Truth in Photography, explained
R. Ken Cooper • May 3, 2020
Here's how photos can be misleading...
The photo below was taken yesterday, May 2nd @ 12:58pm, at the Cotton Bayou Beach Access in Orange Beach Alabama by Shelley Patterson with C-Shelz Photography.
Anyone looking at this photo would think that this is not the proper social distancing we need to beat the COVID-19 virus, but photos can be deceiving.
(Note: Shelley wanted us to be sure to let everyone know that we asked her to take these ground-level photos at angles to make it look as crowded as possible for the purpose of this article... she did a great job!)
(Note: Shelley wanted us to be sure to let everyone know that we asked her to take these ground-level photos at angles to make it look as crowded as possible for the purpose of this article... she did a great job!)
We've all seen a lot of photos and videos on social media where it looks like people are totally disregarding the proper social distancing rules. Some of these intentionally misleading photos and videos are posted by people in the news media.
Seeing so many of these misleading and deceptive photos and videos is what prompted the idea for this article.
Seeing so many of these misleading and deceptive photos and videos is what prompted the idea for this article.
At 1:16pm, 18 minutes after Shelley's photo, Ben Taylor
captured the drone image below of the exact same beach.
Ben's drone photo shows that the exact same people in the photo above are more than properly social distancing while enjoying the beach, salt air and sunshine. Yes, photos and video can be deceiving.
Which photo do you believe is the most accurate when it comes to showing proper social distancing?
Which photo do you believe is the most accurate when it comes to showing proper social distancing?
Why do misleading photos and videos get posted to social media?
First and foremost, people are shooting photos and videos from ground-level. Most people are not trying to intentionally mislead anyone with the photos and videos they're sharing. It's just the perspective they have on any particular scene. And as you can see from the two photos above, a ground-level perspective can be deceiving.
Another reason some people post photos and videos that are misleading is to intentionally stir people's emotions and upset them enough to click on their links and to get them to share their "news articles". This is referred to as "click-bait".
The more views commercial websites get on their pages the more money they make from their advertisers. Sadly some are willing to mislead people just to make more money.
Another reason some people post photos and videos that are misleading is to intentionally stir people's emotions and upset them enough to click on their links and to get them to share their "news articles". This is referred to as "click-bait".
The more views commercial websites get on their pages the more money they make from their advertisers. Sadly some are willing to mislead people just to make more money.
Below are a few more photos from Saturday at Cotton Bayou Beach.
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