“Say whatever maximizes viewer trust”

• TTG photographers can respond to viewers’ reservations by saying as much as the photographer feels is necessary to optimize viewer trust in the TTG-qualified photo.

• Even when the TTG-IC version of the label is not needed, the photographer may choose to use the TTG-IC with a * to draw the viewer’s attention to the explanation.

Four situations in which the photographer might add an explanation:

Situation #1: The photo needs the TTG-IC version of the label in order to meet P8, but that label doesn’t sufficiently explain the photograph.

Handling of #1: The photographer using the TTG-IC label adds a * to that label to point to further explanation (“This is an optical illusion and does not depict what it appears to depict. The balloon is not actually larger than the horse, and the balloon is not in fact lifting the horse off the ground, as the photo appears to show.”)

Situation #2: An animal is photographed in a vast national game preserve that covers many square miles. The photo needs the TTG-IC version of the label to meet P8 because it was “a typically wild species photographed in less than fully wild conditions,” but the photographer wants viewers to know that the animal was not as tame as a pet and was not living in a zoo.

Handling of #2: The photographer attaches a * to the TTG-IC label and uses the separate explanation to tell viewers that the animal was photographed in very-near-to-wild conditions.

Situation #3: The photographer decides that a photo of star trails in the night sky does not need the TTG-IC label because most viewers understand what causes the bright parallel streaks in the dark sky.

Handling of #3: To clarify what is being depicted, the photographer attaches an explanation stating that “The curved star trails were caused by the rotation of the earth during a one-hour-long uninterrupted exposure.”

Situation #4: The photographer decides that the photo does not need the TTG-IC version of the label because there’s nothing “potentially deceptive” about the photo — but the photograph still looks so remarkable that viewers are likely to wonder if it is doctored or aigmented (see #3 on this page).

Handling of #4: The photographer attaches an explanation of why the photo is not deceptive and doesn’t need a TTG-IC: “This photo depicts exactly what it appears to depict: I took this photo from inside my kayak when I had fallen about halfway down Niagara Falls.”

To repeat: Apart from the need to attach the TTG-IC version of the label in some cases, TTG photographers have complete freedom in how they handle viewer alerts when they want viewers to trust a photograph.