Photo Editors Do’s and Don’ts

Stock/Agency Photos

When choosing stock photos, do so carefully. Avoid insensitive choices like this:

Think about the impact of your choices, particularly in the event of tragedies or deaths. I would argue the below image, which was on the NYTimes home page and shows a man who died in the street, is inappropriate.

Imagine the people in the photo are your family members. There may be some newsworthy aspect that overrules courtesy, but it shouldn’t be gratuitous.

If you use something from Creative Commons or Wikipedia, drill down to the actual source, don’t cite these.

Pay attention to the date. If you are using a photo of a public figure, for example, try not to pick something really dated.

If  you do use a file image, make sure to put the date.

This story,  published during the pandemic, was published during COVID and seems to suggest no one is wearing masks.

Use montages very selectively

NY Daily News
British expat beaten with brick, robbed after concert at New York club: British national Andrew Billington, an accountant at Thomson Reuters and an internationally known marathoner, remains in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital after Saturday’s mugging. Cops are still trying to identify the attacker.

Photo Selection is Editorial

 

Combining two photos is a no-no:

As is adding more smoke:

Lebanese photographer Adnan Hajj altered images more subtly in his coverage of the 2006 Israel–Lebanon conflict.

Who’s a Looter? In Storm’s Aftermath Picture Kicks up Different Tempest – captions can be misleading. Pubs get sued because of a combination of photos and text more often than the get sued for either individually.

 

Doctored Photo Flatters Egyptian President – PR firms, gov’t sanctioned pubs and the public do not operated under the same constraints as journalists. Note the the color of Obama’s tie was changed. Why?

Bronx Documentary Altered Images

A Brief History of Fakery A historical look at the issue

Famous Manipulated Photos

World Press Photo Winner Disqualified for Manipulation – Note that he did not get disqualified for the dramatic crop or grainy B&W, but for using the clone stamp tool to remove the foot from behind the hand.

Remember: Pay attention to original sources. This is not Sesame Street.

Sample Guidelines:

AP on Photoshop

The content of a photograph must not be altered in PhotoShop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph. The faces or identities of individuals must not be obscured by PhotoShop or any other editing tool. Only retouching or the use of the cloning tool to eliminate dust and scratches are acceptable.
Minor adjustments in PhotoShop are acceptable. These include cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, and normal toning and color adjustments that should be limited to those minimally necessary for clear and accurate reproduction (analogous to the burning and dodging often used in darkroom processing of images) and that restore the authentic nature of the photograph. Changes in density, contrast, color and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning.

When an employee has questions about the use of such methods or the AP’s
requirements and limitations on photo editing, he or she should contact a senior photo editor prior to the transmission of any image.

AP on AI

* In accordance with our standards, we do not alter any elements of our photos, video or audio. Therefore, we do not allow the use of generative AI to add or subtract any elements.
* We will refrain from transmitting any AI-generated images that are suspected or proven to be false depictions of reality. However, if an AI-generated illustration or work of art is the subject of a news story, it may be used as long as it clearly labeled as such in the caption.
* Generative AI makes it even easier for people to intentionally spread mis- and disinformation through altered words, photos, video or audio, including content that may have no signs of alteration, appearing realistic and authentic. To avoid using such content inadvertently, journalists should exercise the same caution and skepticism they would normally, including trying to identify the source of the original content, doing a reverse image search to help verify an image’s origin, and checking for reports with similar content from trusted media. If journalists have any doubt at all about the authenticity of the material, they should not use it.

Reuters

Photoshop is a highly sophisticated image manipulation programme. We use only a tiny part of its potential capability to format our pictures, crop and size them and balance the tone and colour.

Materially altering a picture in Photoshop or any other image editing software will lead to dismissal.

Rules
– No additions or deletions to the subject matter of the original image. (thus changing the original content and journalistic integrity of an image)
– No excessive lightening, darkening or blurring of the image. (thus misleading the viewer by disguising certain elements of an image)
– No excessive colour manipulation. (thus dramatically changing the original lighting conditions of an image)

Guidelines
Only minor Photoshop work should be performed in the field. (Especially from laptops). We require only cropping, sizing and levels with resolution set to 300dpi. Where possible, ask your regional or global picture desks to perform any required further Photo-shopping on their calibrated hi-resolution screens. This typically entails lightening/darkening, sharpening, removal of dust and basic colour correction.

When working under prime conditions, some further minor Photo-shopping (performed within the above rules) is acceptable. This includes basic colour correction, subtle lightening/darkening of zones, sharpening, removal of dust and other minor adjustments that fall within the above rules. Reuters recommendations on the technical settings for these adjustments appear below. All photographers should understand the limitations of their laptop screens and their working environments.