I have been watching the Celebrate Michigan ^[1] photo contest since the beginning of May. I submitted a few photos early on and watched the progression and addition of photos.

I knew I most likely wouldn’t win, so when they released the winners I was content until I seen what they were. As I clicked the link to view the winner gallery ^[2]. I was appaled to find that some of the winners were hardly photos at all, in my eyes.Most tone mapped/HDR images are in no way photos in my opinion, as they aren’t natural as the eye would see it. Many of these photos were manipulated in this way, or were photoshopped beyond realism (such as Kevin Cliffords photo, which is more like a painting, then a photo. How can drugged up colors like a purple river ever be acceptable?). In addition to this was a poorly created panorama that was partially underexposed, with seams and vignetting showing. I know photos don’t have to be masterpieces, but some of them don’t capture how the location would look in real life.

Phoographers such as Ryan Southen and Adrian Platts should have ranked higher then many of these photos. First, third, were good photos and are examples of what should have been seen in the winners gallery.

Am I just overreacting, or are fake images giving false impressions of Michigan?