Anything wrong with doctoring photos if...

lkeigwin

...the intent is to show the coin as it truly looks? It feels wrong to me so I haven't been doing it for auctions. Instead I struggle over and over with pictures. But is there really anything ethically wrong with this?

It came up in another thread so I figured I'd ask opinions. This has probably been discussed before. Excuse me. I wonder how others feel about the topic.

TomB

I don't believe there is anything wrong with adjusting your images post-acquisition in order to make the image appear more accurate for one quality or another. However, quite often what happens is that the overall image takes on the feel of a cartoon or something similar.

commoncents05

I don't think there is anything wrong with that.

-Paul

illini420

No. I sometimes adjust white balance and/or brightness to get a coin to look like it does in hand. I figure there's a much better chance the buyer will not be unhappy if the pic looks like the coin. Also it's not really misrepresenting anything if the intent is to make it look like it does in hand. Now if you're trying to make it look better, that's wrong...

stman

<< <i>I don't believe there is anything wrong with adjusting your images post-acquisition in order to make the image appear more accurate for one quality or another. However, quite often what happens is that the overall image takes on the feel of a cartoon or something similar. >>



Agree with TomB. I also would add I don't go for the ol' 1-3 degree tilt. Where I have to get a stiff neck turning and twisting the coin every which way to try and get what the image shows. If I have to do that, then back it goes!!

MikeInFL

Doctoring photos to make them appear nicer (or more colorful) with the intent of increasing the sale price is a deceptive sales practice, and I do have a problem ethically with that.

However, there is a fine line between enhancing photographs to make them appear more as the coin does in hand and making them look too good.

seatedcoins

No problem

messydesk

That's not doctoring a photo, it's correcting it to reality.

lordmarcovan

I occasionally brighten my images when needed, particularly for dark copper.

And I sometimes edit out dust specks- no matter how hard I try, I still get flecks of dust on my scanner sometimes. But I leave the dust specks in the picture if they are lying over a flaw- I try not to edit out any marks or nicks or anything like that. The intent is to show the coin as it is, both good and bad points, without distractions.

NHSBaseball

I think that if the intent is to make the photo more representative of the true appearance of the coin in hand that there is nothing unethical happening.

SpaceMonkey

i think as long as the results are accurate and you know what you are doing there is nothing wrong with it... below is a subtle example but I believe shows a good usage of post manipulation

Large image is the original...
My Composite shows a slight Hue Color Adjustment to match the coins TRUE in hand look.

Notice the Green Hue in the Original... which is not accurate.

ORIGINAL


ADJUSTED








-sm

BECOKA

I don't have a problem with it as long as the motive is strictly to make look as it does in hand. Artificial enhancement to make look better than it is annoys me.

RWB

There has always existed a measure of interpretation in any coin photo (or any photo, period). When using film there were all the variables of color, tone, sharpness, lighting angle, etc. that are still present for digital. The consistent goal has been to produce an image that most accurately represents the coin, and within the limits of reproduction technology. To accomplish this is not “doctoring” an image.

“Doctoring” an image is making changes with the intention of misrepresenting the coin. These might range from enhancing saturation, or blurring portions, to removing scratches and other defects or exaggerating the fields so the coin looks more like a perfect proof. This is deception and is unacceptable.

I would also make a distinction between an image used to sell or definitively present a specific coin, which should show the coin as it is, and one used as a generic illustration which might be idealized.