I voted…you all should too–whoever you wish to vote for.

It seems some people see Conspiracy Theories where there really aren’t any. To address some users’ question Scott Kelby took the “easy way” out and did a video with Matt Kloskowski and talked about the timing of Lightroom 2, Photoshop CS4 with Camera Raw 5. I say “easy way” because it was easier for Scott and Matt to sit around talking than having to actually write (his words, not mine).

So check this post out (and watch the video if the mood strikes you–post comments on SCOTT’s blog, not here). Lightroom 2 vs. CS4 & Lightroom Conspiracy Theories

Boing Boing’s contest entry. (boingboing.net, submitted by THEBLUEONE)

Source: The New York Times blogs
Written by Errol Morris

As almost everyone knows by now, various major daily newspaper published, on July 10, a photograph of four Iranian missiles streaking heavenward; then Little Green Footballs (significantly, a blog and not a daily newspaper) provided evidence that the photograph had been faked. Later, many of those same papers published a Whitman’s sampler of retractions and apologies. For me it raised a series of questions about images.[1] Do they provide illustration of a text or an idea of evidence of some underlying reality or both? And if they are evidence, don’t we have to know that the evidence is reliable, that it can be trusted?

Source: The New York Times

Written by Mike Nizza and Patrick Witty

The image that Agence France-Presse obtained from Sepah News on Wednesday.

As news spread across the world of Iran’s provocative missile tests, so did an image of four missiles heading skyward in unison. Unfortunately, it appeared to contain one too many missiles, a point that had not emerged before the photo appeared on the front pages of The Los Angeles Times, The Financial Times, The Chicago Tribune and several other newspapers as well as on BBC News, MSNBC, Yahoo! News, NYTimes.com and many other major news Web sites.

Another image that The Associated Press received from the same source on Thursday.

Agence France-Presse said that it obtained the image from the Web site of Sepah News, the media arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, on Wednesday. But there was no sign of it there later in the day. Today, The Associated Press distributed what appeared to be a nearly identical photo from the same source, but without the fourth missile.

Read entire story

Editor’s Note: Even from the small images above, it’s obvious to anybody who knows anything about digital imaging, that the image has been altered. Aside from the cloned clouds of dust, the sky surrounding the 4th missile obviously doesn’t blend naturally. Clearly Sepah News service doesn’t employ the best Photoshop artists…file this one under OOOPS!  

Source: Bermama.com
BEIJING, Feb 18 (Bernama) — An award-winning photographer in Tibetan antelope protection has apologised to the public for a picture he faked showing more than 20 of the animals roaming peacefully under a railway bridge where a train was passing, Xinhua news agency reported Monday.

The Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidlines (UPDIG) working group has announced the release of version 2.0 of their guidelines for the delivery of digital photographs.

Source: blogs.Reuters.com
Written by Gary Hershorn, News Pictures Editor for North America

News photographers routinely process images using Adobe Photoshop software. But there has been a basic premise in the world of photojournalism that what was allowed in making prints in the pre-digital days of darkrooms is all that is acceptable today.

Source: Reuters via Yahoo News
LONDON (Reuters) - Reuters withdrew all 920 photographs by a freelance Lebanese photographer from its database on Monday after an urgent review of his work showed he had altered two images from the conflict between Israel and the armed group Hizbollah.

Altered image on left, original on right

Jill Greenberg’s photo technique has Internet bloggers up in arms.

Source: Los Angeles Times Calendar Live
By Steven Barrie-Anthony, Times Staff Writer

Steal a toddler’s lollipop and he’s bound to start bawling, was photographer Jill Greenberg’s thinking. So that’s just what Greenberg did to illicit tears from the 27 or so 2- and 3-year-olds featured in her latest exhibition, “End Times“, recently at the Paul Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles. The children’s cherubic faces, illuminated against a blue-white studio backdrop, suggest abject betrayal far beyond the loss of a Tootsie Pop; sometimes tears spill onto naked shoulders and bellies.

Source: National Press Photographers Association (NPPA)
Written By William Campbell

LIVINGSTON, MT (April 20, 2006) – The National Park Service, a branch of the U.S. Department of the Interior, has published new rules authorizing the NPS to begin collecting location fees for video, film, and commercial still photography projects. The new regulations appeared in the Federal Register (Vol. 71, Number 71) published April 13, 2006, and will take effect on May 15, 2006.

OpenRAW Releases Initial Results of 2006 RAW Survey - Over 19,000 Photographers and Imaging Professionals Provide Data on their Experiences, Preferences, and Concerns regarding RAW Imaging Technology

Will the digital camera you buy tomorrow fairly serve the future of photography? Are today’s camera manufacturers making decisions that may adversely affect the preservation of photographic works for future generations? More than 19,000 digital photographers and preservationists from around the world have now weighed in with opinions on RAW imaging technology, a concept that many compare to a “digital negative.”

From ASMP

The problem
The U.S. Copyright Office issued its report on Orphan Works only a couple of weeks ago. The end of that report contained proposed language for an amendment to the Copyright Act. That proposal is now being fast-tracked in Washington with a good chance of passage before the end of this Session. In my opinion, if that language is enacted in its current form, it will be the worst thing that has happened to independent photographers and other independent visual artists since Work Made for Hire contracts.

Press Release from PPA

The Copyright Office has suggested legislation that, in its current form, could have a devastating impact on the professional photographers. The proposal would limit, or in some cases eliminate, the damages available against an infringer of an orphan work. An orphan work is a work presumed to have copyright protection, but whose owner cannot be located even after a reasonably diligent search conducted in good faith.

Source: RobGalbraith.com
Written by Eamon Hickey

A number of trade groups that represent photographers have recently raised the alarm about proposed changes to U.S. copyright law that address so-called orphan works – works whose copyright holders cannot be located.

Soucre: The New York Times
Written by Nicholas Wade

Among the many temptations of the digital age, photo-manipulation has proved particularly troublesome for science, and scientific journals are beginning to respond.

Major InfoTrends Study Indicates Digital Cameras Will Dominate Professional Photography Market by 2010 90% of professional pictures will be taken with digital cameras by 2010

Press Release: (Weymouth, MA) capv_convert_date(’20060117′) January, 17 2006… InfoTrends, the leading worldwide digital imaging and document solutions research and consulting firm, is pleased to announce the release of its highly anticipated multi-client study, North American Professional Photography Market (http://www.capv.com/home/Multiclient/ProPhotography.html) .

Konica Minolta Holdings will withdraw from the camera and film businesses, marking the end to one of the best known brands in the photography world.

Source: CNET via Reuters

As part of the surprise move, the Tokyo-based company said Thursday it will sell a portion of its digital single lens reflex (SLR) camera assets to Sony for an undisclosed sum and cease production of compact cameras by March of this year.

Source: Phoenix New Times
Written By Leanne Potts

“Keeping Shadows: Photography From the Worcester Museum of Art” Photos lie. You knew that.

What you probably didn’t know is that photos were lying more than a century before Photoshop became a verb. Photographers were mucking with their images way back in the 19th century when the medium was still young, painting or scratching out pesky objects and faces they didn’t want in their image.

Navigating the Slippery Slope of Digital Manipulation With Eyes Wide Shut

Source: The Digital Journalist
Written By Robert Trippett

The moment a photojournalist releases the shutter a sacred threshold is crossed. The instant after the shutter blinks open and closes, whether it is for a thousandth-of-a-second to freeze the impact of a baseball bat on a ball, or several hours to soak up the faint glow of a passing comet, the door also shuts for a photojournalist to manipulate that captured representation of reality. Any technical choices made before that moment - whether a choice of cameras, light, lenses, filters, exposure settings, or simply where to stand - are generally accepted as tools for achieving the photographer’s vision. Any digital post-processing beyond the accepted darkroom techniques of yore, such as burning or dodging, are usually considered a prohibited manipulation of that sacrosanct moment of exposure.

By Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource

Since last week when we published our coverage of the CCD sensor failures disclosed by several digital camera manufacturers, the story has continued to develop.

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) is deeply concerned at the developing crisis that is threatening continued access to the world’s photographic heritage.

From dpreview.com comes a story about a new BBC TV series called A Digital Picture of Britain presented by pro photographer Tom Ang. (See original story) On the surface it may seem like a reasonable premise but the show and its web site is also running a photo competition that has raised the ire of British professional photographic community.

Source: OS News
Written By David Adams

While note directly related to Photoshop, the concept of Vendor Lock-in may ring a bell when trying to understand why the camera manufacturers seem to be so reluctant to let go of proprietary and undocumented file formats. Interesting reading on that basis.

Source: Directors Guild of America (DGA)

The following is a joint statement from the preeminent entertainment unions – American Federation of Musicians, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, and Writers Guild of America, west – on today’s Supreme Court ruling.

Source: ZD Net
Written By Michael Kanellos

If there’s one group that seems excited about the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in the Grokster file-sharing case, it’s the people in the studio.