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Right, now that I have warned you off, let me get right down to it. This is about the rule that stipulates that all digital entries for photographic competitions should be in the RAW format. This effectively shuts me out of all such competitions as the RAW mode in my camera is too slow for wildlife photography.
I understand that this is a requirement to ensure that none of the images are digitally manipulated but surely ,with the advances in technology , there has to be other ways to detect manipulation of images. For example one rule states that all images are to be taken in the wild. How do you ensure that?
What this rule basically does is that it eliminates a majority of the people who actually live and work in our Protected Areas ( for the simple reason that we cannot afford the equipment ). These people or WE have the most at stake when it comes to survival of wildlife because, to put it crudely, if wildlife does not survive then we can’t feed our families.
At lot (not all) of the people who participate in these competitions are basically weekend shooters who have other means to earn a living and the extinction of our wildlife while causing them mental anguish would definitely not lead to any financial impact.
Very often I personally feel like the “ native tracker “ who does all the hard work but gets no recognition as the weekend photographer or the “ white hunter “ hogs all the credit.
Here is an interesting link that asks a different question but of a similar nature.
http://guytal.com/wordpress/?p=320
I have been living in wilderness areas ever since I graduated from college and have been using a camera for most of that time. This year finally I managed to take a photograph which I felt was good enough to be submitted for these competitions ( Sanctuary Asia’s to begin with ) only to find out that I can not because it is shot in JPEG.
This eliminates my entire digital output from competition. Is it not frustrating?
I agree that the world is not fair but I warned you that this was going to be a very personal rant.
2009-08-15 02:14 am (UTC)
Ironically, RAW files can be better manipulated than jpeg files, that's what I have learnt....
They should just have an honour system, asking for a declartion by participants that the image has not been manipulated in any way.
2009-08-15 06:15 pm (UTC)
without it.. we have issues like this one : http://www.indianaturewatch.net/display
and the only way to prove something is by asking for a raw file as raw files are read only and one cannot edit and save it back as the raw file. These days, the editing softwares are so good, one can never ever tell if someone has modified it. I have been judge to some contests and there are some AMAZING pics that I can just tell have been photoshopped.. so asking for the raw file is the best way to judge the original.
RAW
2009-08-16 03:56 am (UTC)
As I said this is a personalised rant born out of frustration as I find myself repeatedly shut out of these competitions not because I don't have the talent or the photographs but only because , as I shoot in JPEG, I am pronounced to be guilty unless proven innocent , which goes against my concept of justice.
To me it is like saying that one should not have wildlife photography competitions as one can not prove conclusively that the photograph may not have been taken in the wild.
I am sure that if this rule is amended there will be a appreciable increase in competition and quality .