Claiming great pictures to be their own

[ronin]

Have seen a few that I was never really sure of, not so much the image itself but the claimed equipment. Just seemed a bit of a mismatch that an excellent image came from relatively low or inapplicable equipment.

The moon image somewhere at the top of this thread I would think is producable. It could simply be someone that has practised a lot and after 6 months everything has fallen nicely into place, the focus was good, the camera setting good, the frames were good (high proportion of good frames), stacking good and processing fell into place. Result being:: Hey, that one came out good, looks like the best so far. Just hope that whoever can reproduce it all over again the next few times.

 

[carastro]

I can't see why any-one would want to pass some-one else's images off as their own, they must realise they are not only cheating every-one else, they are cheating the person whose image they pinched (I hope you duly had something to say to that person Sara), but cheating themselves as well as they must surely know that any praise due is not for them.

I know some-one who posted up a Hubble image as their own in error and felt very embarrassed about it afterwards and has never lived it down.  

I agree I think that image above of the Moon could be achievable with a SW 150.  

Carole 

[Peco4321]

If nothing else, this all gives me hope that I will improve. Last night I realised that even though things looked good, the actual seeing was not as good, there was a lot of moisture in the air. Thanks for all your comments everyone. What this also shows is the integrity of SGL members, not always replicated on other sites. 

[Davey-T]

Perhaps younger folk who have grown up using the internet to copy stuff verbatum ? (verbatim ?) for school work have a different attitude to plagiarism 

Dave

[Twiggles]

It does happen, have seen people removed from groups for it. I have also seen images that have me questioning if the person posting actually took it, or is claiming credit for someone elses work. Once saw someone being accused of stealing an image, the accuser posted a link to the same image on an online website/photo gallery. The person being accused politely informed him that yes, they were the same images and that the llink was to HIS online gallery!

Personally, I haven't had it done because my images suck, but to me they are amazing, because I took them with modest kit and no real clue what I'm doing I make no money from my images or anything, but I can understand how people can get upset when they have invested a great deal of money in kit and a lot of time taking subs, processing data etc for someone else to just post it as their own.

[recceranger]

Here's one I took of Charon using my SW MAK 150 Pro and 3 x Barlow edited in PS

I particularly like the crispness these planet killers provide and I'm seriously considering upgrading to the 180

thanks for looking

[Cornelius Varley]

5 hours ago, Peco4321 said:

Here's the image I question is possible with a Skywatcher 150. What do you think. I may be totally wrong and if so I can use this as inspiration to improve ?and would apologise for suggesting it wasn't their own. Not that I have done that yet on the other site, no point really. 

It should be possible, depending on the camera/barlow used.

[reddoss]

One of the hardest parts of Astro-imaging is the very steep learning curve and all the mistakes made, both in taking the image and in processing. Yet each little improvement made and lesson learnt is just so rewarding, far outweighing  early disappointments.

All I can say that if you try and cheat Astro-imaging, you have no idea just what you are missing out on. 

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, Peco4321 said:

Here's the image I question is possible with a Skywatcher 150. What do you think. I may be totally wrong and if so I can use this as inspiration to improve ?and would apologise for suggesting it wasn't their own. Not that I have done that yet on the other site, no point really. 

These are with a Skywatcher 150PL (Honest! By me too!). Not exceptional, I know others do better  so I don't doubt the above shot.

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, swag72 said:

It's really sad when people do this - There was an SGL member last year who joined and posted an image of what he'd taken..... It kind of looked familiar and a few questions later about his kit, how come it ended up in the format he used etc...... he 'fessed up and admitted it was mine and that he'd posted it as his own image.

I just wish Damian Peach would stop ripping off my images

[Hertford Stargazer]

It is amazing what can be achieved with relatively basic equipment, as said before, conditions make all the difference.

Waiting for the correct moon libration for a side on view I did manage a blurry shot of Taurus-Littrow during the sub-zero conditions the other morning, equipment used was a SW Virtuoso with a 3.5 mm eyepiece and a 5x barlow, camera was an old Samsung Galaxy Ace. 

 

[johnfosteruk]

I'm pretty sure I've done stuff not far off that on a 130 once I got a decent. Barlow. With a decent mount and ASI or GP cam it'll improve further I'm sure. I have seen some questionable stuff on facecloth though. Because there's no structure to boards mods etc it's a bit Wild West which is why I mainly stick to SGL. I need structure

[SilverAstro]

The Pillars of Creation shown by @reddoss is clearly a fake because it is well known that blue sky like that connot be seen in Cardiff, either that or it is a poor choice of false colour palette.

The picture of Charon by @recceranger is a good start for a beginning flyerof pilotless drones; shame about the piloting skills of  @Hertford Stargazer  that led to that crashed drone.

So I'm sure you will all agree that the breaking news of my discovery of Planet X takes the biscuit, mind you it did prove to be rather elusive, other investigators have been looking in the wrong place far out in the solar system. In fact as my picture, taken with a state of the art Bridge Camera, clearly shows a phase it is in fact close to the sun. F8, FL82.8mm 1/640sec  

 

[laudropb]

Thank goodness I don't do imaging.

[reddoss]

4 hours ago, SilverAstro said:

The Pillars of Creation shown by @reddoss is clearly a fake because it is well known that blue sky like that connot be seen in Cardiff, either that or it is a poor choice of false colour palette.

The picture of Charon by @recceranger is a good start for a beginning flyerof pilotless drones; shame about the piloting skills of  @Hertford Stargazer  that led to that crashed drone.

So I'm sure you will all agree that the breaking news of my discovery of Planet X takes the biscuit, mind you it did prove to be rather elusive, other investigators have been looking in the wrong place far out in the solar system. In fact as my picture, taken with a state of the art Bridge Camera, clearly shows a phase it is in fact close to the sun. F8, FL82.8mm 1/640sec  

 

Both Blue and very Dark  Skies are seen  in Cardiff  most of the time - but if you if you have a very vivid imagination.

[LukeSkywatcher]

I find that when you look at someone's images time and time again (different images), you start to see a certain style etc that only that person has. Often i look at images posted and even before i see the name of the imager, i know its one of their images. Impossible to pass it off as someone else's.

Not always the case. Its certainly easier though to pass off as your own, an image taken by someone new to imaging rather than an image taken by someone with yrs of experience. Art experts do much the same thing and at a glance can tell a Van Gogh from a Van No. I'm no expert though but its obvious in a lot of cases as to whose image you are looking at.

I avoid people using my images as their own simply by not imaging.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Haha !!!!. Ive all of a sudden become paranoid about giving people a "like" on their images. I suppose there is no harm. If they are using someone else's image, they really are only fooling/cheating themselves.

[Les Ewan]

I remember some years back a member of the S@N forum tried claim a image of Saturn by Pete Lawrance, he told the culprit that a image and how its processed is as unique as a fingerprint.

Les.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Its very easy to get your hands on the settings (time,date exposure time,white balance etc etc) of any image taken. Its a lovely little bit of free software which i'm sure most imagers know of. I'm sure anyone silly enough to try to pass off an image that is not theirs, probably doesnt know the software. I wont mention the name here because that would be empowering the fraudsters.

I like what Pete Lawrence said about images being like fingerprints. Its very true, and is what i meant earlier in my other comment about individual style etc. 

The easiest way to protect your images is by inserting digital watermarks. Lots of variations of the software available. I dont mean put a watermark right across your image.

[Alien 13]

Funnily enough I dont have a problem with anyone using my 90 mm Mak lunar shots as being taken with a 200 mm reflector 

Alan

[bejay1957]

As with general photography, there are some subjects where multiple people will capture what are in essence 'identical photos', though each will have their own copyright on their image.  As EXIF can be edited, in cases where I've had dispute with someone grabbing my (non-astro-related) photographic IP, I followed the general rule of requesting the other party to provide the full res/size out of the camera, not the edited/small image I have made available online etc. 

[Cornelius Varley]

The worst case for me was a couple of years ago when a seller on ebay selling a black tube Skywatcher 150  mak used one of my lunar photos. Mine is actually a gold tube.

[Pluto the Snowman]

On 21/01/2017 at 10:27, Peco4321 said:

I'm pretty 100% sure it doesn't happen on SGL, but I'm sure other astronomy forums of the "face" type, are full of members posting pictures and claiming they are their own work. I really don't see the point as any picture has it's merits and is a way of learning from other more experienced members. 

We all like to get praise for our efforts but for me, I don't do it for that. I get enough pleasure that I don't need the praise and while I'm still learning this hobby I 'need' the advice. 

I recently saw a picture of the moon claiming to be from the same set up as mine and it's so much better by a million miles, it almost looked like one from a member of SGL that posts amazing images. 

I guess it's impossible to police. 

Check out my pic of Neptune taken through my 8inch reflector:

 

Yeah rite if only.

 

 

 

 

[Pluto the Snowman]

Ok I did get an actual shot of the moon:

I dont suppose you would believe me if I said I obtained this image by holding my late Samsung Galaxy S4 against my telescope lens so I will not mention it.

[billyharris72]

I really have no idea why someone would copy someone else's photo and pass it off as their own. Seriously, what possible good could it do them? My images are not great, and my equipment might be ropey, but I get to experiment and find out what is possible, and I know that what I have produced is "mine", which gives me a lot of satisfaction. The one below is an experiment with an extended tripod, to see if there was any benefit from getting above ground level so far as is possible. It was tricky to activate the shutter - and there is a lot I would do differently if I was to repeat the experiment - but I learned so much doing it and I think it has a certain charm.