Photo bombing Rockies style!

[Brian Ashton]

I like this pic

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Cool photo Brian! Banff is on my short list now that I'm retired.

[Jim Becker]

I've seen that photo (and some others) before...and once again got a chuckle out of it.

[Joe Angrisani]

Gotta love Photoshop!

[Brian Ashton]

I know for the most part that's true, not to trust anything on the internet. But the hairs and whiskers on the little bugga are very crisp and well represented (if that's the the right way of saying it)... If it is photoshoped it's an exceptional job.

[Brian Vaughn]

Joe, I think that picture first came out a couple of years ago, but it actually is not photoshopped. The couple had propped up the camera to get a picture of themselves and the squirrel got curious about the sound from the camera. here's a better writeup http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/Squirrel_Photo_National_Geographic_Minnesota_Melis sa_Brandts

[Craig D Peltier]

Cool photo Brian! Banff is on my short list now that I'm retired.

If you like to hike, at banff/lake louise , when looking at lake from hotel , theres a trail to the right that goes up to a tea house, its amazing up there. bring cash no CC up at tea house.
Also Jasper is very very nice.

[Joe Angrisani]

Joe, I think that picture first came out a couple of years ago, but it actually is not photoshopped. The couple had propped up the camera to get a picture of themselves and the squirrel got curious about the sound from the camera. here's a better writeup

Sorry folks. I'm not buying it. If they had set the self-timer, the camera would have locked focus (and exposure) on the spouse that didn't set the camera, AND HELD IT through the timer. A camera doesn't refocus at the end of the timer. They should be in focus, and the squirrel, being so close, would be out of focus.

And Brian A. I see what you're saying. But it's impossible to tell with a teeny weeny internet image, even the 625x525 one Brian V linked to. It's called "unsharp mask" (named from an old darkroom technique, but it makes edges more pronounced and "sharper"). In this case, it's an overdone Unsharp Mask. And besides...I think the people are photoshopped. Zoom to about 400% on the large picture in Brian V's link and look at the "box" of distorted pixels around the guy's head. It's a typical picture of a super-tame squirrel begging for a snack on the wall at a crowded, popular overlook. The people were added IMO.

[David Weaver]

Tough to tell on an image that small. The distortion could just be from image compression, i've seen worse.

Also difficult to be certain that no digital cameras with face recognition, etc, don't change their focal point even on timer.

[Scott Shepherd]

I'm not so sure it's fake either. Here's a link where it was submitted to National Geographic (that's apparently the source of it). If you go to this page and click on "Download Wallpaper", you'll get a pretty big file there. Big enough to analyze to see if it's been doctored.

http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/squirrel-portrait-banff-pod/

Either someone scammed NatGeo pretty good, or it's real, as it has the persons "name" attached as the person that submitted it.

As more info, they were interviewed here :

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/32444890/ns/today-today_pets_and_animals/t/couple-squirrel-crasher-pic-percent-real/

[Ken Fitzgerald]

BTW....I don't know if the photo is real or not. I would suggest that if National Geographic printed and posted it, it probably is.....


However, our camera when using the "timer" to allow the photographer to get into a photo....well the camera beeps once a second IIRC. I can see how if someone is using a camera...the beeping could interest something like a ground squirrel.

[Joe Angrisani]

BTW....I don't know if the photo is real or not. I would suggest that if National Geographic printed and posted it, it probably is.....

I agree. If National Geographic (who asks for the original file on submissions) accepted it, then I'll concede. It's just that I'm so skeptical of the "urban myth" and other internet pooey.

[Scott Shepherd]

At the end of the video clip link I posted, there are the shots that lead up to that photo shown.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I use Snopes alot and trust very few emails passed on by friends and family. I am skeptical of a lot of what I see on the internet and when dealing with people face to face. I will say that the folks here at the Creek, however, have always provided me with good experiences. Why I even found Jim O'Dell, Bill Huber and a couple others to be down right civil and they didn't throw their food when eating in a bbq restaurant. The good folks at the Arlington Rockler store did ask for a warning the next time we were planning an invasion. The folks there said they wanted the warning so they could provide coffee and donuts but I suspect they had other motives......:eek::rolleyes::D