In order to determine where one must draw the line in a photography contest, as far as using digital manipulation, one must first ask what is the true definition of photography? According to the online dictionary website, merriam-webster.com, photography is the art or process of producing images by the action of radiant energy and especially light on a sensitive surface. So if this definition is correct, a “photography” contest leaves no room for digital manipulation using software such as Photoshop Elements. Personally, I believe that Photoshop is a necessary tool in order for someone to crop, brighten, darken, and convert their photos to grayscale because these are all things that can be done in a darkroom while making prints. Once we start using this “digital darkroom” to make changes to photos that drastically manipulate the overall composition of the photo we are no longer creating photography, but rather photo art. If I was putting together a photography contest I would solve this problem by making a separate contest category for digital manipulation. Ridgewater College in Willmar actually hosts a photography contest for area high school students to compete in during the annual skills fest. When I was in high school I participated in this for two years. The contest was broken up into three different categories, student life, nature, and digital manipulation. This was nice because it prevented the controversy of having a photoshoped photo win over an original photo. Don’t get me wrong though, I think Photoshop is magnificent software. It’s fun to tweak photos and you can yield some very impressive results if you know
what you're doing. But, I think there is a difference between photography and photo art. There’s nothing better than going out and taking a beautiful snapshot. If you do this the correct way, you shouldn’t have to spend any time editing your photos. A photo loses value when it undergoes drastic manipulation and I would argue that then it is no longer considered a photograph.
I like that you put a real picture compared to art, and I'm with ya on photo shop it's fun but it's not for contesta.
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