Tampa Photography Blog

If I had a dollar for every time I encountered an article about a “Photoshop-altered image”, well, I’d have some extra spending cash which I would probably use to by the newest version of Photoshop.

BP has yet again become a big blog topic due to three photos that were released of their cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. The photos were clearly altered and whoever did it, used a cut and paste technique that did not make the new versions realistic.

I’ve ranted on my blog many a time about altering digital photos and what it can do to my profession and the credibility of all photographers. It cannot become the norm for anyone—photographers, editors, designers or even CEOs.

The reason this particular incident upsets me is because BP is in enough trouble already—they have tarnished their image this year, possibly forever. How would this kind of stunt help? Someone always finds out…thank God for the photo geeks who find these problems. Plus, BP’s reaction to it is that they are now blaming the contract photographer for altering the image and claiming no responsibility of their own.

The photographer may have done this on their own (and for that they should be punished) but BP is forgetting the one lesson they should have learned in the last three months: one mistake can take an entire company down.

View the before and after images here.

*Photo courtesy of BP via Flickr.*