new thread
Just for fun, I thought I'd do a little analysis on the Dale Smith super long hair pics. Here is my analysis. First compare these three pictures, which are copied from the source site http://utenti.tripod.it/berenice/very.htm with only my notations added. (warning: there is adult text on that page)
1. Note the folds in the pants, which, despite the description on the page are identical except for image processing artifacts.
2. Note the cloned background. This doesn't prove the hair is fake, but demonstrates clearly that the pictures is retouched.
3. Persistent little lock of hair. Seems to still be there four years later.
4. Same patterns in hair.
5. Cloned hair.
6. More cloned hair.
These are just some of the more obvious items. Additionally, notice that the one that is supposed to be the post-brushing picture has substantially different colors than the other two. Now, let's see what happens if we do a little image arithmetic to the images. First, lets crop the images so we have the same view in each one:
Let's refer to these as #1, #2, and #3, respectively. Having cropped them exactly the same to the pixel, we can now do arithmetic on them to compare the images with each other. For the purpose of this analysis, I calculated difference images. Each image below represents the difference between two of the images above. Any part of the image that appears black in the below images, is identical in the corresponding images above.
Note that in the first three images, the background is essentially black. Additionally, on the first image, which is the difference between #1 and #2, a substantial amount of the hair on the head is also identical. Pay special attention to the outline of the head. There is high contrast between the hair and the background, so even if the model and photographer had positioned themselves impeccably after four years, there would be a sort of halo effect. I have illustrated this by taking the difference of image #1 and its mirror image. That is what the last image shown above is. A halo around the head is clearly visible, where there is a significant difference in the image and its mirror image, similar, no doubt, to what would be achieved in two separate posings. Also notice what the background looks like. Rather than being completely black, indicating the images are identical, it is mottled black, indicating the backgrounds are merely similar. You can also see spots in the 2nd and 3rd images where the background was cloned.
Dear Victor,
Thanks for the very interesting analysis which suggests on the one hand that the image of Dale Smith's hair has been modified but the final analysis appears to suggest that the image is authentic:-
"There is high contrast between the hair and the background, so even if the model and photographer had positioned themselves impeccably after four years, there would be a sort of halo effect."
I take this to mean that a halo effact would not result if the image of Dale with super long hair was a fake.
"That is what the last image shown above is. A halo around the head is clearly visible, where there is a significant difference in the image and its mirror image, similar, no doubt, to what would be achieved in two separate posings. Also notice what the background looks like. Rather than being completely black, indicating the images are identical, it is mottled black, indicating the backgrounds are merely similar."
Are you saying then that the two photos were taken at different times against the same background which disproves that the picture is fake?
"You can also see spots in the 2nd and 3rd images where the background was cloned."
Perhaps the background was modified but was the hair??
Hmm! Wonder whether you can trust anything these days, especially with the easy ability of image manipulation. Perhaps the eldest Hansson had a virtual haircut.
Is the picture of the Machine Guitarist for real then??
But then again, could Dale Smith be wearing a wig?
Cheers
Charles
I'm not sure I follow you here, but I will comment on your other points.
The absence of the halo indicates that the long hair picture was modified from the short hair picture, or vice versa. In order for there not to be a halo, the images would have to be identical at the part of the image where the head outline meets the background.
No. Please note which images I am referring to. One is the original image. The other is the mirror image of the original (not pictured). I created a mirror image in order to simulate a reposing. I guess I should have been clearer about that. So the halo shows itself only where there has been a reposing, simulated or not.
I haven't analyzed that picture. The difference here, though, is that now we are talking about a person who has some visibility because he is in the public eye.
No. If he were wearing a wig, you would see a halo, and you would not have those other artifacts I described, like cloned sections of hair.
Dear Victor,
Thanks for your reply. What I referred to is elaborated on below.
Thanks for explaining it. Well, I'm no expert with graphics manipulation but it is a very interestinbg bit of detective work.
Anyway, that super-longhaired photo did look a little unreal, especially its colour.
Regards
Charles
Anyhow, hair should look like a triangle or diamond shape, not like an artificially-elongated pencil or crayon!
Dear Happy Hippy Head
Well, I would hate it of it is not real, whether it was a wig or electronically altered.
I do agree though that there is an optimum ratio to the length of hair in terms of the anatomical dimensions of the person and not in absolute terms of centimetres or inches, and I think it also may have a relation to the person's width.
It may be a matter of taste but I think a longhair looks best when skinny, and the hair is somewhere between say his shoulder blades to mid-back.
Once the hair gets past his waist, the longhair begins to lose his aesthetic appeal.
Perhaps somebody should do a PhD in hairology and come up with figures based on the majority opinion -- well a majority which likes long hair on men that is.
Charles
