If you want to know what I think about image manipulation you'll find it on
this page of my web site.
Thanks Gary for producing such a detailed history of the picture
.
Both the history and the actual (end) picture are amazing - I thought I was doing well by tweaking the contrast a bit!
I think the key part is:
"For me the finished result conveys more of what it felt like to stand at the edge of the sea taking that shot. The conditions were dark and wild so that is how I have portrayed it."
I can only aspire to that. For me the aim is more to produce something that
I like, and if other people do too then that is a nice bonus.
In my view - in terms of the discussion on photoshop - I think what you have done is ok. If you had - for example - added rocks from another picture then that is what would be going too far. But it is always going to be difficult to draw the exact line on what is 'acceptable'.
But then again the rules do say:
11. The organiser has the right to add to or refine the competition rules as they see fit
12. The organiser has the final say in any dispute