Photoshop Disaster - Vanity Fair & Leibovitz, Really?

First of all, let me state, I find nothing wrong with compositing images ("photoshopping" - for all you nobodies) for an editorial shoot.... and I have nothing but respect and admiration for Annie Leibovitz, even if she has used a sub-par lens (unlike some, who will remain nameless). This isn't adding smoke to Beirut, or missiles to the Iranian fleet. This is only doctoring a portrait to make it look better... totally legal and crossing no ethical bounds in my mind. Just please, if you are Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz, do a better job and don't make Sam Mendes wear only one sleeve of his jacket while holding his wife Kate Winslet..... although maybe it was a just a test to see if we would notice... I've done that myself.

For the record: I'd bet a pack of rechargeable AAs that Leibovitz had nothing to do with the composite and didn't even know about the goof until recently.... that woman is much too busy making a higher day-rate than I ever will.

An admitted and obvious (Heath Ledger is actually dead) Leibovitz composite...

Beirut:

Iran:

Ruth Ann Butler

Ruth Ann Butler is a neat little old lady. She runs the Greenville Cultural Exchange Center and has poured her whole life into preserving the local african-american culture. She raises money to restore the black cemetery, maintain her church, and build up the museum she heads in the neighborhood she lives in... she speaks at city functions, town halls, and meeting after meeting... she works hard. She called me yesterday super excited and thanked me because some images I took of her were published in a magazine... since then she's been in the paper, in another magazine, and on TV. She deserves all the fame that we can muster.

What Could Have Been...

Meet Marylou and Daniel Sanders of Spiritex... Cool people, cool company... Years ago they started the first organic cotton t-shirt company. Since that time their business has morphed into a few different animals, including the very original Poetic Justice - Organic Fairsewn Designer Apparel.

I shot a few different portraits of Marylou and Daniel back in December for WNC Magazine of Asheville, NC. This is not the image that they chose to use... I suppose there isn't anything extra special about this pic, but I like it better than the image they chose to publish. I don't know why I like it better... perhaps it is just the labor I put into it that I am attached to, not the overall quality of the pic. My downfall? ...perhaps I didn't defend what I thought was the best image... maybe I should have processed my favorite before sending in the FPOs (this one is a bit different from the RAW...) or could be they just have better taste than me... who knows.