It's All About DPC:

Hi D-

In answer to your question- I don't want to cheat. They have rules to perserve the integrity of the photography; they don't want a "Photoshop" site, and I can't say as I blame them. The more manipulation of photos that you allow, the less it becomes "real" photography and more like digital art.

The funny thing is if I had the full version of Adobe Photoshop I could use a different technique that is legal, and would produce the same results as the method I was using. (it has to do with layers and blending modes, kind of complicated to explain here.)

I only have Photoshop Elements, which is a smaller version of the program. Elements itself is wonderful. I absolutely love it. I just read this morning that version 3.0 is coming out, maybe that will include more "toys" to play with. It shouldn't cost that much to upgrade (I hope) since I already have version 2.0.

One member called for a "level playing field", but life isn't like that, you know? I don't have a fancy camera or the expensive graphics program, so that puts me at a disadvantage. The people who have the expensive stuff and the talent to go with it win the ribbons. But, there are a lot of people who have the stuff and yet no talent.

Life is made easier for those who have money, but yet they have a different set of problems to contend with. I just have to try a little bit harder. Right now I'm a bit "blocked" on my photography, nothing looks good to me. I hope it will pass.