[Leica] Apples

[Mike Johnston <michaeljohnston@ameritech.net>]

>>>The "thick, lush, thirsty" towels that look 5 inches thick in ads are

stuffed with newspapers to make them look thicker. The before and after
photos of the  middle aged woman's face in wrinkle reduction ads are
taken
at the same time, only the lighting has been changed to dupe the unwary.
I
am sure the editor know.<<<


I have a set of two pictures I used to use for photography classes. The
pair is called "Apple, Half an Apple." The first shot is what looks to
be a whole apple sitting on a table. The second shot from a different
angle reveals that it is really half an apple propped up with a few
toothpicks and a little clay. The lessons is simply that photography
shows appearances, and appearances can be deceptive!

After kids would get wise to the idea, I'd ask them whether they were
really sure that the first picture wasn't in fact a whole apple.
<mischievious g>

Often, when you see ads for food, the steam rising off food that makes
it look fresh and hot is really acid dripped on to the food. (This isn't
legal in every state for all food ads, but it is in many places.)

Then there's the issue of cherry picking. We all know the fries in the
pictures don't quite look like the fries you get in the fast food
restaurants. In the '80s I was around when a buddy did a shoot for
Burger King. The client delivered a pallet of buns and the food stylist
took thirty minutes going through them to find a few perfect-looking
ones. She'd inspect a bun, then reject it by tossing it over her
shoulder. When my friend started the shoot there was a mountain of
discarded buns behind the stylist four feet high!

- --Mike