Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut? [photo inside]

Little Green Footballs ^ | 8-5-2006

[Hadean]

OK, now things are getting weird.

This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop “clone” tool to add more smoke to the image. (Hat tip: Mike.)

It’s so incredibly obvious, it reminds me of the faked CBS memos. Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. There’s really no question about it.

Smoke billows from burning buildings destroyed during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beirut’s suburbs August 5, 2006. Many buildings were flattened during the attack. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj

[LegendHasIt]

There are even cloned buildings in the smoke. Really lousy job.

[sionnsar]

I know roto-rooter news is a tad baised

I think you're being unfair to Roto-Rooter here.

But Reuters let go of honesty a long time ago.

[wolficatZ]

Adnan Hajj took the "Green Helmet Man " photos also.

[nmh]

Just TRYING to be nice to roto rooter ;)

I don't want to get banned ;)

[mwyounce]

Here's the Yahoo News page with the Reuters photo on it, including credit:

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060805/ids_photos_ts/r3101797657.jpg

[martin_fierro]

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

But there's a reason so many Photoshoppers are jumping up and down here: this is a rookie mistake. It's easy to do, hard to overcome, and everybody who works with Photoshop has struggled with it. When you do this for a living, it SCREAMS out at you.

just because Reuters posts the pic with a story doesnt mean they actually took it. They could have bought it from a freelance journalist/photog who was trying to make a good pic in order to have future pics bought

[ChadGore]

The same image at 4 times scale.

[humblegunner]

[Ready4Freddy]

You again!?

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

;>)

[Dallas59]

Smoke billows from burning buildings destroyed during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beirut's suburbs August 5, 2006. Many buildings were flattened during the attack.

REUTERS/Adnan Hajj

[RandallFlagg]

Heh-heh! I saved it as a screenshot.

I've got it saved full size, but I didn't want to mash the thread with a hugh pic.

[Dallas59]

I BELIEVE!!! LOOTER GUY!!!!

[prion]

just because Reuters posts the pic with a story doesnt mean they actually took it. They could have bought it from a freelance journalist/photog who was trying to make a good pic in order to have future pics bought

Oh, I think that's extremely likely to be correct. But you get in trouble for running a Jayson Blair story, even if you thought it was real. Right?

[mwyounce]

Wow, that architect must get a lot of business in Beirut!

[jimtorr]

It looks to me as if much or all of the smoke may have been photoshopped in. Some of the buildings in the left background look odd, as well.

First, the plume of smoke on the left. The smoke is not consistent in the lower portions. Where the buildings show through the plume, there are just no pixels of smoke there at all, but the smoke is thick right beside the buildings. The clone stamp tool is so obvious in the upper portions.

Next, the smoke plume on the right. The lower portions are properly fuzzy, but in the upper portions, there are large square areas in the middle of the plume. That is an indication that at least that portion of the plume was added to the photo.

There are odd square pixel formations in the middle plume as well, primarily in the base.

[sionnsar]

LOL -- I'd wondered what had happened to Tourist Guy!

[cripplecreek]

LOL didn't take looterguy long to show up.

[GATOR NAVY]

placemark bump