Washington Post raises eyebrows, questions with ‘composite’ photo on front page
Ordinarily I’d not make the poll. But this is the site that exposed fauxtography, selective cropping etc. So we have very sharp eyes and ethics here. So, what say you?
The caption included a note: “This image is a composite created by taking several photos and combining them with computer software to transcend the visual limitations of standard photography.”
That raised more questions for me than it answered, so Kenny Irby, Poynter’s photojournalism faculty, and I called Michel du Cille, director of photography for the Post.
The answer involves not Photoshop but HDR (high dynamic range) photography, which combines images with multiple exposures into a single image.
The Nikon D4, for example, can take two images with different exposures and combine them into a single image. The photographer can then use software to combine up to nine of those images into one. You may have noticed an HDR setting on your new iPhone, too.
