# PULSE (Rotabird): photo sources

All photos are real stock from Pexels, used under the Pexels License (free to use, with no attribution required).
There are no AI images and no credits shown on the site. The originals are in `_research/c-{id}.jpg`.
Edits are made by `prep_photos.py` (crop, logo removal) and `grade.py` (shared colour grade).

| Use | Pexels page | Photographer | Original | Used crop | Displayed (CSS px) | Source ÷ displayed (need ≥ 3×) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hero, barista with a tablet (Lens B3 #4) | https://www.pexels.com/photo/6205514/ | Tim Douglas | 3317×4650 | 3317×4146 (4:5, top) | 430×600 desktop · 358×470 mobile | 7.7× / 9.3× |
| "The 22:00 rota problem", bar at night (**substitute**, see below) | https://www.pexels.com/photo/4353612/ | Ketut Subiyanto | 8133×5422 | full frame (3:2) | 591×394 · 358×239 | 13.8× / 22.7× |
| "What your staff see", baristas on their phones (Lens B3 #1) | https://www.pexels.com/photo/4349761/ | Ketut Subiyanto | 6000×3375 | 4500×3000 (4:3, centre) | 603×453 · 358×269 | 7.5× / 12.6× |
| Pair (c), hand holding a phone (Lens B1 #4) | https://www.pexels.com/photo/8947174/ | Kaboompics | 3955×5932 | full frame | 700×1050 on the 1400×900 stage | 5.6× (and the app screen inside it: 1170×2421 capture → 1071×2218 quad, downscale only) |

Every photo is at least 3× its displayed size (the hero, for example, needs 1290×1800 at 3× and the source is 3317×4146), and is only ever scaled down.

## Notes per photo
- **Hero 6205514.** This is Lens's B3 #4 (same café as B3 #3). Story's brief asked for a barista glancing at a *phone*. In this shot she is reading a tablet at the counter. It is a real, unstaged-looking scene that fits "checking the rota", and it has the right morning light. Checked at 100%: the face, hands and tablet are all natural.
- **Problem 4353612: substitute.** Story wanted a café owner in their 40s alone at a table after closing, with chairs stacked behind. None of Lens's B3 picks show that; they are all daytime staff shots. This photo has the same late, dim, sharp mood: two people at a bar counter in the evening, looking at a laptop, with backs to the camera, so no faces. It is not branded. The laptop screen is a blur of light with no logo. It is graded with the "mood" flag so it stays dim.
- **Staff 4349761.** This is Lens's top B3 pick. The green phone case had a visible **Apple logo** (a brand cue). `prep_photos.py` removes it by refilling a 112×70 px box on the matte case with a smooth fitted surface plus grain. Checked at 100%: the result is seamless. The hands, nails and bracelets are all natural, with five fingers on each visible hand.
- **Hand 8947174.** This is Lens's B1 #4: a frontal phone in a coral case on a white wall. FORME used 9558700 (B1 #1), so this is a different hand. The coral case matches PULSE's accent colour. The phone front shows no logo. Grade: white balance and saturation only. Its levels are left alone so the white wall stays white.

## Not used
- Story's photo #4 (hands with a phone at the counter, square). The page has no slot for it in the final layout. The phone-in-hand job is done by 8947174 in pair (c).
- Also downloaded and reviewed, but not used: 6205515, 6205507, 6205512, 6205496, 6205497, 6205538, 4349771, 4350085, 4350059, 6373210, 6612384, 6612379, 6278759, 16537981, 19257079, 26733059, 27685507, 19632034, 6223002, 6152377, 36729739, 31523252, 11586010.