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Right in the middle of a rainy moment, a tiny bird becomes the star of something truly magical—a perfect water droplet lands on its head, forming a crown-like splash that feels almost unreal. The timing is flawless, capturing a split second where nature turns playful.
The photo was taken by Lee Schofer and posted by his partner, Kate Weyer, on her Facebook.
#NaturePhotography #Plant #Plants #Flower #Flowers #Animal #Animals #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Photographer
x.com/Sci_Nature0/status/20458…

2045886932463304729

Science & Nature (X (formerly Twitter))
#plants #naturephotography #flowers #wildlife #animals #animal #wildlifephotography #plant #photographer #flower
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to Marianne

mastodon - Link to source

Claudia Zahn

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@noodlemaz @BelfastRoadster

x.com/Sci_Nature0/status/20458…

2045886932463304729

Right in the middle of a rainy moment, a tiny bird becomes the star of something truly magical—a perfect water droplet lands on its head, forming a crown-like splash that feels almost unreal.
Science & Nature (X (formerly Twitter))
@Jonny Clark @Marianne
in reply to Claudia Zahn

mastodon - Link to source

Marianne

@BelfastRoadster I'm not assuming it is AI. Just agreeing with the comment that one of the worst things about #genAI is calling all kinds of otherwise cool and awesome things into question in our minds.
I hate that that's a thing now.

Especially when it comes to birbs

Edit to add - the reasons I do question this one are because the droplet, even though it's broken, seems to make no impact on the head feathers, which wouldn't be solid. The bird's eyes unreactive. The fact the named photographer didn't post it themselves. The text is also suspect.

#genai @Jonny Clark
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
in reply to Claudia Zahn

akkoma - Link to source

Ibly 🏳️‍⚧️

posting AI slop is one thing, but posting it and then attributing to people who don’t fucking exist is another. what the fuck is wrong with you?

i genuinely believed in this just because you attributed people, i guess i need to do my due dillegence now to make sure people exist, because chucklefucks like you are willing to lie about it so your AI slop gets 500 internet points.

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to Claudia Zahn

akkoma - Link to source

Ibly 🏳️‍⚧️

alright, now why don't you actually link to the photo they took, instead of being coy?

even disregarding the potential of this being AI slop, it's a dick move to post someone else's photo, and *not* link back to where you found it, especially when it's fucking impossible to browse facebook if you don't have an account.

but hey, while you're at it, explain the literally impossible physics phenomena, where the rain drops in the background are somehow still falling, while the foreground raindrop isn't a blurry mess?

Unknown parent

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Albert Hickey

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@pycomtois @luckychronic @BelfastRoadster
As a bit of fun I searched for the photographers name and nothing came up related to this image. Then queried Co-pilot and Gemini if this is AI and both AI agents said it's AI.

Gemini's analysis. Again, may not be accurate but....

Still, a cool artistic image, but sad it's not real.

@Pierre-Yves Comtois @Jonny Clark @Lucky
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

Pierre-Yves Comtois

@luckychronic @BelfastRoadster The depth of field seems inconsistent. A drop of water would form a symmetrical ring if it hit a flat surface, but that’s not the case here. And the large drop above the ring forms when a drop falls into a liquid. When something looks too good to be true, it raises doubts. #AISlop
#aislop @Jonny Clark @Lucky
This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to MvRiederberg

mastodon - Link to source

Claudia Zahn

@mavori

Ich habe keine Ahnung, wie sich Wassertropfen auf Gefieder verhalten. Ich nehme mal an, das Gefieder ist wasserabweisend.
Bisher wurden fünf Checks durchgeführt und es steht 2,5:2,5.

mastodon.social/@makerblock/11…

mastodon.social/@hans_zelf@mas…

Mastodon

mastodon.social

MakerBlock

2026-04-20 15:54:43

mastodon - Link to source

@BelfastRoadster I put the image through four different AI image detectors. Two said definitely fake and two said definitely not-AI. 🙄🤷

@MvRiederberg
in reply to Claudia Zahn

mastodon - Link to source

MvRiederberg

Naja. Erstens: Physik – ich weiß, nicht beliebt. Aber hilfreich.
weltderphysik.de/gebiet/materi…

Zweitens: Wildtierfotograf namens Lee Schofer? Unbekannt.

Muss nicht AI sein – könnte auch Photoshop sein. Aber definitiv nicht real.

Tropfendynamik

Ob Treibstoff in einen Motor eingespritzt wird oder sich Wolken in der Atmosphäre bilden – viele Vorgänge lassen sich nur simulieren, wenn das Verhalten einzelner Tropfen bekannt ist.
www.weltderphysik.de
in reply to MvRiederberg

mastodon - Link to source

08/15 R.I.P. Natenom🖤

@mavori
@Adrenochrome

1. Für Tropfenfotos braucht man Lichtschranken und schnelle Blitze. Im Auge des Rotkehlchen spiegelt sich normales Licht von oben, kein (Outdoor)Blitz.

2. Vögel sind schnell in der Reaktion. Hier sitzt ein völlig entspanntes Rotkehlchen, obwohl im gerade ein (Größenvergleich) Liter auf den Kopf geprallt ist?

Entweder der Vogel ist ausgestopft und das ist eine aufwendige Studioaufnahme, oder es ist KI.

@Claudia Zahn @MvRiederberg
in reply to Albert Hickey

mastodon - Link to source

Hans Zelf 🇪🇺🌻

@winkleink @pycomtois @luckychronic @BelfastRoadster I checked it on another tool and it gives the picture the benefit of the doubt ("uncertain, probably real").
aiphotocheck.com/

AI Image Detector - Free AI Photo Detection Tool

Detect AI-generated images instantly with our free AI image detector. Uses 17 detection methods including machine learning, PRNU analysis, and C2PA verification.
AI Photo Check
@Pierre-Yves Comtois @Jonny Clark @Albert Hickey @Lucky
in reply to FinchHaven sfba

mastodon - Link to source

Marianne

@FinchHaven those of us who appreciate photography, wildlife, physics even, care. AI is filling our information ecosystem with garbage. Misinformation spreading is part of the fascist project. When we can no longer believe our eyes and ears, bad actors thrive.

Yep it's 'just' a pic of a bird with some made up splash bullshit. But the fact this is the kind of rubbish we see daily now is a real problem and something people are right to be angry about. #genAI #AIslop

#genai #aislop @FinchHaven sfba
in reply to Marianne

mastodon - Link to source

FinchHaven sfba

Perhaps a little personal backgrounder is in order

I have +25 years as a professional digital still and video photographer

I've used Adobe Creative Cloud's Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Premier Pro, and Adobe Audition to post-process tens of thousands of Canon CR2 RAW photos, and unedited video

I have some sense of what is real photography, what is AI butchered photography, and what has been created by AI alone

And again, I say, who the fuck *really* cares about something like this?

It's clearly for fun

Maybe everyone let a little whimsy into your lives and stop feeling like you have tell other people where they're wrong

Save your Smartest Little Boy schtick for something important, mkay?

cc @Adrenochrome

@Claudia Zahn
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
in reply to Claudia Zahn

mastodon - Link to source

FinchHaven sfba

Yeah, I mean, that's exactly where I am

I love photos -- no, strike that: images -- and simply love something new and entertaining

And, as I just posted to another thread, a whole hell of a lot of #AI experts simply seem to have never heard of Adobe Photoshop

I'm so old I can remember when the goto put-down gotcha! tag was "'shopped!!!"

Now people with no clue see anything unusual and it's all with the "AI!! AI!! AI!!'

#ai
in reply to Claudia Zahn

glitchsoc - Link to source

Lyn ​

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hey, just fyi y'all can use the Google SynthID watermark checker to verify that this was AI-generated.

deepmind.google/technologies/s…

SynthID

SynthID is a tool to watermark and identify AI-generated content, helping to foster transparency and trust in generative AI.
Google DeepMind

reshared this

in reply to Cassandrich

glitchsoc - Link to source

Lyn ​

@dalias typing @SynthID in a Gemini message forces a SynthID tool call to execute before the LLM runs. The LLM receives the output from the SynthID checker (a very normal old-school program) + your message as context.

Of course the LLM could still randomly decide to lie about the result of the tool call, that's why I ran this and similar queries multiple times in different chat contexts.

To answer why I'm using an LLM to do this at all: There simply seems to be no other way to reliably use the SynthID checker (sometimes the Google reverse image search executes it and notifies you of a positive but sometimes it also doesn't) , this is the only supported way by Google (even tho I still consider it bad design).

@Cassandrich
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

Claudia Zahn

@devnull @hans_zelf @winkleink @pycomtois @luckychronic @BelfastRoadster

"And that "Lee Schofer" photographer is nowhere to be found on the web… 🤔"

You just have to look for it.

instagram.com/leeschophotograp…

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
Instagram
@Pierre-Yves Comtois @🐧DaveNull🐧 ☣️pResident Evil☣ @Jonny Clark @Albert Hickey @Hans Zelf 🇪🇺🌻 @Lucky
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

🐧DaveNull🐧 ☣️pResident Evil☣

@hans_zelf Well… Platforms such as Mastodon delete metadata.

This is more likely AI slop or made up in some photo editing software… The bird would react if they got a big drop of water on her head and it would not form a symmetrical crown.

It would form a ring… on a flat surface/water container, not on a curved surface such as a head

And that "Lee Schofer" photographer is nowhere to be found on the web… 🤔

@Adrenochrome @winkleink @pycomtois @luckychronic @BelfastRoadster

@Pierre-Yves Comtois @Jonny Clark @Albert Hickey @Hans Zelf 🇪🇺🌻 @Claudia Zahn @Lucky
This entry was edited (6 days ago)
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