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The bloggers were right, the photo was doctored. Malkin has all the details here and asks more questions.
[NOTE: Little Green Footballs is advising that their site is running slow due to the incredible amount of traffic after the yNetnews story [see first UPDATE] has brought worldwide attention. They are doing their best to provide more bandwidth.
So many people are trying to get in to Little Green Footballs this morning that our doors are starting to get jammed with HTTP requests. In English, this means it’s going to be a little slow around here for a bit. One web server can only do so much, even on a dedicated box.
The details of why everyone is interested follows. If ever you needed an example of what a blogswarm looks like, this is it.]
Reutered:
Corrected version:
See additional updates and comments at the end of this post.
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When I saw this first set of a Beruit photo broken down, I wasn't sure I was seeing what the blog authors posting the photo were seeing or expected me to see, even after seeing what Ace claimed might be the original photo. I have since changed my mind. Several bloggers, including Left and Right and Photoshop expert Allah Pundit, have had a chance to work with the photo and now that I see them all together and the enlargements, I'm much more convinced. Michelle Malkin has full coverage and is waiting for an answer to her inquiry to Reuters and Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut? (LGF) has the best shots to see what is going on. Malkin also includes a link to SportsShooters.com, a photography site and they, seem (in comments) to agree also that there is something odd going on with this photo.
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.
But it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were “enhanced.” There are also cloned buildings. (See below.)
Flopping Aces is also covering this and has questions of his own about another photo by the same photographer.
And more from Gateway Pundit with another one:
More Staged Photos by Reuters and Adnan Hajj
Charles Johnson, HotAir, Michelle Malikin, Ace, Dan Riehl, Frank J. and others noticed the photo-doctoring by Reuter's photographer, Adnan Hajj, from Lebanon from July 26, 2006.
Here are a couple of other staged propaganda photos offered by Adnan Hajj from July 24, 2006.
Notice in this photo the clear skies...
(It is interesting how the sun is directly on his face but the shadow of the building falls toward him.)
Related:
Small Dead Animals names the scandal. That's it. She got it. So stop trying to come up with anything better.
Beth at MVRWC gives some information and background on the photographer, Adnan Hajj, who keeps popping up as the photographer in the photos where there is a question of authenticity. She also asks:
UPDATE: Is Adnan Hajj the same Adnan Hajj as this? “WSG” is the Wire Services Guild, which is now the News Media Guild. I have no idea what any of that means with regard to Adnan Hajj, though. Does that mean he used to be a freelance photojournalist? Maybe it means nothing. I don’t know.
Rusty Shackelford has another photo from Adnan Hajj that he thinks looks sketchy, and so does Michelle Malkin.
You know it’s bad when even Metafilter is ripping on it.
UPDATE:
The story has been picked up by yNetnews.com:
US Blogs: Reuters doctored Beirut photo
Beirut Photo: Reuters
US blogs, photographers: Reuters photo of smoke rising from Beirut 'shows blatant evidence of manipulation'Yaakov Lappin
A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has come under attack by American web logs following suspicions that the photograph was distorted to show more smoke and damage. The photograph shows two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital.
Charles Johnson, of the Little Green Footballs blog , which has exposed a previous attempt at fraud by a major American news corporation, wrote : "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."
Johnson added: "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."
A series of close ups are then posted on the blog, showing that "it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were 'enhanced.' There are also cloned buildings." The close ups do appear to show exact replicas of buildings appearing next to one another in the photograph.The Sports Shooter web forum , used by professional photographers, also examined the photo, with many users concluding that the image has been doctored.
'Looks so obviously doctored'
"I'll second the cloned smoke...but it looks so obvious that I don't know how the photographer could have gotten away with it," wrote one user.
After further research, Johnson posted a photograph he says is the original image taken before distortions were made, showing much lighter smoke rising.
Other blogs have also analyzed the photographs, and reached similar conclusions, such as Left & Right , which states: "The photo has been doctored, quite badly."The author of the Ace of Spades blog wrote: "Even I can see the very suspicious "clonings" of picture elements here. And I'm an idiot."
The Hot Air blog also looked at the photo, describing the image as "the worst Photoshop I have ever seen.
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They are also carrying this link:
Staged Photos?
Blogs: Hizbullah 'milked' Qana attack / Yaakov Lappin Full Story
and this one, which is really disturbing:
Threat From Reuters
Reuters employee issues 'Zionist pig' death threat / Yaakov Lappin Full Story
UPDATE II:
According to the Reuters response, the photo was doctored and has been replaced. As a blogger who depends frequently on pictures to tell my story, I find this whole mess very disturbing. Adnan Hajj, the photographer, has been responsible for many of the more provocative pictures that have come out of Lebanon and it puts in question the entire story. A picture really is worth a thousand words, but it shouldn't generate a thousand words regarding the accuracy of the picture.
It is time to go back and insist that the Qana pictures be given a hard second look. With this latest doctored photo being admitted to, it certainly puts the lie to the high and mighty statement from AP regarding the Qana photo:
The AP said information from its photo editors showed the events were not staged, and that the time stamps could be misleading for several reasons, including that web sites can use such stamps to show when pictures are posted, not taken. An AFP executive said he was stunned to be questioned about it. Reuters, in a statement, said it categorically rejects any such suggestion.
"It's hard to imagine how someone sitting in an air-conditioned office or broadcast studio many thousands of miles from the scene can decide what occurred on the ground with any degree of accuracy," said Kathleen Carroll, AP's senior vice president and executive editor.
Carroll said in addition to personally speaking with photo editors, "I also know from 30 years of experience in this business that you can't get competitive journalists to participate in the kind of (staging) experience that is being described."
Dan Riehl helps us all understand the photos and I for one am glad to see this explanation. I'm not very good picking out anything that requires spacial ability. Thanks Dan. (Go read it the whole explanation.)
Assuming that an operation like Reuters might start talking about lighting, photo angles, negatives and such, I wanted to document the photoshopping in a point by point fashion. I hope the Images below (1, 2 and Inset) accomplish that. They are enlargements taken from images everyone now has, you can find them here at lgf.
For more on this story, check out some of these other links to bloggers who are on the story. And as usual, I encourage you to check out the comments sections where some of the juiciest info always resides.
- Ed Driscoll.com
- Old War Dogs
- A Blog For All
- Sanctuary Blog
- The Broken Chair
- Say Anything
- The Jawa Report
- IMAO
- Conservative Blog Therapy
- Blog-o-Fascists
- Hot Air
- daniel360.com Al-Reuters has been caught doctoring pictures out of Lebanon
- RightWinged.com
- Plus + Ultra Is Reuters Busted For Faking Bomb Photo?
- Strangely Silent: De Doc`s Ventures A Moment Of Clarity
- Pajamas Media
- Wizbang
- Chris At Home
- Outside The Beltway | OTB
- Java Zen:Thinking Out Loud
- HiWired Blog
- Amateur Megalomania
- HiWired Blog
- The Moderate Voice
- Cold Fury
- Stop The ACLU
- Liberty and Justice
- protein wisdom
- The Jawa Report
- Plains Feeder
- The Coalition of the Swilling
- A Blog For All
- Tel-Chai Nation
- JawsBlog Photoshopping the ME
- Curiouser and Curiouser
- Sweetness and Light
- Powerline
- Anti-Idolitarian Rottweiler
- Atlas Shrugs
- Betsy's Page
- Captain's Quarters and followup Here
- Media Blog asks "Why did he even bother?"
- Moonbattery
- Thinking Right
- Gates of Vienna
- Blue Crab Boulevard
- Newsbusters
- Macsmind
- Jihad Watch
- The Moderate Voice
And now Dan Riehl has even more questions for Reuters:
Update - I'll be doing a call in radio interview with WTVN in Ohio on this shortly. You can catch the streaming here. Link fixed.
The Reuters story is literally exploding on too many blogs to link, see Memerorandum. I have a new issue regarding Adnan Hajj and Reuters, though we may not be able to get a straight answer. Take a look at the two images below.
And for those of you who might not have seen this last week, let's not forget the infamous Pallywood ... a real in your face on how the terrorists manipulate and make the news and worse, how our own MSM buys into the fakery.
Mark Levin sums it all up and asks how many more that we haven't yet uncovcered?:
Dan Rather/CBS's use of phony documents to lie about the president's National Guard service; false reporting throughout the Katrina disaster in hopes of embarrassing the president; the New York Times/Washington Post publishing of national security secrets for, in part, the purpose of preventing the interrogation and monitoring of the enemy; Reuters's doctoring of war photos to undermine our ally, Israel, as it seeks to defend itself against the enemy, etc.
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