Monday, August 23, 2010

Manipulating Photos = Innocent fun?

When I show people this altered "sign" I get the laugh I wanted.

Easy to do. No big deal. Right?

The joke is the viewer's acceptance that such a sign "could" be hanging somewhere.

Or that it's just too silly to be real.

But wait - what if it appeared in a newspaper? Or on television...presented as an actual - though unusual - posted sign.

Not so funny if people believe the fake is real.

I used software to quickly change text on this sign but rather simple steps on the computer make it possible to put one person's face on another body. That could be funny. Or misleading. Or even political.

An historic photo of President Lincoln in formal clothes is fake according to a recent article on photo manipulation. It IS his head but it's been superimposed on the body of a nattily-dressed John C. Calhoun.

Another example shows General U.S. Grant in a composite scene that includes his head pasted on another person astride a horse in front of a Civil War camp lifted from a third photo.

Yikes.
Here's another example of a picture that is not really real.

Oh, "ALABASTER." the albino alligator, is real at the South Carolina Aquarium but not this picture because the glass acted as a mirror. The lighted room reflected back and I was not able to get a good shot at this particular angle.

So, I removed reflections. I "cloned" actual parts of the scene to cover shiny areas I wanted to eliminate. No harm, no foul. I had no sinister motive here.

Hey, the camera doesn't lie.


(Click on the gator for more details. Probably see my edits better. And read the article. Fascinating! Thanks.)

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Sunday, April 29, 2007

"See ya later, alligator."

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About 20-25 miles from the French Quarter in downtown New Orleans, a roaring, bone-jarring air boat sped us through marshes and bayous out to where the birds, snakes and alligators live.

Our guide carried a bag of marshmallows and apparently had taught a few of the critters to come over to the boat when we stopped. .

He told stories and Cajun jokes as he splashed his hand in the murky water and tossed out the little white sugar treats.

I mumbled "Crikey!"

We seemed worlds away from a city and area trying to recover from natural and bureaucratic disasters. Here was Mother Nature and a few of her more colorful creatures.

If you've ever complained about the annoying high pitch whine of a Jet Ski, stay away from an Air boat with its rear-mounted airplane engine and wire-enclosed whirling propeller! The provided ear protectors did help me keep my hat on my head.

The 3 hour tour was great but I looked forward to being back in the city, sipping a cold Abita Amber on Bourbon Street.

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