What surprised me is that a huge number of images won awards or commendations that were clearly more photoshop than photograph and, to my eye, very clear, poorly constructed composites.
This surprised me a huge amount so I did some research, looking for any online community that was discussing this topic. I only actually found a couple and there seemed to be a highly polarised split between those who didn't care for this type of image, believing a photography salon should emphasise the quality of photography over the photographer's skill in compositing or photoshop, and the other camp who believed the final image is the only factor - who cares how it was created, the final look is what is important.
My personal position? I agree the final image is important but I believe photoshop should be a seamless compliment to an image. If something is "well-shopped", as it were, but still looks clearly fake/composited, in my opinion the final image has failed.
Enough intro - here are some examples of award winning images from recent exhibitions. Author names withheld to keep this impartial though I've linked to the exhibition sites in case anyone is particularly curious. For me, these are all examples of photoshopped images where I feel that, despite some skill in photoshop, the end result is either uninteresting or just looks like a complete fake to the overall detriment of the image.













Here is an example of something clearly photoshopped/composited but where I think the end result is actually effective in building the final image.

What do people think? Remember that all of the above images have won awards at the highest level of photographic exhibitions. Does anyone have experience in salons to know if this is a passing fad/phase? While I admit these examples are absolutely not to my tastes, there is a degree of skill in their creation and it's something I'd like to try my hand at. I'm not arguing that the end image is more important than any "purist" sense of getting it right in camera, I'm not a luddite, it's just these for me are examples where the final image has so many obvious artefacts or flaws the end result simply isn't effective. Definitely interested to hear what others think and what a camera club judge would make of them.
Maybe I'll try a series of them for the 2014/2015 season
