EXIF data (1 Viewer)

[Kits]

Q1 - please can someone explain how to check the exif data on photos taken by someone else and put on a forum (I am not thinking of BF by the way)? I am on a Mac and when I right click I don't get any information about looking in Preview. All I get is the attached info.

Q2 - does exif data show whether a photo has been changed in any way - such as altering the exposure, enhancing colours, cropping etc.

I am a bear of very little brain so please may I have any answers in simple terms!

Thank you very much.

 

[Zackiedawg]

Though I don't use a MAC, I have friends who use them to view my photos - I recall in Preview, you need to go to the Tools menu, and look for something called Inspector. Once you open that, you should see a tab for EXIF that will display the EXIF info for that photo.
It is possible that someone may post photos with no EXIF attached...it can be stripped out by some photo editing software, and can also be intentionally removed if a photographer doesn't want to share it.

 

[Kits]

Thank you, Justin. My problem is that I can't seem to open other people's photos in Preview. When I right click on the photo, that option doesn't appear. All I get are the options shown in the attached thumb nail.

Thank you for trying, I appreciate it.

 

[kitefarrago]

Kits, I'm on a Mac. I struggle to understand why you wouldn't be able to open photos taken by somebody else.

From what I can tell the menu you included above is from a web browser, not from Preview. If you want to view Exif data via a web-browser you have to find a plug-in that does it.

If you do want to view the file in Preview you have to first download it to your own machine. The Menu you included gives you that option. Try the `save image to Downloads' options, then find the file in the Downloads folder and open it with Preview. Then you can go to the Tools menu and find the Exif viewer as described by Justin.

Do let me know whether this is clear, or whether you still get stuck somewhere.

Andrea

 

[Kits]

Andrea - thank you so much! That has sorted me out perfectly. I hadn't understood about saving the photo to downloads, but I've just tried it and it works!

I really appreciate your help - thanks, again.

 

[Mono]

Don't know what browser you are using but there are browser plugins

for Chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/exif-viewer/mmbhfeiddhndihdjeganjggkmjapkffm?hl=en

and Firefox https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/exify/

There is also a webpage that will extract the exif data from a web image without downloading.

http://www.findexif.com/

 

[Kits]

I use Safari, Mono.

Thank you for the link which I will investigate. Thanks for your help.

 

[seaspirit]

In response to your Q2.
EXIF data can be edited, so parameters originally recorded during shooting can be changed or deleted. So this info is by no means "original" and/or "proof" for something -unless it serves to be able to demonstrate that it was changed by someone who doesn't own the image rights and then will have a problem to claim innocence-.
BTW the Exif of photos I post on the web contain not much more info than my copyright and contact information. Location, date, equiment used, and setting are nobodies business ......

 

[marcsantacurz]

Q2 - As mentioned, EXIF is easily edited, so you cannot tell for sure. If no one is malicious, you could likely tell if the editing software did the right thing, but it's haphazard at best.

There are technical forensic methods to determine if and how a photo was edited or retouched. Each device or software usually has its own fingerprint in the way it compresses an image into jpeg and the way it handles pixels. Edited photos are usually re-compressed and that 2nd (or later) compression of a compressed file has telltale markings too. You could think of it like two different airbrushes painting the same picture. Their spray patterns will be slightly different on close examination, even though the pictures look the same to you and me.

Marc

 

[Kits]

Thank you very much seaspirit and Marc. I agree that location etc is nobody's business. As I said in my OP I was wondering if the EXIF data could show whether a photo had been dramatically enhanced - i.e. the colours made incredibly bright and vibrant to such an extent that the grass and sky don't look "real"!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[njlarsen]

BTW the Exif of photos I post on the web contain not much more info than my copyright and contact information. Location, date, equiment used, and setting are nobodies business ......

Supplemental: if submitting a photo to ebird or other bird recording site, then location and date might be important aspects of the information needed. I take your post to be about upload to other sites, and on those I do not disagree.

Niels

 

[seaspirit]

Supplemental: if submitting a photo to ebird or other bird recording site, then location and date might be important aspects of the information needed. I take your post to be about upload to other sites, and on those I do not disagree.

Niels

If a photo shows a desirable species, maybe even nesting, or in a sensitive habitat posting without delay and with the precise location (GPS data can take you within few meters) in the EXIF this can cause a lot of grief -also and especially when this is done on general access recording sites like ebird- by making it very easy for those with bad intention or those plain ignorant to visit the exact spot ......

 

[seaspirit]

Thank you very much seaspirit and Marc. I agree that location etc is nobody's business. As I said in my OP I was wondering if the EXIF data could show whether a photo had been dramatically enhanced - i.e. the colours made incredibly bright and vibrant to such an extent that the grass and sky don't look "real"!

Thanks again for your help.

EXIF can show In-camera choices and settings for jpg files (sharpening level, image modes like vivid or neutral applied to the jpg by the camera), but processing done in post (LR or PS) is not documented in the EXIF other than the fact what software was used to generate the final jpg.

 

[njlarsen]

If a photo shows a desirable species, maybe even nesting, or in a sensitive habitat posting without delay and with the precise location (GPS data can take you within few meters) in the EXIF this can cause a lot of grief -also and especially when this is done on general access recording sites like ebird- by making it very easy for those with bad intention or those plain ignorant to visit the exact spot ......

Correct. I am expecting that filter settings in ebird and similar sites will at least help with that problem ... and one error that unfortunately does happen is that a person uploads a photo of a bird that was actually taken in a different location/different time than the checklist, and there, the EXIF is a good tool re error checking.

Niels