How to Get Yourself Disqualified from Winning a Nat-Geo Contest

One of these things is not like the other. One of these things doesn't belong. Can you tell which thing is not like the others, before it gets disqualified from winning a National Geographic Photo Contest? The Winning Photo (Dethroned) The Original Image   Well, it's kind of too late for photographer Harry Fisch. He captured the above image at a Nomad Photo Expedition and it was chosen from over 22,000 entries as the winner. The exciting news was only short-lived however...only a few days later Fisch was informed that his entry was disqualified from the competition. If you couldn't tell already, it's because he altered the photo against the contest's rules. In this case it was removing a plastic bag at the right of the frame. The use of Photoshop or any other manipulation in photography contests has been the source of scrutiny since photography contests have existed. Some contests even state that the picture has to come straight out of the camera with no editing whatsoever. Nowadays some slight shopping is allowed: For the most part you can crop all you want with slight adjustments to contrast and color; even some dodging and burning here and there is allowed. A big no-no is using the clone tool, compositing multiple images together, or generally any other pixel mashing. Even being from NJ is enough to get you disqualified. Stuff like this seems to happen a lot...are people even reading the rules before they enter? Either way, how would you feel if a plastic bag got in the way being featured in National Geographic and winning a 10 day photography expedition in the Galapagos? Answer: Not so good.