Real or Fake?

[OneFinger]

There have been some wonderful pictures posted on this site. In some instances comments have been made about them being "enhanced" or altered. (Examples on this site include the current thread "So, you think YOU'RE having a bad day..." and the Polish cycle team.)

 

I'm fairly computer literate but, at times, can't really determine whether a picture is real or fake. Any tell-tale signs or things to look for? Is there a site (like for urban legends) where they document fakes?

 

A friend forwarded a link entitled "Off With His Head". It's a series of pictures of a guy (who supposedly is stoned) doing a self-amputation of a body part. The pictures look so realistic that I honestly believe they were NOT faked. On the other hand, it seems unbelievable that someone would be so stupid to do something like that and also have it filmed.

 

Any opinions or hints for spotting fakes?

[AaronScottDC]

Hey OneFinger, its actually pretty hard to tell if a pic is altered well. Heck, just look at how good movies look these days.... any action flick has tons of fake shots in it, and most of it looks completely real. Its amazing what a little computer graphics and some wonderful make-up jobs can do.

 

As far as the thread about a bad day showing pics of the trucks falling in the water, there are some major problems with the last pic that show that its a fake. If you look closely at pic #5 in the series, noting the postition of the people, where they are standing, etc. and then compare it to the last pic, you can totally tell that someone took that pic and photoshoped the green truck on its side falling into the water.

 

But, if they were more careful, it wouldn't be so easy to tell that it is a fake. That's why you shouldn't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see....

 

Aaron Scott DC

http://www.erados.com/AaronScottDC

http://www.male4malescorts.com/reviews/aaronscottdc.html

[JamesK840]

I'm not a Photoshop expert by any means, but think I can do a fair job of spotting fakes. I'm not sure if it's specific things I look for, but some things you could look for: shadows (are they all consistent), where the light is coming from, disturbances in any noise pattern or compression (the last picture in that thread looks more compressed then those before it, because .jpg is a lossy compression and it was *re*-compressed when it was altered), differences in focus with other things supposed to be the same distance away, repetition of patterns (if something's removed or *ahem* extended), irregularities at the 'edge' of the suspected fake item.

[Swiss Lumber]

Well..the $300/hour boy I hired days ago was using fake picture- to my surprise. He looks great but I always look for the truth in advertising.

 

:-) :P

[OneFinger]

James and Aaron, thanks for the tips.

 

Now if I could just figure out how to do a great job of enhancing... There are some pictures I'd really like to alter to match my wildest fantasties. :+