To Canada From Maupin, Ay?

[glasseye]

Is extensive post-image processing cheating? I'm not sure how I feel about it. Those merged bracketed photos often seem cartoonish.
Before it was all darkroom dodge/burn. Now with PCs, what is reality any more?

In the photography world, the manipulation begins when you put the viewfinder to your eye. Manipulation of the audience is the whole point. Photoshop et al simply provide more and better tools for manipulation. Like any tool, how those tools are used is the "art" part.

Saying "manipulation is bad" is a waste of breath. Manipulation is here to stay. Think for a second about Colin's shot of the bus backed up to a HUGE trailer thingie, looking like he was towing it. He manipulated us skillfully. No Photoshop, either.

There is no "reality".

[Westy78]

The thing with HDR if not overdone, is that it more captures what your eye was actually seeing. Remember trying to take a photo of the creek when we were at Barlow? What the eye was seeing (reflections, the sparkle of the water, etc.) couldn't be captured with a single shot of a digital camera which in itself could be argued to be cheating.

No detail in the shadows.....

[bretski]

No detail in the shadows.....

Too bad, Jasan. That Sasquatch picture would have been your lifetime meal-ticket...