Photo Editing The News
With the advent of digital photography, news has become closer and more immediate. A combat photographer embedded with troops in Iraq can shoot a hundred pictures while out with the soldiers, and have them on his editor's server minutes after he gets back, thanks to the magic of the Internet.
However, with digital photography comes digital photo editing, and the possibility of a photo that doesn't reflect the truth.
One technique for faking news photos is cloning. This could be used in humourous ways, like putting Oprah Winfrey's head on Ann Margaret's body, as done by TV Guide in 1989. Several magazines have used this trick to make a point, and they generally document it in the credits (as in, image by one person, and head shot by another).
Cloning is also used to create photo montages--which can give the impression of things that didn't really happen. New York Newsday merged images of Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan into one shot that appeared to show them skating together. Again, the magazine admitted to it, by calling it a "composite image."
Montages can be deceptive, though. Los Angeles Times veteran photographer Brian Walski used montage techniques to combine two different photos, making it look like a soldier in Iraq was threatening civilians. Walski was fired for "improving" on his picture.
Even a simple adjustment in brightness can change the meaning of a photo. Both Time and Newsweek put OJ Simpson's mug shot on their covers, but Time darkened the picture. This made Simpson appear much more threatening on the cover of Time than Newsweek, since Newsweek didn't adjust the image. Similarly, USA Today published a poorly edited picture of Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. The eyes of the picture had been sharpened or brightened far past the proper level, and the result gave her a feindish glare.
Photo Editing
Workflow: The Digital Darkroom
What Photo Editing Software Should I Use?
Photo Editing
... out and forgotten. Even magazines and newspapers today are not immune. One magazine over-darkened OJ Simpson's mug shot for it's cover, making him appear much darker and more menacing than he was in real life. And a number of photojournalists were caught using Photoshop tools on their photos to either ...
... celebrity's head onto another person's body is a lie. At what point does the photographer cross the line from "improving" a picture to "improving upon" it? When he adds or subtracts elements that change the message or meaning of the picture. Adding or removing information, even by simply cropping out ...
... Let's say you're on vacation. You've just taken a fantastic picture with your brand-new SupraUltraMax 18 megapixel camera, and you want to ship it home to all your friends and family. You find an internet cafe in the middle of a foreign country, pull the chip from your camera, and get ready to email it ...
... Raw digital photos often look just a little bit out of focus. Sharpening the picture is meant to correct for the guesswork that the camera had to do. The photo-editing program analyzes the borders between colors, and makes them stand out again. Nearly every picture that comes out of a digital camera would ...
... is humor, and not outright fraud. In general, the goal of photochopping is to produce a visual joke of some sort. This could involve changing a product cover (like changing the Coca Cola label from "Coke" to "Croak" or inventing Jalapeno flavored baby food jars), adding elements to a picture (like people ...