how much PP can be done to images for the news

[syphlix]

Hi,

Does anyone know how much PP can be done to a photo that will be used in a news context?

Like can you do stuff like noise removal, sharpening, contrast, etc etc?

Where is the line when it comes to stuff like that?

[neilwood32]

Generally, they can change the exposure (levels, curves) and sharpen but its pretty much limited to that.

There have been numerous photographers fired for altering images (cloning out distractions etc).

Authenticty of the image is very important with news/editorial.

[philwillmedia]

Generally, they can change the exposure (levels, curves) and sharpen but its pretty much limited to that.
Add to that cloning out dust, adjusting colour saturation and cropping.
Essentially anything that doesn't alter the integrity of the image.

There have been numerous photographers fired for altering images (cloning out distractions etc).

Authenticty of the image is very important with news/editorial.

Places like Getty and other press agencies are really hot on this.

Here's an epic failure from a couple of years ago...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13165165/

[syphlix]

ah thanks -

yea i assumed that any cloning work is out of the question... but i'm glad you can crop/NR/contrast etc

[syphlix]

LOL

i just read that link you supplied

"Lyon said the distortions were unintentional and resulted from careless use by the photographer of a software feature in Photoshop called a “cloning tool.” The photographer had used the feature in an attempt to clear up a glitch in the picture caused by a dirty sensor, the part of a digital camera that records the image. AP’s ethical guidelines permit use of “cloning” in limited circumstances to clean up dirt or scratches from an image."

so... he was trying to clone out a dust spot and ended up cloning in a whole other smoke plume... on accident :p

[RDKirk]

A recent photographer's work was rejected from a major PJ competition because he had cloned out the foot of a person in the distant background of the image.

[themadman]

Well for news papers I don't know why they would do any post processing, the printers they use aren't exactly high resolution or color correct =P

[Persephone]

Well for news papers I don't know why they would do any post processing, the printers they use aren't exactly high resolution or color correct =P

Heh, reminds me of the time when a few photographers were trying to fix up an image...image lit too strongly with on-board flash. The editor in chief thought that "dodging" was a dirty word and said we couldn't do it until we explained that dodging was merely changing the light of an image, and no different from holding a piece of cardboard over the light source when making an image in a darkroom.

[yogestee]

Hi,

Does anyone know how much PP can be done to a photo that will be used in a news context?

Like can you do stuff like noise removal, sharpening, contrast, etc etc?

Where is the line when it comes to stuff like that?

I worked for a newspaper for 17 years up until July 07.. We had an imaging department who would post process our images to make them suitable for newspaper reproduction.. What they mainly did was alter tonality and colour.. We as photographers were allowed to crop, darken/lighten, sharpen etc but never alter the actually content of the image..

Some years ago a colleague shot a young guy who won an award.. This 17yo had really bad acne.. My colleague did a bit of work on his skin to remove "most" of the acne scars.. Our pictorial editor rejected the image and told the photographer to put the acne back!!

[syphlix]

ah thanks for everyone's replies...

i'm glad stuff like exposure/tone/noise/etc can get worked on...

and i would really agree that anything that isn't a global type adjustment should never be done in a news setting... i mean comeon shouldn't a news shooter know better than to pull out that clone tool?

[yogestee]

ah thanks for everyone's replies...

i'm glad stuff like exposure/tone/noise/etc can get worked on...

and i would really agree that anything that isn't a global type adjustment should never be done in a news setting... i mean comeon shouldn't a news shooter know better than to pull out that clone tool?

A clone tool is fine as long as it doesn't alter the actual content of the image..

[tzalman]

A recent photographer's work was rejected from a major PJ competition because he had cloned out the foot of a person in the distant background of the image.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/behind-35/

[hooookup]

all we're allowed to do is toning and some sharpening.. never really have time for that stuff though. shoot and transmit.

[Picture North Carolina]

You even need to be careful about "accepted" tweaks like bright, contrast, saturation. Three years ago an image slated for the cover of a mag was yanked because I was accused of adding a little green saturation to a very small patch of grass on the ground. I had not, but it was too late - it had already gone to press.