canadian Open	-7 (68-68-68-73=277)	2 strokes	Hal Sutton
10	Mar 4, 1984	Honda Classic	-8 (72-70-70-68=280)	Playoff	Andy Bean
11	May 15, 1988	GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic	-9 (66-69-66-70=271)	Playoff	Clarence Rose
12	May 24, 1992	Southwestern Bell Colonial	-13 (69-68-64-66=267)	Playoff	Corey Pavin
13	Oct 23, 1994	Las Vegas Invitational	-28 (66-67-68-66-65=332)	1 stroke	Robert Gamez

PGA Tour playoff record (6-6)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1977	Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open	Gene Littler	Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
2	1977	MONY Tournament of Champions	Jack Nicklaus	Lost to birdie on third extra hole
3	1978	Tallahassee Open	Barry Jaeckel	Lost to par on first extra hole
4	1981	Wickes-Andy Williams San Diego Open	Raymond Floyd, Tom Jenkins	Won with birdie on second extra hole Jenkins eliminated with par on first hole
5	1981	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	Tom Watson	Won with par on first extra hole
6	1984	Honda Classic	Andy Bean	Won with par on first extra hole
7	1988	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	Clarence Rose	Won with birdie on first extra hole
8	1992	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	Billy Ray Brown, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd	Brown won with birdie on first extra hole
9	1992	Southwestern Bell Colonial	Corey Pavin	Won with birdie on first extra hole
10	1992	Canadian Open	Greg Norman	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
11	1995	Mercedes Championships	Steve Elkington	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
12	1998	Bob Hope Chrysler Classic	Fred Couples	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (1)[link]

• 1997 Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Scott McCarron)

Champions Tour wins (7)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Aug 12, 2001	3M Championship	-9 (72-66-69=207)	2 strokes	Doug Tewell
2	Sep 23, 2001	SAS Championship	-15 (69-66-66=201)	3 strokes	Allen Doyle, Gary McCord
3	Feb 24, 2002	Audi Senior Classic	-8 (75-66-67=208)	1 stroke	Hale Irwin, Gary McCord
4	May 12, 2002	TD Waterhouse Championship	-11 (69-64=133)	2 strokes	Larry Nelson
5	Sep 22, 2002	SAS Championship	-14 (72-63-67=202)	4 strokes	Gil Morgan, Sammy Rachels, Tom Watson
6	Apr 27, 2003	Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf	-10 (70-65-71=26)	1 stroke	David Eger, Dana Quigley
7	Jun 29, 2003	U.S. Senior Open	-7 (69-71-64-73=277)	2 strokes	Tom Watson

Other senior wins (1)[link]

• 2002 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Raphael Division (with Bill Rogers)

Results in major championships[link]

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

Champions Tour major championships[link]

Wins (1)[link]

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
2003	U.S. Senior Open	−7 (69−71−64−73=277)	2 strokes	Tom Watson

See also[link]

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References[link]

External links[link]

• Bruce Lietzke at the PGA Tour official site

v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1981 Ben Crenshaw · Raymond Floyd · Hale Irwin · Tom Kite · Bruce Lietzke · Johnny Miller · Larry Nelson · Jack Nicklaus · Jerry Pate · Bill Rogers · Lee Trevino · Tom Watson Dave Marr (non-playing captain) Won: 18.5 – 9.5