The British photographer David Byrne was eliminated from the contest "Landscape Photographer of the Year" for having used in photo to much Photoshop, named "Boat of Lindisfarne."
This was the sixth version of the competition, which awards the overall winner with about 30 thousand euros and has a total of 11 categories.
The image was chosen from thousands of participants. By winning the competition, the photographer said he did not expect the prize and you get "the final had been brilliant."
Winning, Byrne added, "was something of another world", which then had to pass the award to Simon Butterworth, who competed with a picture of an old decaying housing project in Glasgow, Scotland.
The contest rules prevent manipulations that "alter the physical integrity of the picture," he explained as the founder of the award, and one of the most celebrated landscape photographers in Britain, Charlie Waite.
"We had to do this. He (Byrne) have not read the rules," said Waite.
Internet discussion
Although they succeeded in altering the awards, the organizers of the contest came to print the book with the best pictures of the year even with former winner.
A heated debate on the internet blogs of photographers had been trying to prove that there was tampering with the photo. Criticism has concetravam in the shadows of the boats position relative to the sun and the lack of vegetation in some parts.
The organizers said that initially, the information of the camera used to take the photo (which are sent to the jurors) were in accordance with the displayed image, which would remove the possibility of manipulation.
But, he said Waite, "further examinations and conversations with the author" resulted in the disqualification of the candidate.
"He did not want to mislead the jury," said Waite.
Byrne entered your photo in category "Clasic View". The changes made in the photo would have been accepted in the "Your View", which allows greater use of Photoshop.
The contest organizers have promised to improve the process of examination of jurors photos before making the choice to 2013.
The best photos of the contest will be on display at the National Theatre in London between November 12 and January 12.
