Reply #247: Doctored? No. Lemme 'splain.

[Pot Kettle Black]

My undergrad degree is in film, and I worked in TV for a few years before returning to school for an MBA, so I'll tell you a little story about lighting that may explain why the first picture and the medals may look a little doctored but aren't.

* is lit from his right, the objective left, in the photo. His lapel is casting a major shadow on the left side of his uni, where his hardware is displayed. It's a cheap photo, the kind you'd get at the DMV, with only one major light source with nothing to balance the shadows on his left side.

Naturally, we would assume his medals to be dark, since they should be in shadow. However, there are other light sources in the room, like the overhead light, they are using to see. That is what is illuminating the bright brassy medal that I guess is either his wings or the disputed award. Being bright and shiny, it is reflective, which is why it looks so bright. You can see a similar effect on the US tag on his lapel. His big stupid head is casting a little extra shadow on that, which is why it is not quite as bright as the wingy thing (yeah, I know squat about medals... I know a little about photography though). The button that is wholly in the shadow of his head is obviously not getting enough light from the overhead to be shined up, like the things facing forward. From that, I can determine that the room's light is probably an overhead in the center of the room, and Bush is up against a wall, probably in front of a screen, not the actual wall.

If you want to see this effect blown way out of proportion, look at some of the moonshot photos, where the guys are standing in the shadows, yet very bright. Some of those "we didn't go to the moon" people point to that effect as proof that the photos are phonied. They would be wrong too.

no_more_W: The badges look a little funny, but not any funnier than can be explained with an introductory course in photographic lighting. I'd say you're crazy, but it's not a well known phenomena to the lay person.