I may be good… but I’m not *that* good

Someone who saw my “Me & 80s bands” video compilation thingy on youtube wrote me an enigmatic email, saying, “You have quite advanced technicial skills, and I think you know what I mean. Unfortunately you gave yourself away in a couple of the shots near the end of your clip.”

With a the help of a couple friends, I realized she was suggesting that I was a sneaky little bugger and had photoshopped myself into these band shots. [Insert doubletake emoticon here.] The very thought is a little astonishing, a little amusing — and, admittedly, a little teensy bit annoying. It took me months to find all of these photos and to get them scanned and posted — but if I’d had to create sets of matching doctored photographs… well, anyone who knows my graphic design ability would be truly on the floor, laughing. I managed only the basics: resizing, cropping, sharpening filter and smudging out the dust spots.

Here’s an example of an unfixed pic (cropped only) — me with Ali Campbell of UB40 — which is also one of the last shots in my video montage. (Click on the image to see a larger version.)

This is a blurry shot (bad camera) of me and Ali outside the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. As you can see, our pallid skin tone is a perfect match. I was a little heavy on the blusher that day; and my multi-colored eyeshadow was, of course, carefully crafted to complement my shirt.

You just can’t fake that kind of detail — or, at least, I sure can’t. And if I could, I would have given myself a subtle makeover in the process. 😉