To all our members who were impacted by Hurricane Sandy – please get in touch with me, and share your story. We’d like to let others in the industry know what happened, how you’re recovering, and what needs you still have. And, of course, we want to share your pictures.

Speaking of Hurricane Sandy pictures, here’s an interesting article submitted by stock photo company Dreamstime, about those fake photos that started circulating before Sandy was even done creating so much very real devastation.

Many people will agree that when it comes to visual impact, fake photos sometimes tend to be more shocking than genuine ones. As technology and high-end production tools become more and more readily available, our ability to recognize the real deal and fake “phony” images is becoming increasingly difficult.

For example, when fierce Hurricane Sandy battered New York and New Jersey last month, people were hungry for information around the clock. And while social media websites can facilitate effective distribution of information, images and news, they also can prompt inaccurate information to spread at lightning speed, before readers and viewers even realize they are being tricked.

In fact, several of the fake photos that surfaced during and after Hurricane Sandy included images that had actually been taken from previous storms. Unfortunately, dramatic weather events, like Sandy, also lend themselves well to rampant Photoshopping and manipulation.

As with many major weather events, there was a huge opportunity during and after the hurricane for stunning photos. However, not everything was as it seemed. Countless images of Hurricane Sandy’s flooding and despair quickly popped up all over social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. While many of these storm images were indeed real, some of them — especially the really eye-popping ones — were phony. Numerous astonishing storm images were manipulated to encourage jaw-dropping and extra shock value in viewers.

It’s important to note that “fake” images are not necessarily unacceptable when it comes to the commercial photography industry. However, in the editorial world, the rules are much different. Editorial images should present the reality as “seen,” without any manipulations that could distort the reality as seen through your camera lens. Bottom line: There is no room for “fake” images in the world of journalism.

Professional photojournalists have to be extra-vigilant regarding the authenticity of their images because there’s a bigger risk of undermining their credibility if a photo has been altered in any way. “Fake photos” typically refer to images that have been manipulated to express something different than the actual “seen” reality. This can be achieved by using Photoshop brushes or by stitching multiple images together. (Note: Regular or typical brightness/contrast adjustments are not considered manipulation).

There are many ways to determine whether an image is the real deal by checking for obvious signs of manipulation. Here are a few examples of “fake” photos that circulated during Hurricane Sandy:

Most professional photo editors instantly realized that the popular composite photo of the Statue of Liberty standing firm against doom and gloom, surrounding by storm clouds was a fake. Some of the clues?

• First, the cloud formation of the hurricane should have spread for 1,000 miles, while the clouds visible in that image were more likely to wash the streets of a neighborhood.
• The sun was visible in that image, which would not be the case with any hurricane. In fact, there were actually two suns visible in that particular image, one from each photo used in a collage.
• Finally, the photo — which purportedly showed menacing blue and purple currents swirling around the Statue of Liberty as Sandy approached — was dramatic, evocative and eerie.

The image of the soldiers guarding a tomb:

• If you looked at the rain and water texture of this image, you would have noticed that it looked like it was a Photoshop filter or clone.
• Real rain would be more dense in an area and rare in another. Water would splash from the monument.

The blue tinted image with the massive wave hitting New York City looked like a promotional movie poster:

• This photo beamed with an“HDR look” and blue tint. This effect can look great on print, however, it takes less than a minute to search it on Google Images to find that all the results are leading to the poster for “The Day After Tomorrow” movie.
• Also, consider the indexing time for this type of image: recent breaking news images will not be found using image search engines in less than a week or more.

Let’s not forget the shark:

• The shark image splashing its tail was not well-made, especially with the strong, unnatural look of the splash.
• There were visible Photoshop brushes on the shark image.
• In addition, the images’ white balance was different in the splash and the shark’s tail.

During major news events, the spread of fake photos disseminated via social media is almost a guarantee. Keep in mind, that you can avoid falling victim to the hype by knowing how to identify these kinds of fake photos and doing a little detective work of your own.


Dreamstime is a major supplier of high quality digital images to advertising agencies, national and international magazines, and film and television production companies. Today, with over 15 million images, Dreamstime is currently the second leading agency in total customers with more than 12 million unique visitors monthly to the site. In addition to the current 600,000-plus free images available, Dreamstime’s active gallery is updated by the second with photos from the site’s 143,000-plus contributors.