As mentioned in my previous post

[HAB911]

I am a member of a couple of groups which have no rules about photography. One of the group’s tag-line is a quote by Bill Brandt.

“Photography has no rules, it is not a sport. It is the result which counts, no matter how it is achieved.” - Bill Brandt⁠ (https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Bill_Brandt)

In the back of my brain there has been this question rattling around ever since our kerfuffle when Andy, rest in peace, entered a photo in the style of Margaret Keane in one of our contests. (cat with big eyes) I remember being excoriated by someone in GD, that the photo “was not photography”, and I’m sure this member takes photos with their smart phone and marvels at how good the photo is. I countered that photography is much more than a pin-hole box camera.

Which reminds me of some other quotes:
There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs. - Ansel Adams
You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved. - Ansel Adams
The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it! - Ansel Adams

Ok, I love Ansel Adams.
I, being the mild- mannered person I am, felt reluctant to open the subject for discussion, but I think Mousetoescamper’s post today, about modest postproduction opened that door. I do remember seeing, although I can’t find it now, a statement, paraphrased, that entries in contests should be more photographic than works of the graphic arts.

So what has been rattling around in my brain is the question of where the line between modest post manipulation and graphic arts really is (for the consumers of our craft here). I wish Andy were here to comment, but I do know his opinion on one aspect of that question. In the context of the automatic manipulation performed by modern cameras and especially cell-phone photography, there is little room to critique manipulation in post. At this point, I will say that personally, any photo I post has nothing more than color saturation and sharpening applied in post. I agree with Mousetoescamper that use of Generative AI without so being labeled should not be presented as “out of the camera photography”. However, machine learning AI that learns from one’s last photo adjustments is an entirely different animal, imo.

Sorry for the long post, tequila does that to me. I will end by saying I love all the photos posted here, I am equipment agnostic, and would enjoy seeing some pin-hole photographs with an aperture of f/250.
Anyway, here is a fun, real photo take with a cat lens, with some creative filter applied.