Mediaite: “Obama Named 'Hero' In Official White House Photos”

From a January 28 Mediaite post by Colby Hall:

Well this is potentially embarrassing. It appears that the individual responsible for the naming convention of the presidential imagery on the official White House website has literally “given” hero status to the photos. Any effort to save the lead photos off the Whitehouse.gov homepage saves a file that starts with “hero_.” But its not ALL images on the site, nor the homepage. For example, the “Photo of the Day” is given the rather pedestrian name “P012710SA-0476.jpg.” Cue conservative critics using this as an example of the administrations Messianic complex in 3, 2, 1...Updated

For the non-blogging set, allow me to explain. Somebody at the White House is in charge of updating images on the White House website. And it appears that either that person (or more likely his or her boss) created some sort of naming structure for images of President Obama. Alas, it appears that this individual (or perhaps group of people) thought it smart/clever/ironic to name all the Presidential images by starting with the following prefix “hero_”.

Fox Nation repeats Mediaite item

Fox Nation promotes item, but ignores Mediaite's subsequent update. Fox Nation teased the Mediaite item on its front page on January 28:

The front-page tease linked to an article that in turn linked to Hall's Mediaite post. Fox Nation repeated the first two paragraphs of the item -- including the word “updated” at the end of the first paragraph -- but not the update itself:

Mediaite update: “Hero” is a photographic term for “image selected for final use”

From the Mediaite item:

Update -- a savvy commenter below points out the following: “Photographic Terminology & Glossary: When viewing a proof sheet or selection of images, the ”Hero" image is the image selected for final use. i.e. typically the best image from the selection."

The definition is taken from a “Photographic Terminology and Glossary” page posted on the Benjamin Townsend Photography website.

Conservative bloggers highlighted “hero” shots in March '09, noted that it's a photography term

Malkin: " '[H]ero shot' is a common photography term to describe the best images of a series of shots." In a March 10, 2009, post on her blog, Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin wrote:

Several bloggers are having good fun with the discovery of a subdirectory of White House photos categorized under the name “hero.” (See Small Dead Animals, Jeff Emanuel, and Bob McCarthy).

What's amusing is not that the term “hero” was used -- “hero shot” is a common photography term to describe the best images of a series of shots.

What's amusing is that every damned shot that's ever taken of Dear Leader is classified as a “hero shot.”

Outside the Beltway notes photography glossary definition. From a March 10, 2009, post on conservative blog Outside the Beltway:

UPDATE 2: Commenter Urbaniac may have solved our little mystery:

“Hero: When viewing a proof sheet or selection of images, the Hero image is the image selected for final use i.e. typically the best image from the selection.” -- Photography terms glossary

Not necessarily the most efficient way of cataloging the images but it makes some sense. The folder is protected (as it should be) so I can't review the images collectively but it would indeed be useful to have the “heroes” in a separate folder.