Techniques of Fakery
There are six basic techniques of faking a photo, none of which are mutually exclusive.

1: Inserting details. This includes placing an element from one photo into another to create a composite image, reproducing a detail of the photo by cloning it, superimposing an image onto another, or drawing-in details.

2: Deleting details. This is usually done by extending background elements over the unwanted detail. Or one can crop out the unwanted detail.

3: Manipulating elements within the photo. For instance, one can adjust the color, resize details, or rotate or move details.

4: falsifying the caption. (In a sense, every fake photo has been falsely captioned.)

5: Staging the scene. This is considered fakery particularly when it occurs in photojournalism. Varieties of staging a scene include using models and cutouts and inserting a prop into the scene.

6: Taking a photo at a trick angle. The most common example of this is the use of forced perspective.


Themes


Time Periods
hoax photo database

Category: Weapons
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Palin in Bikini and Miniskirt
Fake (composite)
September 2008



The Missile Launcher Vanishes
Fake (cloned-in details)
July 9, 2008



Charlton Heston’s Home Gun Collection
Real pictures, false caption
Circulating online since Apr 2008



Oswald’s Backyard Photo
Real, but copies retouched by publications
Published in February 1964


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