Fake Sky Real Sky

At the Bay Area Photo Club's August Honor's Night this past Tuesday I got busted for using a transplanted sky in the image below....

The only problem with that is that it was the original sky! I did add an exposure correction layer in PS3 to lighten the mountain bluff and foreground because the original image was under exposed. I then added a mask with a gradient fill to the sky to eliminate hot spots this caused in the clouds. The mask was just a blunt force dark-to-light quickie from the top of the image to about the bottom third. I did not actually take the time to mask the horizon line.

There are no rules in the contest against using composite images in fact it happens quite a bit. I suppose the issue is mainly one of believability, if it looks real the issue is mostly mute.

I'm not faulting the judges for saying what they said, it's there job to report and comment on what they see. I'm just curious about what you think?

Palo Duro Canyon Cave

Another shot from Palo Duro Canyon State Park in North Texas. There are some people in the shot that provide a sense of scale to the scene (see them?)

Windmill At Palo Duro Canyon

This windmill and water tank stand not too far behind the amphitheater where park employees stage their famous outdoor shows at Palo Duro Canyon State Park outside of Canyon Texas.