Volcano picture erupts modern darkroom dilemma

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer

We hate it!

This picture from Reuters dropped into the Star at 4:45 pm on a Friday. 

Looking at a picture on the wire, we are wowed by the image until that little nagging voice in the back of our head creeps in, questioning the image. And when the picture advisory crossed the wires, it leaves us a little disappointed.

The culprit this time? Toning.

There is no way for every newspaper or wire service to be everywhere and have every angle covered. That is why third party pictures might be sought out from breaking news pictures of events from time to time.

The Good: We have a picture.  The bad?  We have to bank our reputations on that image.

Iceland's recent volcanic eruption placed Reuters in that position.

One of the most striking pictures out of Iceland was taken by farmer Ólafur Eggertsson's wife (her name unavailable currently, the picture was originally credited to him), which eventually was distributed worldwide by Reuters. 

A sharp photo editor at the Sydney Morning Herald, Wade Laube, had some doubts about the image.

"One picture stood out from all of the others — so much so it was the clear choice for our coverage in the Herald. Well, we wanted it to be but something about it didn’t seem quite right," Laube writes on his blog.

Laube and the Herald decided to put in a call to Reuters Singapore to ask about the image. By the time he called, Reuters had already begun to seek out Eggertsson to retrieve a raw (un-enhanced) file. In the wait for that picture the Herald decided to use a different picture in their first edition. The original was obtained by Reuters and the Herald used the new version on the front of their second edition and Reuters sent out an Advisory letting clients know that "an updated, correctly toned version immediately follows this advisory."

The advisory reads, "ATTENTION EDITORS - QUALITY REPEAT FOR SIN500 TRANSMITTED ON APRIL 15, 2010 AT APPROXIMATELY 2000 GMT. WE HAVE OBTAINED FROM THE SOURCE THE ORIGINAL FILE OF THIS HANDOUT IMAGE. AN UPDATED, CORRECTLY TONED VERSION IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWS THIS ADVISORY. WE ARE SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE CAUSED. REUTERS" 

A comparison between the two images, original is on the left and toned on the right, the date stamp on the bottom of the original has been cropped out. 

Gary Hershorn, Reuters' News Pictures Editor for North America, says that Reuters typically does not like to move unsourced third party images, but they do come along at times that need to be sent. "It is our policy to put ‘Quality from Source‘ when sending user generated images. We continued to try and contact the farmer and were successful and acquired the original image which we sent on the wire"

News organizations are always on guard against images that circulate after natural disasters. Some agencies got burned after the Haitian earthquake as images filled the social media web. Many of the images were from the Chinese earthquake two years ago.

This picture? A Reuters' TV freelancer in Iceland acquired the image from the paper and sent it to Reuters TV in Stockholm, who passed it on to Berlin who passed it onto Reuters Pictures Berlin. 

Hershorn says in the investigation of the volcano picture, they found it on an Icelandic newspaper web site and it resembled the original file. A second day of digging revealed that the picture did pass through the hands of someone at the paper and that version was toned and ended up distributed to Reuters, Zuma, Getty and a few other agencies. 

Photo on the website from the Icelandic newspaper site. 

Why the toning was done is still a mystery, it might have been what the file looked like after a press curve was applied. 

What exactly happened with the toning, and if it is acceptable, is constantly the subject of debate in the photojournalism community.

But for the most part, news organizations do not manipulate images, whether this be while taking the picture or afterwards in Photoshop.

The Toronto Star's Code of ethics reads, "Altering the content of documentary photographs through technology is not allowed. ……. What may seem innocuous to some inevitably leads to an erosion of public confidence. Manipulation aimed at correcting technical deficiencies, such as burning, dodging, spotting for dust, noise reduction, contrast and colour balancing, are acceptable. That said, these adjustments and enhancements should be used with great care and should not alter the integrity of the image."

Just a little sidebar here.

Photojournalists take great care in ensuring that the photograph is made in camera. The better the image coming out of the camera means that we spend little time tinkering with the picture in Photoshop. Reuters' Lucas Jackson talks about how he got this picture. 

Lucas Jackson blogs on how he got this picture with a 125 second exposure.

[email protected]

Volcano's ash blankets part of Iceland and continues to hamper journeys home

Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokul, April 17, 2010. An Icelandic volcano that is spewing ash into the air and wreaking havoc on flights across Europe appeared to be easing up on Saturday but could continue to erupt for days or even months to come. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

A National Geographic film crew set-up on southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier after landing on the glacier, close to the volcanic eruption, April 18, 2010.  Scientists say that because the volcano is situated below the glacial ice cap, magma is being cooled quickly, causing explosions and plumes of grit.  The eruption is ongoing and forecasters have predicted that light prevailing winds in Europe mean that the situation for air travel is unlikely to change in the coming days. (AP Photo/Reynir Petursson)

A plume of ash from the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier covers the farm of Pall Eggert Olafsson, in Thorvaldseyri, Iceland,  April 19, 2010. Meteorologists in Iceland said eruptions from the volcano were weakening and the ash was no longer rising to a height where it would endanger large commercial aircraft. (AP Photo/Brynjar Gauti)

A cloud of black ash looms above horses at Drangshlid 2 in Eyjafjoll, April 17, 2010. An Icelandic volcano that is spewing ash into the air and wreaking havoc on flights across Europe appeared to be easing up on Saturday but could continue to erupt for days or even months to come. (REUTERS/Ingolfur Juliusson)

A motorist takes pictures as the Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to billow smoke and ash during an eruption on April 17, 2010. Winds blowing a massive volcanic ash cloud from Iceland could keep lashing Europe until the middle of next week, experts said Saturday, amid hints that the eruption could soon start tapering off.  Millions of people faced worsening travel chaos Sunday as a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland moved further south and east, forcing European countries to extend flight bans into next week.   (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheep farmer Thorkell Eiriksson, and his brother-in-law Petur Runottsson, work to seal a sheep barn, in case winds shift and volcanic ash from a volcano erupting across the valley lands on their farm, in Eyjafjallajokull, April 17, 2010.  The current season is when the spring lambs are born and such young animals are especially susceptible to volcanic ash in their lungs so they must be stored inside. (REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

A man runs at the roadside to take pictures of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano as it continues to billow smoke and ash during an eruption on April 17, 2010. Millions of people faced worsening travel chaos Sunday as a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland moved further south and east, forcing European countries to extend flight bans into next week. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

A departure board at Athens international airport is pictured through a metal advertising placard on April 19, 2010. More than 100 destinations from Athens were canceled due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which covered large parts of Europe for the past four days. Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano has started spewing out less ash, a sign the eruption could be tapering off and that Europe's air traffic nightmare could be coming to an end, experts said today. (ARIS MESSINIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Stranded passengers take a nap in the departures area of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, April 18, 2010. Dozens of Asian flights to Europe were cancelled for a third day as regional airlines warn of a week of chaos caused by freak volcanic ash, which has stranded thousands of travellers and caused heavy economic losses.   (ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Passengers buses traveling from Calais, France, to the United Kingdom board at car ferry terminal, April 19, 2010. Many European countries suspended their air traffic due to ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Iceland, forcing travellers to find alernate ways of getting home. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Stranded passengers queue for train tickets at Munich's international airport, April 19, 2010. Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a fifth day on Monday because of a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano that has caused the worst air travel chaos since the September 11 attacks.   (REUTERS/Michael Dalder)

Passengers wait to buy tickets at Termini central train station in Rome, April 18, 2010. Air traffic remained seriously disrupted across Europe as a cloud of ash released from Iceland's volcanic eruption forced many countries to close their airspace.  (ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images)

A stranded passenger sleeps in the transit area in Frankfurt's airport, April 19, 2010. German airports remain closed due to the ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcano that turned northern Europe into a no-fly zone. (REUTERS/Johannes Eisele)

The HMS Ark Royal leaves Portsmouth, England on April 6, 2010. The Ark Royal is one the Royal Navy warships to be sent on Monday to rescue those stranded across the Channel by the volcanic ash cloud and the aviation industry blasted European officials, claiming there was "no coordination and no leadership" in the crisis that shut down most European airports for a fifth day. (AP Photo/Royal Navy/HANDOUT) 

Frank Berg of Bad Hersfeld, Germany gives the thumbs up outside of car rental offices at Vasagatan in central Stockholm, April 18, 2010, after arranging to share a rental car with friends from Turkey and Denmark, in order to take them home.  EU transport ministers are expected to hold a special video conference Monday on the air travel crisis caused by the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland, the Spanish EU presidency said today.  (TOMAS ONEBORG/AFP/Getty Images)

Accompanied by a British Border Agency boat, some of the stranded travellers evacuated from Calais, France, enter the Dover marina on England's south east coast, April 18, 2010. TV presenter Dan Snow launched a mission to ferry passengers across the Channel in a fleet of Rigid Inflatable Boats, after they were left stranded by flight cancellations following a volcano eruption in Iceland. Snow had hatched the plan with a friend, Sam Peters, after his wife Debs became stranded following the disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud drifting over Britain. The pair were using boats borrowed from a Dover yachting firm and had appealed for people who urgently needed to get back to the UK to make contact with them on Twitter. But a tweet this afternoon informed followers the mission had been aborted and apologised to those whose hopes of returning with the flotilla had been dashed. The posting read: "We have been shut down! No reason. Rescued 25 on way home shortly. No more boats we are very sorry." (AP Photo/PA, Max Nash)

Previous posting "Impact of Ash" pictures

The Impact of Ash

A car is seen driving through the ash from the volcano eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland, April 16, 2010. The volcano erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air. Flights around the world have been canceled and passengers stranded as the ash cloud from the volcano affected operations at some of the world's busiest airports. (AP Photo/Omar Oskarsson)

A woman reads a newspaper with the headline "Volcano alert" as she waits for the resumption of air travel on April 16, 2010 at the airport in Erfurt, eastern Germany. Air travel was disrupted all over Europe as a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland spread further over Europe.    (JENS-ULRICH KOCH/AFP/Getty Images)

 Ground staff secure a plastic cover on the engines of an aircraft at Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland, on April 16, 2010. Thousands more flights were cancelled around the world Friday as a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland kept airspace across northern Europe closed, inflicting a second day of travel misery on passengers. (PETER MUHLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Passengers gather in front of flight information screens at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, as hundreds of commercial flights across northern Europe are canceled by a drifting plume of volcanic ash originating from Iceland,  April 16, 2010. The Icelandic volcano that erupted Wednesday has sent an enormous cloud of microscopic ash particles across northern Europe, grounding aircraft across the continent. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Passengers rest in the departure hall of Copenhagen Airport, April 16, 2010 as the Danish airspace will remains closed until at least 2:00 am (0000 GMT) on April 17, 2010 due to ash from a volcano eruption in Iceland. (NILS MEILVANG/AFP/Getty Images)

Italian tourists rest in the departure hall of Prague's Ruzyne airport on April 16, 2010 as flights were cancelled due to ash from a volcano eruption in Iceland. A huge cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland cast a growing shadow over Europe on Friday, grounding thousands more flights in the continent's biggest air travel shutdown since World War II. (MICHAL CIZEK/AFP/Getty Images)

A flight information board indicates cancelled flights in a terminal at the Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Roissy, outside Paris, April 16, 2010 due to the ash cloud caused by an Icelandic volcano that turned northern Europe into a no-fly zone.   (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)

Passengers stand in a queue to rebook their cancelled flights at the Pablo Ruiz Picasso Airport in Malaga, southern Spain, April 15, 2010. The European air safety organization said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for six months if the eruption continued. REUTERS/Jon Nazca

Stranded passengers soak up the sun in a solarium adjacent to the departures area of the Son Sant Joan Airport in Palma de Mallorca on the island of Mallorca, Spain, April 16, 2010. A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano spread out across Europe on Friday causing air travel chaos on a scale not seen since the September 11 attacks. About 17,000 flights were expected to be cancelled on Friday due to the dangers posed for a second day by volcanic ash from Iceland, aviation officials said. (REUTERS/Enrique Calvo)

A child using a laptop sits on a camp bed, provided by airport operator Fraport, at Frankfurt airport April 16, 2010. Due to a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano, that caused air travel chaos across Europe, passengers in Frankfurt were left stranded and forced to stay overnight.  (REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski)

Travellers wait at the closed international Airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, April 16, 2010. Most countries in northern Europe suspended their air traffic due to ash clouds from the volcanic eruption in Iceland. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

People wait for information in the departure hall of Sofia airport on April 16, 2010 as flights were cancelled due to ash from a volcano eruption in Iceland.  Out of a total 91 incoming flights, only nine aircraft from Bucharest, Moscow, Munich, Rome, Tel Aviv and Vienna had landed during the course of the morning.(NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Passengers crowd the platform as a train arrives in Hamburg, Germany, April 16, 2010. Many travellers are trying to take the train as alternative for their cancelled flights. Flights at Frankfurt airport, the biggest in Germany, were halted indefinitely as a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland spread further over Europe. (PHILIPP GUELLAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Passengers wait in the departure hall at the Vienna airport April 16, 2010, after a huge ash cloud from an
Icelandic volcano spread out across Europe causing air travel chaos on a scale not seen since the September 11 attacks. About 17,000 flights were expected to be cancelled on Friday due to the dangers posed for a second day by volcanic ash from Iceland. (REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader)

A Finnair aircraft is grounded at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Vantaa on April 16, 2010. Finland grounded all flights due to ash from an Icelandic volcano eruption, and will not permit any commercial flights until until 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) on April 18 at the earliest. (ANTTI AIMO-KOIVISTO/AFP/Getty Images)

A passenger sleeps as she waits for the resumption of air travel in Frankfurt, Germany.  Flights at Frankfurt airport, the biggest in Germany, were halted indefinitely as a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland spread further over Europe.  (TORSTEN SILZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A plume of volcanic ash rises into the atmosphere from a crater under about 656 feet (200 metres) of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland. A huge ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano turned the skies of northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. Picture taken April 14, 2010.  REUTERS/Olafur Eggertsson 

This picture taken March 27, 2010 shows lava spurting out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Fimmvorduhals volcano near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier some 125 Kms east of Reykjakik.  With lava still gushing, a small Icelandic volcano that initially sent hundreds fleeing from their homes is turning into a boon for the island nation's tourism industry, as visitors flock to catch a glimpse of the eruption. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Lava spews out of a volcano in the region of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier in southern Iceland, on March 21, 2010.  The small volcano eruption that forced more than 600 people to flee their homes in Iceland over the weekend could conceivably set off a larger volcano, experts warned.    (Fior Kjartansson/AFP/Getty Images)

 

An aerial handout photo from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows a plume of steam rising 22,000 feet (6700 meters) from a crater under about 656 feet (200 metres) of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland. REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg/Handout  

A plume of volcanic ash rises six to 11 kilometres into the atmosphere, from a crater under about 200 metres of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. REUTERS/Jon Gustafsson

A Meteosat photo shows a dark cloud of volcanic ash spreading over Iceland. A volcanic eruption in Iceland fired ash across northern Europe forcing the closure of huge swathes of international airspace on Thursday which grounded hundreds of flights.  The eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southeast Iceland had already melted part of a surrounded glacier causing severe floods. (April 15, 2010) (HANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images)

 

Tourists gather to watch lava spurt out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Fimmvorduhals volcano near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier some 125 Kms east of Reykjakik on March 27, 2010.   Up to 800 people were evacuated in Iceland early on April 14, 2010 due to the volcanic eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in the south of the island, police and geophysicists said. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

An aerial handout photo from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows flood caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. The volcanic eruption on Wednesday partially melted a glacier, setting off a major flood that threatened to damage roads and bridges and forcing hundreds to evacuate from a thinly populated area.  (REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg)

This April 14, 2010 image taken by the Icelandic Coastguard, shows floodwaters rising after the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. Authorities evacuated 800 residents from around the glacier as rivers rose by up to 10 feet. Emergency officials and scientists said the eruption under the ice cap was 10 to 20 times more powerful than one last month, and carried a much greater risk of widespread flooding. (AP Photo/Icelandic Coastguard)

This NASA handout photo released on April 15, 2010 shows an image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite of a natural-color image. A volcanic plume blows from Eyjafjallajˆkull Volcano in southern Iceland toward the east-southeast. The plume blows past the Faroe Islands and arcs slightly toward the north near the Shetland Islands. The plume’s tan hue indicates a fairly high ash content. Eyjafjallajˆkull (or Eyjafjˆll) is a stratovolcano composed of alternating layers of ash, lava, and rocks ejected by earlier eruptions. The huge cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano drifted over northern Europe on Thursday, forcing the closure of vast swathes of international airspace and the cancellation of hundreds of flights. HO/AFP/Getty Images

Inbound flight cancellations at Manchester airport are posted beside a notice of explanation that the disruptions are due to volcanic ash from Iceland. All London flights, including those from Heathrow, are suspended from 1100 GMT Thursday due to volcanic ash from Iceland that has already caused almost 300 cancellations, officials said. (ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images)

A passenger gestures as other passengers wait in check-in queues following the cancellation of flights, at Faro airport in Portugal April 15, 2010.  Dozens of flights from Faro airport on the Portuguese tourist resort province of Algarve to northern Europe were cancelled due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland, which has thrown up a 6 km (3.7 mile) high cloud of ash and disrupted air traffic in northern Europe. (REUTERS/Carlos Brito)

Airline passengers sit on the floor while awaiting information about flight cancellations in Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport, west of  London on April 15, 2010. No flights will be allowed into British airspace from 1100 GMT until at least 1700 GMT Thursday due to an ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland, air traffic control services announced. (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)

 
A glow appears on the skyline on March 21, 2010 in the region of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier in Iceland. A volcano in the area of the Eyjafallajoekull glacier in southern Iceland erupted early Sunday, forcing more than 500 people in its vicinity to evacuate their homes.  (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)