Photographer Has Two Sets of Photos Falsely Accused of Being Fake on the Same Day

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On the left, ocean waves with a city skyline and bridge in the background. On the right, two flamingos stand in shallow water with several ducks and blurred trees behind them.

A photographer says he feels vindicated after he had not one but two sets of photos falsely accused of being fake on the same day.

San Diego-based photographer Randy Dible captured photos of two wild flamingos called Pink Floyd and Pink Flo that are famous in the area. That same day, he also took photos of the surf breaking with the San Diego skyline and Coronado Bridge behind.

Two vibrant pink flamingos fly low over a blue body of water, with houses, palm trees, and a clear sky visible in the background.

A large wave in the ocean with a bridge in the background.

Wanna Bet?

On Dible’s Instagram page, some users called the photos of the surf fake; unable to believe that it’s possible get such a photo. One person was so sure Dible had composited the photos that he actually bet the photographer $1,000 that he couldn’t prove their authenticity.

Despite some locals accusing Dible of chicanery, the surf photographer tells CBS San Diego that he “doesn’t even have Photoshop,” and what the doubters fail to understand is that he is using a very long telephoto lens.

A breaking ocean wave in the foreground with a city skyline and a long, blue bridge in the background under a clear sky.

Metadata Mix-Up

Dible submitted the flamingo photos to CBS San Diego for airing. But the production team there rejected them over a questionable timestamp. The metadata showed that Dible shot the photos in the year 2000, 26 years ago. But it was simply because Dible’s camera clock wasn’t set correctly.

“It caused me enough pause to where I felt like we shouldn’t run these photos because I was not 100% confident that they were legitimate,” says story desk editor Katy Stegall.

Dible had no idea his camera’s clock wasn’t set. “If I have to prove myself where and when it took these photos, then of course I’m going to change the timestamp,” he adds

Two flamingos stand in shallow water with ducks nearby. In the background, there are large modern buildings and trees under a clear blue sky.

Two flamingos run and flap their wings across the surface of a calm body of water, with splashes behind them. A cityscape and mountains are visible in the background under a clear blue sky.

Two flamingos stand in shallow water with several ducks swimming nearby. In the background, there is a cityscape with buildings and hills under a hazy sky.

Dible later took a reporter from CBS 8 to the spot where he took the surf photos to prove once and for all that they’re authentic. And for good measure, the flamingos Pink Floyd and Pink Flo turned up at the same time to prove that those photos were real too.

PetaPixel’s Take

We really do live in a world of fear and loathing when it comes to photos. Presumptuous people on social media and even professional organizations have suspicious minds — it now seems photographers are guilty until proven innocent.

One look at Randy Dible’s website and Instagram, and it’s abundantly clear that this is a man with a lifelong passion for photography who is not interested in fakery, just taking great images.

It’s a sad state of affairs that has been turbocharged by AI technology, which can imitate great photographs with scary levels of verisimilitude.

Nevertheless, there’s a lesson here for photographers: set your camera’s timestamp correctly and consider geotagging pictures. It might make it easy to prove that your work is genuine.

Image credits: Photographs by Randy Dible

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