Was award-winning wolf wild or a model?

[MOD]

Wildlife photographer stripped of prize for shot of leaping critter

[marionet]

Tamelife Photographer of the Year?

[Grandpa]

[cadwell]

I read that elsewhere. It did make me chuckle.

[marionet]

A camera club member told me last night that a wildlife and wolf expert started the debunking of this picture- he said a wild wolf would never jump over a fence but would go under it. Others agreed, and they started looking for this wolf on websites of wolf trainers. They saw a picture of this wolf and contacted the trainer who confirmed the dates that the photographer had the wolf.

[PenguinPhotoWorks]

Huh. Go figure.

That's the winning shot? I'm actually surprised- I don't think it's that fantastic. I can't believe it beat out 43,000 + other entries. He caught a unique moment in time, yes, but that doesn't make it a great picture.

I guess the lesson here is that photographers can't break the rules- by nature, you are providing photographic evidence of your crime!

If he did break the rules, I'm glad he got caught. But if there had been a better photograph that won, this one never would have been questioned.

But as the article states, I hope this doesn't mean that every photograph that is "unique" is questioned as a fraud.

[Cygnus Studios]

And people wonder why the level of competition has fallen so low in recent years... This whole debate about natural versus staged is seriously out of hand.

All the whining in the world won't stop it, just like it doesn't stop the photoshopping of the pretty models that grace every magazine cover. People will always whine about what they cannot do.

[PenguinPhotoWorks]

When you think about it, why does it matter? Who said that a great photograph has to capture reality?

OK, so they made up a silly rule for their contest, so if he violated it, I can see the disqualification. But I think it's a silly rule. A wolf is a wolf is a wolf, in my mind. If that exact animal had been a healthy wild animal, would he look different? Maybe he wouldn't have jumped over the fence- but in a truly wild habitat, the fence probably wouldn't have even been there- so shame on the judges for not questioning it sooner.

If you had photoshopped a cow jumping over the moon, would it be any less of a cow, or the moon?

[WetBottom]

I totally agree, Penguin. It's a photograph, if people want to see what reality looks like they should go outside with their eyes open. :P

[marionet]

Yeahhh! Professionals should be allowed to enter all amateur athletic competitions and smash about as they want. Automatic weapons should be allowed in prize fights- one deadly weapon's the same as another And wrestling weight limits are silly, too- Just give me one good reason a 210# wrestler shouldn't be allowed to wrestle a 135# guy! Avaunt, all ye silly rules! Let anarchy reign!