Things I'm glad I know about ... Photoshop capabilities

Image from Elizabeth Bird at SLJ Blog

Comments

[Michael Doyle]

Not sure I should mention this, but I doubt my now adult daughter spends much time here, so here it goes:

We love in Essex County, NJ--we have a small county zoo, the kind small enough to entertain 4 year olds without losing a year or two off your life worrying about abductions, entrance fees, or getting lost.

Now I'm a Dad, a good one, I think, but still a Dad. My daughter was chatting away with the tapir, and my eyes were wandering around, perhaps eyeballing bipedal mammals, who knows, when my parent alert went off.

My daughter's arm was inside the tapir, up to her elbow--to this day I still think I must have imagined this. She never panicked, and I never got an explanation as to why or how my child managed to get her arm down the esophagus of a tapir.

[Fuse #8]

Actually, I have a theory as to how this could be a real image and not Photoshopped. Bear with me here. What if the possum shown here is the little girl's pet and the picture is of him just yawning? Looks dangerous, but she's not the least bit afraid. Note how her hand that is not near the very sharp teeth is resting on his back. It could work, right?

[lpbryan]

That's possible. I grew up in rural Louisiana, and some of my friends had opossums as pets, as well as baby alligators, racoons, flying squirrels, turtles, the list goes on and on....

This image would be a great one to start a discussion in a classroom or library setting about credibility of sources, image editing, etc. I cannot tell you how many of my adult friends and family members have circulated photoshopped images via email that are obviously fakes. This shows a lack of sophistication on their part (see my origins above), and it is also a comment on the lack of digital information literacy that exists in this country.

I will be adding this one to my ever growing list of lessons.

Thanks Doug!

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Michael,

I have a lovely photo of me holding my 6-month-old son in one arm and a 6 foot boa constrictor in the other with Mom looking on in absolute horror.

Maybe there the should be a gallery of "dubious parenting moments" created somewhere. (Crocodile Hunter and Michael Jackson, included!)

Thanks for the great story!

Doug

Hi Fuse,

I suppose it's possible, but the extension of the jaws just look way too big to me. And if you accept that the photo is not doctored, then you have to determine that that child is about to lose a hand.

I think I'll stick with my version, thanks!

Doug