Was the photo of the Situatioln Room for the OBL raid faked?

[Troke]

Possibly somebody could move the photo?

Recently, the MSM were shocked by the news that a girlfriend in Obama's Dreams book was a composite. For many, such news comes as no surprise. The concept of a composite presidency certainly comes as no shock as someone who participated as a contributor and authored evidence presented at Sheriff Joe Arpaio's press conference on Obama's long-form birth certificate report. On the heels of these events -- and taking advantage of an anniversary of the bin Laden raid -- are recent campaign tactics to politicize the killing of Osama bin Laden. With the re-emergence of another round of gutsy call faux heroism regarding Obama's decision, it may also be a good time to revisit the famous "Situation Room" photo released by the White House. Is it Photoshopped? Like everything else Obama does to make a political point, is the photo a composite as well?

Beyond the obvious blurred photo in front of Hillary Clinton, are there other hints of manipulation? A Swedish paper makes the observation that Obama looks like a midget in the chair despite his six-foot-plus stature. When comparing the size of the surrounding people in the photo to Obama, the photo certainly gives the impression that Obama's head (or possibly the entire body) was placed into the photo and resized a tad too small. And as a side-note observation: why is everyone in the room dressed in work attire -- as if they went to work that day -- except for Obama?

Compare the size of surrounding heads in the "Situation Room" photo to the size of Obama's head. Even if you use a perspective argument -- in which objects appear smaller at a greater distance -- then why are the faces behind Obama still larger? Marshall Webb's head is larger as well, and keep in mind that Marshall is sitting next to Obama (on the same plane).

Referring back to the "Situation Room" photo again, look at the difference in head size between Obama and Biden (in the "Situation Room" photo), and then contrast with differences in size from other photos found of Obama and Biden. The height and head shapes are comparatively similar in size for the vast number of photos seen of the president and VP.

Another observation focuses (no pun intended) on the eyes of everyone in the room. A large and overexposed sharpened image of the "Situation Room" can be viewed here that offers a clear glimpse into the various pairs of eyes. Follow the direction of the center of focus for all the surrounding faces in the room. When zoomed in closely, the eyes are clear and detailed for many of these faces. However, not only do Obama's eyes lack detail in this overexposed photo, but the direction of his glance appears to be pinpointing a higher plane than that of everyone else in the room. It was reported here that the famous picture was taken not in the situation room, but rather from a smaller conference room next to the situation room. A search for images of this conference room suggests that monitors are mounted on the wall just slightly above eye level when sitting -- which is consistent with the gaze level of the surrounding members in the photo.

Try this test: instead of zooming in close, try zooming out to a low level of the image, and notice a consistency in lighting and softness to the skin tones for the majority of faces in the room -- except for Obama, and two players standing behind Bill Daley. Let me offer a few additional and possibly problematic observations on these two individuals standing in the back. Their names are Anthony Blinken, national security advisor to Vice President Biden, and Audrey Tomason of the National Counterterrorism Center. The Daily Beast speculates on the reasons for Tomason's presence in the photo as diversity balance so Hillary Clinton would not be the only woman in the room.

A similar observation could be made for the directional glance of the eyes for Blinken and Tomason, who appear to be glancing on a different vector path than the surrounding faces. The lighting for these two individuals appears off when taking into account how the light falls on many of the other characters in this iconic photo.

Judging by the light at the top of Bill Daley's head (who is standing in front of Blinken), it is possible that a light from overhead is glaring directly on top of Blinken. Having said that, Blinken and Tomason seem to have a different set of rules regarding how the light falls on their faces compared to their co-workers.

In addition, when zooming in close to examine the shirt area of Blinken, there appears to be some indistinct areas for a shirt so well-lit and strongly contrasted at the upper area of the torso. It is hard to determine if this could be due to image-editing or normal shadowing and light falloff.

However, a few more questions to ponder in regard to Tomason: if Tomason is standing behind Blinken, why do her hands rest in front of Blinken's shirt? And is there a watch on both wrists?

A close-up from the overexposed photo is also provided in which it is clearly visible that Tomason's hands are in front of Blinken's shirt and even appear to come out in front of Daley's jacket. While the lack of detail could be natural due to Tomason's position in the photo, both arms seem to mutate into odd or unrecognizable hand shapes.

What do you think? Photoshopped, or is my imagination simply on overload from too many composite stories emanating from the White House?

Mara Zebest is a graphic artist and co-author for a number of Adobe product books, including the Inside Photoshop series, which typically exceeded 1,000 pages and has been published in at least ten different languages around the world. She is also tech editor for numerous books for both Adobe and Microsoft products and has worked closely with the Cold Case Posse (CCP) for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) in providing evidence on Obama's forged birth certificate.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/artic...oom_photo.html at May 09, 2012 - 04:59:13 PM CDT

The first time I saw this photo, I thought there was something wrong with it. Apparently others do too.

[LtPiper]

It is a known fact that he was pulled off the golf course less than an hour before the photo was taken so that explains the clothes. They other had been working where as he was out golfing.

[knepper]

Look at his head--it clearly doesn't belong in the photo. Just as crude a fake as the birth certificate, IMO.

[Garryowen]

Why not fake it? Everything else about him appears to have been faked.

[skoaldiak]

pic...

[O2BNOK]

the un-doctored photo....

[naturallysweet]

If this was a photo of a real event, then Obama as Commander and Chief would be at the head of the table. It's basic etiquette.

[Be Well]

It is a known fact that he was pulled off the golf course less than an hour before the photo was taken so that explains the clothes. They other had been working where as he was out golfing.

But he shrank, too!

[Be Well]

Here's the real undoctored photo, they were all wearing Aretha Franklin hats.

[Dobbin]

Isn't the expression don't shrink and drive? He obviously decreased in size and took a Mulligan on the rest of the day.

Dobbin

[Hansa44]

People only see what they want to see.

It looks to me like his chair is back in the corner, in which case he would look a lot smaller than those closer to the camera. His head is the same size as some of those standing in the back. They are all looking in the same direction. Most of them anyway.

Oh well, never mind. How many times is this photo going to keep coming up? Maybe I'm wrong which is why I won't say anymore about it.

Where's Satanta? He'd know.

[Red Baron]

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[magnetic1]

well now that you all made me really look at this pic........yep! something wrong with it.......he doesn't match up with the rest of them........even saying he is hunched over and sitting in the corner he is still too small compared to the rest of them

Biden is 6 ft and bummer is 6ft 1 inch....compare the facial sizes.........oh wait...maybe bummer is a pinhead!

[Be Well]

Oops - I was wrong, NOT Aretha Franklin hats. Some other weirdo hats.

Here's the A.F. hat:

[Be Well]

Hat tip to GeorgeWashingtonsGhost on FR.

[momof23goats]

yup it most likely was a chop job.

[bw]

Hat tip to GeorgeWashingtonsGhost on FR.

Oh good grief. The jacket has a rumpled collar, that's all.

[bw]

If this was a photo of a real event, then Obama as Commander and Chief would be at the head of the table. It's basic etiquette.

He was dragged in off the golf course, not conducting the meeting. The people who actually run things are sitting at the table.

[Oilpatch Hand]

People only see what they want to see.

It looks to me like his chair is back in the corner, in which case he would look a lot smaller than those closer to the camera. His head is the same size as some of those standing in the back. They are all looking in the same direction. Most of them anyway.

Oh well, never mind. How many times is this photo going to keep coming up? Maybe I'm wrong which is why I won't say anymore about it.

Where's Satanta? He'd know.

No, you're not wrong. The people in the back of the room appear smaller because they are farther away from the camera. "Perspective," I think it's called.

They hauled Baraq in from the golf course to tell him: "We're going to take out OBL while we have the chance. Would you like to come in to the Situation Room and participate in a photo shoot that would help bolster the illusion that you actually had something to do with the process?"

[the watcher]

His facial expression says volumes to me, very unhappy. He sat on this information for something like 16 hours, refusing to give the go ahead. He was sitting there watching one of the brothers killed, and wondered if his other brothers would blame him.

[knepper]

They are all looking in the same direction. Most of them anyway.

Zero is NOT looking in the same direction as the others, who are presumably watching a monitor. You would have known this if you had read the article.

[Be Well]

Oh good grief. The jacket has a rumpled collar, that's all.

Look at the head/shoulders arrangement. Not at all natural.

[Racing22]

Why not fake it? Everything else about him appears to have been faked.

Yea, but it looks like they moved up and got a better Photoshop expert than the one who did the birth certificate...

[minkykat]

Here's the real undoctored photo, they were all wearing Aretha Franklin hats.

Ah, the "snakes on a plate" hat! It suits them well!

[gawarriorqueen]

Why should we be surprised that this pic was photoshopped? Nothing about this man or his so-called life is as it seems. He is faked from beginning to end.

Btw, the funny hats are replicas of the hat worn by one of Duchess Fergie's daughters at Pr. William's wedding. It was so horrible I couldn;t forget it.

[blueridge]

Some would argue that MANY issues and items of and for the current WH occupants are faked.


That closeup pix of the occupant makes him appear very menacing and mean looking...is that possibly a 'good' thing?

[NovaChickee]

Minkykat -
"Ah, the "snakes on a plate" hat! It suits them well!"
I thought I saw some of the Whos from Who-Ville wearing these in How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (I think it looks especially dashing on Biden!)

[Mark Armstrong]

Playing the Devils' advocate here:

1. The general is seated in what appears to be a heavily padded office chair that probably has height adjustment.

2. The tilt of the general's head, along with the neck wattles, makes his head look a little larger than it actually is.

3. There appears to be some pincushion distortion, probably caused by the use of a wide-range zoom lens at an extreme setting, that makes things at the edge of the picture appear larger than things at the center. Also, if the image was cropped to make it a little more dramatic or artistic, Obama may have been very close to the center of the uncropped image, making his head the smallest and least distorted.

4. Perspective does play a role.

5. Obama is hunched over, leaning on arms resting on his upper legs.

6. Obama is seated in a small chair.

7. Obama could be staring into space, in thought, rather than being focused on whatever is on the screen.

8. The lighting in the room seems to be uneven. From other pictures, it looks as though the lighting is from fixtures along the top edge of the ceiling. Obama and Biden are nearly directly under the lighting. The three standing behind Obama are forward enough that the light is behind them, putting their faces in open shade. The starkly lit Anthony Blinken seems to be directly under a light (and close to the light, as he is standing,) and is shading Audrey Tomason to some extent.

9. The "oddly indistinct" area between Blinken and Tomason appears to be a softcover binder, held under Tomason's arm. Also, I think the blog writer has misinterpreted The lapel of Tomason's unbottoned slate-blue jacket (worn over her black shirt) for a shaded portion of Blinken's shirt. Blinken's body is probably leaning at the same angle of his head (leaning around the corner, leaning in front of Tomason.) He may be holding onto the wall, or holding onto his other arm.

10. Tomason may be wearing a wristwatch on one wrist, and a matching bracelet on the other.

It could be a composite. Photoshop did touch the image enough to obscure the presumedly sensitive document on the computer in front of Hillary. But the image also could be genuine. I'm not drawing any conclusions at this time.