Does this look shooped to you?

[dammitgibs]

Picture of minigun with muzzleflash
Source picture set and Boston Globe article

Figured there's lots of military type people here and photography and photoshop experts this would be a good place to ask

Reasons I think it's shooped;
1) Muzzle flash just looks odd to begin with
2) Looks to be flying at 3000-4000ft at least, tac effective range of a mini is 750-900m (tracer burnout) and max effective of 1500m, you can't hit shit at that altitude and 7.62 would be totally ineffective by the time it reached it's target
3) From what I see, he only has one hand on the gun (while it is possible to shoot with only one hand, I don't know of anyone who does)
4) His right thumb which is used to depress the lo-rate trigger is clearly off the trigger, unless this is a different sort of control unit than I'm familiar with.
5) No blur on the barrels which would be spinning at 2000 RPM (or 4000RPM on Hi-rate) and no motion blur on ammo feeding up to the gun

Thanks for any input

Edit: My experience=helicopter gunner in Iraq & Afghanistan, using mostly GAU-2C (M-134) Minigun

 

[geno]

I can tell from these pixels.

 

[WelshBloke]

Going a bit off topic but from that picture set.

The opium poppy field was damaged when a U.S. Air Force airdrop of supplies blew off target, landing on some of Khan's crops and crushing them. The Marines assured Khan they would pay him for his damaged poppy crop in compensation for the accident.

WTF

 

[spidey07]

Possible, not confirmed. It looks like his finger came off the trigger from firing and who's to say he wasn't just firing for a photo-op?

 

[Kelvrick]

I'm not that familiar with that gun, but shouldn't there be shells in the air? Or do they collect them somehow?

EDIT: Should there be some reflection off his helmet?

 

[dammitgibs]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I'm not that familiar with that gun, but shouldn't there be shells in the air? Or do they collect them somehow?

EDIT: Should there be some reflection off his helmet?

The links and brass would be ejected through the brass chute (that tube that runs behind the post the gun is mounted on) and in this picture it goes below the cabin floor so you can't see if links and brass are coming out.

Also I zoomed into his visor but the picture isn't high res enough to accurately tell what is in the reflection

 

[illusion88]

Originally posted by: WelshBloke
Going a bit off topic but from that picture set.

The opium poppy field was damaged when a U.S. Air Force airdrop of supplies blew off target, landing on some of Khan's crops and crushing them. The Marines assured Khan they would pay him for his damaged poppy crop in compensation for the accident.

WTF

Later, it went on to describe how they aren't allowed to destroy the crops. It also mentioned how the farmers are a valuable source of intelligence.

 

[Red Squirrel]

http://inapcache.boston.com/un...04_01/a32_18339425.jpg

"Duuuuuuude"


And lol @ the poppy field damage. Like that's the least of their concerns overthere, when houses and buildings are getting blown up on a daily basis

 

[brandonbull]

Originally posted by: WelshBloke
Going a bit off topic but from that picture set.

The opium poppy field was damaged when a U.S. Air Force airdrop of supplies blew off target, landing on some of Khan's crops and crushing them. The Marines assured Khan they would pay him for his damaged poppy crop in compensation for the accident.

WTF

We are nice enough to send several thousand troops to guard the drugs that we spend billions to try and prevent.

 

[Alone]

I don't have any experience with that weapon, but it looks pretty legit to me.

And it definitely does look "staged" just for the picture. The range is simply ridiculous and he couldn't accurately hit anything from where he is.

 

[Red Squirrel]

A lot of those were probably staged to take a picture. Some of those shots are at weird angles. You would not see a photographer sticker their cameras almost in a soldier's face in middle of combat. Then again, some are pretty crazy like that and will risk their lives, like the ones that take pictures of races and are nearly right ON the track.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Alone
I don't have any experience with that weapon, but it looks pretty legit to me.

And it definitely does look "staged" just for the picture. The range is simply ridiculous and he couldn't accurately hit anything from where he is.

Yeah I'd say it's a legit photo, but staged for the reasons stated.

Remember, high-quality SLR cameras can easily freeze motion on a weapon of that sort, the shutter speed can be far faster than the weapon firing rate. A quality camera can easily take a photo at 1/2000th of a second, though I'd say that photo definitely wasn't that fast of a shutter speed due to the depth of field. Still, the multitude of options, and the brightness of the light in the background, render that argument worthless.

And while I've never been around those weapons, I do know they have a crazy muzzle flash, especially if captured in a quality photo. It's likely the case that that muzzle flash is hard to see in that detail in person, but you could probably get an idea of how large of the flash would be still.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
A lot of those were probably staged to take a picture. Some of those shots are at weird angles. You would not see a photographer sticker their cameras almost in a soldier's face in middle of combat. Then again, some are pretty crazy like that and will risk their lives, like the ones that take pictures of races and are nearly right ON the track.

war photojournalism is a crazy business. Like that one British reporter that has been in the middle of firefights with her trusty little handheld videocamera. That bitch is nuts, and does not belong there.

That, and the Boston Globe has some of the best photojournalists, judging by the consistent quality of their multiple picture series like the one sourced. I've always loved going through them.

 

[zinfamous]

I'd say that if the shutter is fast enough to catch the muzzle flash, then it would likely eliminate any motion blur from the muzzle or ammo feed. Everything else you mention though, Ioknow.

 

[Quasmo]

Of course its fake, it says he's Canadian.

 

[JJ650]

Originally posted by: dammitgibs
Picture of minigun with muzzleflash
Source picture set and Boston Globe article

Figured there's lots of military type people here and photography and photoshop experts this would be a good place to ask

Reasons I think it's shooped;
1) Muzzle flash just looks odd to begin with
2) Looks to be flying at 3000-4000ft at least, tac effective range of a mini is 750-900m (tracer burnout) and max effective of 1500m, you can't hit shit at that altitude and 7.62 would be totally ineffective by the time it reached it's target
3) From what I see, he only has one hand on the gun (while it is possible to shoot with only one hand, I don't know of anyone who does)
4) His right thumb which is used to depress the lo-rate trigger is clearly off the trigger, unless this is a different sort of control unit than I'm familiar with.
5) No blur on the barrels which would be spinning at 2000 RPM (or 4000RPM on Hi-rate) and no motion blur on ammo feeding up to the gun

Thanks for any input

Well when shooting DOWN from high, that bullet is still going to carry a LOT of energy. More than enough to kill.
Miniguns don't really have a huge muzzle flash.

 

[Adam8281]

I say not shopped

 

[Aharami]

boston.com employs some phenomenal photojournalists. I have yet to see a meh or bad photo essay by them!

 

[Demo24]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
I'm not that familiar with that gun, but shouldn't there be shells in the air? Or do they collect them somehow?

EDIT: Should there be some reflection off his helmet?

Look at this pic and you can see the shell catcher running under the helicopter.


The first picture does look like he's up to high, but if you look at the one I posted it could just be an illusion. If you look to the left it looks much higher, look to the right and you can see they are actually lower.

 

[spidey07]

After looking at the picture again I'm really surprised that people think it isn't real.

 

[nakedfrog]

If it's bright, he could be using a high enough shutter speed that you couldn't see the motion blur.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...msdmTM&feature=related

About 1:50 into the video, you can see what the muzzle flash actually looks like.

 

[SonnyDaze]

Doesn't look shooped though that is a big muzzle flash for 7.62. As for the thumb off the trigger, the trigger system on this gun is located on the front and wouldn't need a thumb to fire.

Keep in mind this weapon on this platform is not necessarily meant for precision fire but more for suppressive fire. So even at a high altitude the weapon system can still be very effective at keeping some heads down and quelling rebellion.

Info on gun system.

Disclaimer: I'm not Canadian nor have I ever fired this gun.

 

[mugs]

.

 

[Number1]

All the pictures in the essay are probably photoshopped to some extend.

Why would you care?