Doctoring photos

During class today, the guy sitting next to me was changing his grey skies to blue. The software seemed to be quite sophisticated: you just click on the grey clouds in the background, then click on the colour of sky you like, and it will replace the area using hues & light gradations of the original. With one click he inserted at red sunset, with another it because a noon-time deep blue. I didn’t get a good look, but at a glance it looked genuine. In a snap, the grey skies above Dublin became blue and perfect.

Another example is more serious. In class, an instructor used an example of doctored evidence. Soldiers used a package from the Red Cross to get into a hospital to apprehend a suspect. It is against international law to use symbols such as that of the Red Cross for military purposes. The photo (evidence) of the soldiers had been doctored to reduce the size of the symbol on the package and argued that it was too small to be of significance. Hmmmm. Thankfully, the prosecution could identify the alteration and it wasn't a major incident.

BTW, in case you’re wondering, the photo on the right (of our cat Pickles) is not doctored. It is a shot of him in the mirror looking into the camera. A friend asked me if it was 2 cats – no, it’s just Pickles (our little trouble-maker).