ok .. here is the link to my post on that forum...
http://www.digitalslr.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16734&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

BTW its a nice friendly little forum and yous are all welcome :-) esp the other ozzies that frequent here :-) we even have a friendly neighborhood Nikon bigot called Dug :-)

I also saw the video on either abc or cbs' web site. The croc is big, but the video shows he's not as big as in the doctored photo.

Hearty, can you let me know what forum has both photos? I'd like to see that for my own vindication.

TV video showed this guy at 18' (i did not see it but my dad said he did when we talked about it) and it did appear to be that large. Harder to fake a video than a picture.

LOL surprises me that you photographers don't see the fakeness! Haha.. well the croc is real and the boat is real but look at the exaggerated perspective.. the croc is really large in real life but in the photo its been increased in size by about 10-15%... the ozzie forum I go to has both the original( an others in the series) and the fake one :-) oi oi oi!

LOL poor experts who have to eat their words haha !

I followed the article chain and they are all saying it's real, they have seen it on the camera and I believe them. I would say it was zoomed a bit and some harsh mid-day sun that gives it that odd compression and lighting. I think Tcole1983's video link proves it's real.

Tcole1983 - Thanks for that video

Looks fake to me. I haven't been on this tour but others with alligators and there is no way I would just be hanging out that close to the edge with something that big coming out of the water to eat.

I agree with casper and warprints...the size is off. IMO there are too many things wrong with it and really...the person would be hanging half off the boat only feet away to get a shot of a massive croc that is going to jump out of the water and eat something...why not the photographer? I see no wake coming off the boat and back at the croc. The people would be looking at it especially if the guy was dangling something there for that to happen. The way the meat is hanging looks off...the guy doesn't appear to be moving his arm, but yet the string is angled back and I doubt the croc would miss it that bad if he wasn't moving it. /shrug oh well.

edit: Compared to this it looks really fake...
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/brutus-picture-not-a-crock/story-e6frea6u-1226094943353?from=public_rss

The croc is probably real, and the tourists are real, the problem is that the image of the croc was enlarged --- I don't care what the reuters article says. News media also said Casey Anthony would be convicted.

The stick is not to tap the croc on the nose, it is to make it come up to get the piece of meat on the end of the stick. Have been there, done that, numerous times (and not just as a tourist). The croc would not overshoot the meat on the string like that. downsize the image of the croc, put it just below the meat, and you have the original photo.

okay guys, here it is from the horses [austrailians] mouth

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/15/uk-australia-crocodile-idUSLNE76E01220110715

it is real, from Dundee country

The sad thing, not a Nikon DSLR on that boat.

whtchocla7e said:
If the croc is fake, it begs the question what the hell was in that water!?

Think about it. The people are real. What else could they have seen?

A fat chick in a bikini? :) That croc is definitely real and he's one huge MOFO! Can you imagine how many croc skinned Leica cameras they could make out of him! I wonder though if this is a tame, if that's even possible, croc in some kind of sanctuary for crocs? He's missing a leg so maybe he was cared for and raised there. Could be that he is use to humans being around him. It might explain why he's so big too. He is fed regularly so he's ultra pudged up.

If the croc is fake, it begs the question what the hell was in that water!?

Think about it. The people are real. What else could they have seen?

you have about 6 feet of croc out of the water, so that will make it what 35-40 feet, and than the people do not look alarmed, one even has the camera pointed and waiting for the shot, and someone has a pipe to tap it on the nose.

If a croc that size came out of the water would you be so calm and tap it with a puny pipe, you would be on the other side of the boat, unless you were Dundee.

front feet straight down, no water splshes, woman behind man if red shirt very cool, two feet away from a maneater with a camcorder.

the head of the croc nearly as large as a man.

photoshopped.

I don't know ... people looking in the wrong direction isn't a valid argument. Crocks are pretty damn fast, so when the shot was taken, it is very possible that some people hadn't turned in the right direction yet.

What puzzles me, is how there is a lack of water splashes in the air. Then again looking at the comments of PS experts, it seems that it is the real deal.

Seems real enough to me- the shadows look very realistic and feel very consistent. That some people are not looking in the same direction also does not surprise me- in real life, people are always looking in different directions, even if there is something unusual going on in front of them (they may be talking to their neighbors, or looking to see how other people are reactiving).

This is why I never go skinny-dipping in the Adelaide River!

fake

Holy Moly! Or should I say Oi!

Some "online experts" say this photo is fake because the shadows don't match and the people on the boat are looking in the wrong direction, etc. I say it's on the internet so it has to be real ;^)

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2011/07/14/247041_ntnews.html