First let me say “photoshopping” or using software to altering the digital images is permitted for this contest. It would be nearly impossible to police the contest if “photoshopping” was not allowed.
Altering photo images is as old as photography itself. Before the digital age the finished image was completed in the darkroom. There were numerous techniques used to alter and/or improve the image. Contrast was often adjusted and even contrast in just one area of a picture was adjusted by a process called dodging and burning. Even the final picture there was artist techniques to reduce skin flaws, wrinkles and blemishes. Dust spots on the lens were covered on the final picture using a soft lead pencil which in the past I have done many times myself.
In this
LINK see how Ansel Adams describes how he used the darkroom to take a “straight print” or what photographers today call the raw image to an award winning photograph.
Each board member must make up their own mind as to how much “photoshopping” they will accept and vote according.
