[andy58-in-nh]

I am almost instantly dismissive of any conspiracy theory for two fundamental reasons. First, the world is just not that well-organized, and second: given enough time, no one can can keep a secret.

I've always tied to maintain a sense of professional detachment when considering the latest pop conspiracy fad, especially when they involve photography. I know a little something about the topic, having been a photographer and photo editor for nearly forty years, having built my own darkroom at 13, and in recent years, having had some editorial experience with computer photo techniques.

Having said all that, much of the documentary evidence surrounding Barack Obama is really challenging my skepticism. It seems as though nothing about this guy is self-evidently original; whether it's the "Certification of Live Birth"; a legitimate copy in my estimation, but not truly the original (why?), the lack of an educational paper trail unlike any other President of the United States ever, and... then there are photographs like this.

I have looked at this photograph for some months now, although I have not discussed it on FR. I have examined it in great detail using every photo editor and image manipulator I have. And the reason I have hesitated to say anything is because it is troubling. It looks odd, even to the naked eye, and it's not simply because there's a tall black kid seated in the middle of some white kids. The shadows are oddly fixed. The pixelation is at odds with that in the rest of the photograph. The gamma value and or/contrast of Obama's image is lower than those in the surrounding areas, and his image appears significantly sharper.

It is very strange. I have extracted a number of enhanced images from this photograph, and I'll not bore you with all of them, but here are two: they show the shadow detail under Barack's neck. The first is a standard enlargement, while the second shows pixelation. The red outlines are meant to show the areas I think may be questionable.

I offer no conclusions. I report, you decide:

[Fresh Wind]

That’s clearly not the whole photo. They would never have put this cropped version in the yearbook.

It’s odd that the complete photo hasn’t surfaced.

[MHGinTN]

Which of the three that have so far been posted on the Internet as ‘the genuine’ COLB do you think is legitimate? There have been three different images posted and only two of the three could be from a single souce. All three have some diffecne in the other two. And not one of the images shows ‘amended’ on the front as it would if genuine from Hi dept of Health since Barry’s records have been amended at least twice since early childhood. So, again, which of the three images do you consider the genuine article. And BTW, I personally called DOH and they told me that no document was recorded as having been made and sent out on the day supposedly stamped on the front of two of the three images. So, finally, which imgae do you think is a genuine COLB from Hawaii, without fraudulent manipualtions done to make the image?