[AndyK (Andy)]

Originally Posted by MLyons

There was a local photographer who entered a pic in a local photographic competition of the full moon, on the Western horizon, just after sunset.
I objected and stated the reasons why it was impossible for that to occur and that his explanation of how he took the image was a blatant lie, but he is a highly respected photographer........his image won

It was poor form for that photographer to misrepresent how the photo was taken however in most cases it actually doesn't matter and is almost always within the rules if an entry in a photography competition is manipulated or is a combination of several shots. In fact many competitions from club to international level have a "creative" category where manipulation is actively encouraged.

Several years ago I won a section in the inaugural Canon Photo5 competition with a photograph of my grandchildren placing stars on the night sky. You can see it HERE
It was an obvious combination of shots but fell well inside the rules.

Manipulation only becomes an issue in certain categories such as "nature" or "photojournalism" where images are meant to be both documentary and artistic and the rules are very specific.