Yahoo News Photo [Another fake photo? Follow-up to thread pulled minutes ago]

Yahoo ^ | 8/8/6 | Mohammed Ballas

[ZGuy]

A Palestinian militant fires toward Israeli troops during an arrest raid in the West Bank village of Qabatiyeh near Jenin, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Four Palestinians were wounded when the army arrested an Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militant, Palestinians sources said. The army said two Islamic Jihad militants were arrested during the operation. (AP Photo/Mohammed Ballas)

[xander]

There is a 30 round AR mag in the rifle, the arm obscures most of it, but you can clearly see the baseplate and the homemade mag pull loop (looks like electrical tape).

[SlowBoat407]

Okay, I can't see where there's a magazine where it should be. Still, why would a smoke puff and spent casing be photoshopped in, but no mag? Are there shorter magazines?

[dennisw]

This could actually be a training session for new jihadis.

When you are young this most definitely rubs off. These Jihadi shooters are local heroes. How would you like to have adoring boys absorbing your every action? An ego boost to the Jihad soldier of (false god) Allah's army

[SlowBoat407]

Count me for staged, possibly training session for Junior Jihadis.

[maica]

Our eyes cannot comprehend what modern lenses produce.

If this was taken by a photographer as close as a anyone with a normal camera would be standing, then the photographer is very stupid as he is virtually in the line of fire. - a slight swing of the barrel and ---

If the photographer used an extreme telephoto lens then the crowd beside the shooter could be 20 or thirty feet away from him.

We can't believe that any photographs these days truly represent what our brains assume that they do.

[JamesP81]

It looks to me like it has too much blue in it. It more closely resembles the shirt of the bystander.

Granted, the mag isn't going to be the same color as the rifle, but those mags don't really have any blue in them.

If you look at the blow up, you can still see the slope of the magazine well. However, the bluish-gray area you have pointed out does not seem to traverse the entire length of magazine well, as a real mag would. It's the bystander's shirt.

[orionblamblam]

Golf clap!

[SlowBoat407]

Looks like a mild telephoto to me. The guys in back are slightly out of focus and could be as much as 20 or 30 feet from shooterguy.

[JamesP81]

Also notice that the blue-gray pattern extends all the way back to underneath the trigger guard. The magazine certainly doesn't go there.

[jdm]

"What is (or do you suppose) the black, turd-like item is; slanted, leaning north by northwest, directly in front of the shooter's forehead."

Looks like a garbage bag draped on the kid's shoulder.

[Richard Kimball]

Well, I've never done combat photography, and that's a whole different world. I just know that the location where the photographer was standing would be in clear site of the line of fire of whoever the shooter was aiming at. If there was a chance of being shot at. He's firing around a corner of an exterior structure, not through a doorway. I'd probably be standing where the other people are, covered by the wall from returning fire. That's, of course, operating on the assumption that during war you're shooting at someone who can shoot back.

[xander]

The shooter is holding a vertical forgrip, not the magazine. The magazine is farther back, you can see the baseplate behind his left hand.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

That would also be consistent with the angle of the natural light (from behind at ~2:00).

[DoctorMichael]

Could the 'blur' on all the observers be because either they, or the cameraman that took the photo of them, be in motion from the shock of the rifle's retort, while in the original the shooter is more clear and less 'blurred' if he was photgraphed at a different time at a different shutter-speed?

[CholeraJoe]

Are there shorter magazines?

There's a 20 rounder but it still projects downward. My M-14 has a 5-rounder but I've never seen one for the M-16 series.

[em2vn]

See my post 62 where I eat crow on the issue.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

There is a 5th civilian directly behind the rifle stock. You are seeing the hair of a youngster.

[dennisw]

I also look to motive, and can't see any reason why somebody would photoshop this picture. It's easier to just shoot the picture for real. In the middle east, there's no shortage of knuckleheads with guns or idiots to stand around watching them shoot them.

Ain't that the truth plus with high birthrates you got tons of boys out in the streets (mama kicks them outdoors from their small apartments) We played with toy soldiers. These boys get to see their favorite Jihadist shooting at the enemy

[JamesP81]

Still, why would a smoke puff and spent casing be photoshopped in, but no mag?

I don't know, but I'm also pretty sure the case is photoshopped. M4s tend to eject cartridges backwards past the shooter. This one, however, appears to be either even with or even a little in front of the ejection port.

As to why they'd photoshop it, maybe they are learning newer and better tricks. I don't know.

[BigSkyFreeper]