Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/23

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Subject: [Leica] On the Up and UP
From: lists at mcclary.net (Harrison McClary)
Date: Mon Apr 23 13:35:55 2007
References: <8C9525D133FDA55-B80-1CD9@webmail-md20.sysops.aol.com>

Bob,

I am not familiar with there ever being any prohibitions against 
cropping an image.  Why would this be an issue?  I crop images I 
transmit for the few news services who I still shoot for, when I worked 
for a NYT paper in Atlanta we almost always cropped the images when we 
printed them, admittedly this was over 10 years ago, but cropping is one 
thing, manipulating the image for content through cloning or adding 
information from a different photo is entirely different.

Here is a link to the NPPA code of ethics:

http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html

NPPA is National Press Photographers Association, a group most news 
shooters are a member of.  I have been a member off and on since 1987 or so.

afterswift@aol.com wrote:
> I believe the NYT has a standard for journalistic veracity that prohibits 
> any manipulation of an image, digital or otherwise. I suppose the 
> photographer can compose and crop in the viewfinder, but not in post 
> processing. There is a good reason for that, it seems to me. The editor 
> can justifiably assume that the viewfinder image was dictated by the 
> immediate conditions in the scene. Therefore, the photographer can not be 
> held responsible for the missing information. But the editor will not 
> tolerate the cold-blooded addition or removal of information.
> That would misinform the reader who expects the original image. I figure 
> that the reader's expectation of the real goods is the gold standard. 
>  
> If the photographer missed vital information in the composition, it is up 
> to the editor to discover it, probably by questioning the reporter who 
> worked with the photographer; or the editor can request to see additional 
> shots of the same scene made at the same time if available. Ultimately, 
> it's the photographer's reputation that the editor can depend on. 
>  
> Chances are that if a photographer presents the original negatives with 
> the prints his work would carry more weight as to authenticity. I assume 
> there will always be a few traditionalists who will shoot film on 
> assignment -- or at least use one film camera among the digitals.
>  
> If anybody wants to shed their M3, M6, M7 for a few symbolic bucks, I'll 
> take them off your hands. Hey, I'm using a 9 year old Dell PC Pentium II 
> with Windows 2000 Pro. I'm not proud. 
>   


-- 
Harrison McClary
Harrison McClary Photography
harrison@mcclary.net
http://www.mcclary.net
ImageStockSouth - Stock Photography
http://www.imagestocksouth.com
Tobacco Road: Personal Blog:
http://www.mcclary.net/blog


In reply to: Message from afterswift at aol.com (afterswift@aol.com) ([Leica] On the Up and UP)