CT&L Defaces Petroglyphs on St. John, USVI

[TXDillon]

In the current issue of CT&L (Dec 2008), there is a nice article on St. John, USVI. However, one of the photographs in the accompanying story (p. 66) depict the petroglyphs off the Reef Bay Trail as being painted with a white paint! Hopefully, this was done in Photoshop as the carvings are difficult to photograph in their natural state. Defacing the petroglyphs in person to get them to display more prominently in the magazine would not only be distasteful and disrespectful, but illegal, as this is a protected National Park.
Please let us know what happened as there are many of us that are shocked at the depiction of the petroglyphs in this manner.
I've taken many photos of the petroglyphs that I took great pains to capture.
Please tell us that this was not an intentional act of vandalism just to get a good image!

Rod

[adminforum]

Freelance photographer Steve Simonsen, a longtime resident of St. John, replies:

“First of all let me just assure you that only blackboard chalk was used and that in as little time as it takes for water to evaporate, all markings were removed. I thank this reader for reminding me to stick to my roots of simply capturing nature in all of its glory as it is intended to be.”

[TXDillon]

I have one of Mr. Simonson's books and have always admired his beautiful work. He is a legend among photographers and I try to learn from each of his images. This will remind me also to capture true images of the beauty of the islands without altering it for my own benefit.
Rod