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What is a Manipulated Image - Club Rules

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What is Manipulation?

“The false representation of an image, to portray a scene that did not actually exist at the time of capture”
Many if not most Photographic clubs have competitions and many of these clubs will apply rules to these competitions. I wish to address one of these rules and hope to set guidelines where the rule states “No Manipulation”.
What do we mean by No Manipulation? This is a very grey area which I hope to address in this document and try to set a standard. Technically all digital photographs produced in any format other than RAW have been manipulated.
In the analog/35mm world by using filters, different film material, special lenses and film processing techniques was this question of manipulation ever raised as a standard for club rules?
One of the roles of a photographic club is to help develop the photographic skills of their members. I have taken this into consideration for my recommendations to allow techniques that do not alter the original image but do require additional photographic and editing skills in order to capture a “better picture”.
 

Sharpening, Contrast, Brightness and Colour

Whether you use a compact or DSLR digital camera and you shoot in any format other than RAW, sharpening, contrast, brightness and colour enhancements would have been applied to the picture by the camera’s own software. So what is the difference between the camera manipulating the image or a photographer shooting in a RAW format and applying these effects using photo editing software?
To class the above effects as manipulation would exclude all photos taken by digital cameras that cannot produce RAW images. Where RAW images are produced they would be in the main, very flat and lifeless reducing the quality and amount of pictures entered into any competition.
My recommendation would be that any adjustments of sharpening, contract, brightness and colour is NOT classed as MANIPULATION of the photograph.
 

Black and White

All digital photographs are produced or recorded through colour filters on the censor in the camera. If a camera has a Black and White setting then the image is adjusted by the camera’s own software to produce a black and white image. This is no different than a colour photograph being turned to black and white by a photographer using photo editing software.
To exclude BW images as being manipulated would be loosing old imaging techniques.
I would therefore recommend that BW photographs are NOT classed as MANIPULATION.
 

Toned Images

This is a very difficult one. If an image has been toned to say a sepia colour, what is the difference than toning to black and white?
I would personally say that this IS MANIPULATION but cannot give a good reason why, other than it is not a true representation of the original scene, but nor is a BW image?
 

Split – Black, White and Colour

If an image has been edited so that part of the image is in colour and other parts in BW then this is not a true representation of the original scene and must therefore be classed as MANIPULATION.
 

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

The human eye can see hundreds if not thousands of more tones in colours than a modern camera. This involves taking three or more pictures at different exposures of the same scene. Taken to a pixel accuracy then overlaying them using photo editing software, to produce one image across multiple exposures using tones from all the other images.
HDR is a modern technique that is an attempt by the photographer to produce an image that is nearer to a realistic portrayal of the original scene than can be produced by a single image. The original scene that the photographer was trying to capture has not been altered but expressed in more detail.
It takes a certain amount of skill and knowledge of the photographer in order to capture these images
If HDR was to be classed as manipulation then you will need to consider, is a photographer using lens filters considered as manipulation.
I recommend that HDR techniques are NOT classed as MANIPULATION.
 

Photo Stitching

Photo stitching involves taking multiple shots of overlapping images to produce a bigger, wider and possibly more detailed picture of the scene the photographer is trying to capture.
The final picture could capture the same area, angle of vision, as using a wider angled lens or the same detail captured by a medium format camera.
Photo Stitching is only a replacement for a larger wide angle lens.
For example, the detail captured from say 6 stitched overlapping photos using an 18mm lens on a 10 mega pixel camera could produce the same size image as a 12 mm lens on a medium format camera. To class this method as manipulation, is the same as penalizing someone for not being able to afford more expensive equipment.
By allowing photo stitching you are allowing the photographer to produce a picture that could have been taken using more expensive equipment, and not restricting the quality of pictures produced by size of the persons wallet or purse.
It can take a lot of photographic skills and knowledge to capture multiple overlapping photos which have the same exposure and depth of field so that the final image has no visible joins and colour or depth of field variations.
Cropping is not generally classed as manipulation but it is the same as stitching only in reverse.
As long as the final image is a true representation of the original scene being photographed with nothing take out or added, I recommend that Photo Stitching is NOT classed as MANIPULATION.
 

What Is Classed as Photo Manipulation?

Apart from that already mentioned above, photo manipulation in this context is the altering of an image so that it no longer represents an exact copy of all the elements of the original scene being photographed:
 

Removing Objects

The removal of any element of the photograph thereby producing a picture that is not an exact copy of the scene being photographed.
For example:
  • Removing a blade of grass that might be obscuring part of the image or subject being photographed.
  • Removing skin blemishes on a portrait photograph.
    •  

    Adding Objects

    The adding of any element to a photograph thereby changing the actual scene that has been recorded.
    For example:
    • Adding a bird in the sky on a landscape photograph.
    • Adding or replacing the sky from another picture.
      •  

      Blur (Depth of Field)

      Adding or enhancing the blur to an image to create a false depth of field that was not captured on the original image.
      The reason I have included this is that getting the correct depth of field for a photograph is a camera skill and if allowed would encourage laziness in the photographer not developing their skills to get the required setting correct on the original image.
       

      Motion Blur

      The adding of motion blur or any other effect to simulate movement when there was no movement in the original photo.
       

      Colour Manipulation

      Changing the colour of an item(s) in the image. If a subject in the image has a red coat, changing this to any other colour.
       

      Effects

      Effects like smoothing skin, making your models eyes sparkle etc.
       

      Comments

      Looking on the web there is much discussion about this subject but the one I found most interesting is:
      Steves Digicams
      Digital Photography is no longer a new subject and must be accepted together with all its external editing tools the same as analogue photography and it post processing techniques.