Photo manipulation a no-go

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
RAF LAKENHEATH, England --  It's not good to be really good at some things, and photo manipulation is one of them, if Airmen are working on that next official project.

"Regardless whether an Airman is an official Air Force photographer or not, the policy on photo manipulation affects everyone," said Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Wood, 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs superintendent. "It applies even to those putting official presentations together or sending anything out in the name of the Air Force."

"These images must provide accurate representations of the real scene because you never know what your images will be used for," he said. "Mission planners could use them, or they could be used for legal evidence or historical records."

It also includes Airmen's official photographs, Staff Sgt. Felicia Welch, non-commissioned officer in charge of internal operation for the 48th FW Public Affairs office said. "We receive at least one request a week asking us to add a cluster or other device to someone's official photograph and we just cannot and will not ever do that."

The policy: Don't manipulate imagery. Department of Defense Instruction 5040.05 goes in depth on what is allowed and what isn't, but it basically comes down to a simple rule.

"Photographs, video or any other type of image cannot be altered in any way that misrepresents the real scene," Sergeant Wood said. "The basic rule of thumb is to think of your image as a monitor, you can adjust the brightness, contrast, color and size all within limits to comply with DoD guidelines."

"What you can't do is copy and paste your supervisors head onto an animal or someone else's body and send it out for the world to see, or any number of other manipulations people think are cute, funny or improve the image," he said.

"The latest example is someone in the Army copy and pasted a cutout image of General [Ann E.] Dunwoody [Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command] onto a flag background ... it resulted in the Department of Defense losing its credibility with the Associated Press," he said. "Now they aren't running any image taken from a DoD photographer. Who wants to be responsible for something like that, just because they didn't have time or just wanted a laugh?"

If you purposely manipulate an image, it's now an illustration or photo representation, he said. You are now responsible to provide details of what alteration took place and inform your audience.

"I would recommend that if anyone is unsure of what they can alter in an image, they consult with Public Affairs first to make sure they are within compliance," the sergeant said.

"If anyone sees any or knows of any images that are manipulated, please let us know," he said. "The Air Force's credibility is on the line, every image has to be 100 percent reliable and accurate, because if one image is questioned it will ruin it for everyone in the DoD."