A suggestion for future photo contests

[HAB911]

18. My concern

is making things more technical, complicated, and heavy will remove the fun. Folks that shoot with a camera explaining the details of their work is ok, but what do the folks shooting with a phone say about their photos? As Andy states, the phones are doing more automatically than most of the camera submissions. I don’t think the two should fight each other on technical terms. For instance, without fail, I process my photos through LightroomClassic, Photoshop w/Topaz Denoise and if needed Sharpen, and then downsize from 6016 pixels to 1024. If the very thought of that much processing is too much for some, there’s a problem. Requiring the raw files to be submitted would be terminal for any contest, removing all creativity or artistry.

But the complaint as I understand it is associated with major, or perhaps minor, changes to the subject of the photo, as opposed to the actual processing. So, the task at hand should be drawing a line that cannot be crossed in submissions, which might simplify the process of revising the rules.