I checked with Shaun and this is the email reply he sent. Hope it clarifies.
“Hi Marie,
I’m actually rather a purist when it come to outdoor photos..
I would consider that cropping would be OK, but I reckon it’s better to compose carefully when you actually take the photo rather than try to rely on post-processing.
As for most other post-processing, I would not be in favour of it all. Certainly not removing or adding anything, altering colours, or merging two pictures.
I think acceptable post-processing would include: some shadow enhancement. Limited cropping. Unsharp mask to improve crispness. Basically anything that you would have done in the old darkroom to a print is allowable, but using photoshop to significantly alter images is not.
Of course, if a competitor is clever enough at using photoshop, I’m not going to be able to tell if it has been unfairly manipulated or not.
But it is probably worth saying that I would view this practice as unethical in the photo competition. If I found out an image had been unfairly manipulated, I would request that it was disqualified.
I hope that’s helpful.
Cheers Shaun”
