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Photoshopping news photos
A Philadelphia NBC news page is illustrated with one of the sloppiest Photoshop jobs I've ever seen. They wanted a shot of a muzzle loading cannon firing. So they took a shot of some re-enactors with a cannon, and spliced in a muzzle flash.
1) If they knew anything about cannons, they'd realize the tampion is still plugging the barrel as the gun supposedly fires.
2) And they'd know there should be some smoke.
3) Not to mention that the armor plate and hydraulic recoil absorber suggest that this is a 20th century
breechloader.
Hat tip to reader J Bryan Krämer.
· media
Comments
Not a photochop ...
It looks like a very prettily painted late 19th \ early 20th century breach-loader to me.
Probably some European ( British? ) army guard unit firing a salute ... not re-enactors.
Posted by: Kristopher at September 8, 2009 11:35 AM
That is the Royal Horse Artillery. And to my recollection, it IS a breachloader. The presence of the tampion suggests the gun crew is still maneuvering the gun in to position after disconnecting it from the caisson.
Posted by: John Schedler at September 8, 2009 12:25 PM
Kristopher is correct. Granted, it's not a 19th-century field piece, but it appears to be a genuine photo.
The gun is a British 13-pounder (sometimes "QF 13-pounder" (i.e., quick firing)). The field piece is currently used by the "King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery" (also the object of the photograph).
The bore of the gun is the "lower" of the two "tubes."
Try a Google image search for the "King's Troop" or "41 gun salute."
From looking at different pictures of the muzzle flash and smoke, I would guess that the burn of the powder (at least for the ceremonial use) is rather slow. That would explain the lack of smoke during the initial muzzle flash.
Just my $.02; I'm open to correction.
Posted by: R.W. at September 8, 2009 12:32 PM
The caption to the photo states:
"This is not William Maser's cannon. This is the Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery firing a 41 gun salute in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's 79th birthday, Hyde Park, London, Britain."
And isn't the gun's barrel the lower black tube, not the upper white one?
Posted by: Bill at September 8, 2009 12:37 PM
I think it was fixed -- and unless the AP changed the thing up than it looks legit.
Posted by: John at September 8, 2009 02:54 PM
You can see another picture of the 13 pounder firing here:
http://cantate-domino.blogspot.com/2009/04/photos-kings-troop-royal-horse.html
I'm not so sure the picture that started this whole discussion was photo-shopped. It may have been snapped just as the muzzle flash was beginning.
Regardless, it had nothing to do with the errant cannonball story.
Posted by: Tom at September 8, 2009 03:07 PM
'Some re-enactors with a cannon'. Oh, God. That's not just the R.H.A. That's the QUEENS'S TROOP.
Let me put this in perspective:- imagine that you saw some blogger describe a photo of the United States Marine silent drill team as 'a bunch of paint-ball wannabeees posturing at faux-squarebashing......'
Good luck during your next visit to London.
May I suggest that a correction is in order?
Best wishes.
Posted by: MrWolf. at September 9, 2009 09:33 AM