Stella's Blog



Greetings, fellow detectives and innocent bystanders. Stella Sedgewick here. Welcome to my blog.
10/19/10 - Occasionally, when I'm in a generous mood, I like to give my fans some pointers on how to be as good a detective as me. Today I'm in one of those moods. Let's talk Photoshop. I like Photoshop as much as anyone. I use it all the time for my pictures. However, decent investigators have to know you can't trust a photograph anymore. They're too easy to fake. Here are some photos that have been digitally created and manipulated by my friend Colin, in Manchester, UK. He's a Photoshop wiz! Here, he's done some images where me and my neighbor Potato, whom I baby-sit way too often, are taking on the classic monsters. They look authentic, but it just goes to prove that you can't trust a photograph as evidence unless you took it yourself. Period.
You can tell this photo has been "doctored" because Potato and I have never been to the swamps of the Black Lagoon, which is this species' natural habitat.
This is an obvious Photoshop job for two reasons: I, Stella, never turn my back on a hideous monster. Even a chained and shackled one. And there isn't a chance that Potato would have the guts to get so close to one of my suspects.
Notice in this photograph how the Photoshop expert has made me appear to look frightened. Definitely 'Shopped.
Although I did investigate a similar incident, this photo enhances the look of the suspect in order to make him look like a vampire. He was actually a Halloween trick-or-treater who thought Potato was a marshmallow treat.
The image here was taken at the Trickle Falls Elementary playground, as evidenced by the playground equipment. The wolfman was photoshopped in. How do I know this? There is Wolfbane planted all around the perimeter of the grounds, to prevent any such situations.