Modifications

In all reality-based divisions, (Nature, Photo Travel, and Photojournalism), techniques that add, relocate, replace or remove any element of the original image, except by cropping, are not permitted. The only allowable modifications are removal of dust, scratches or digital noise, restoration of the existing appearance of the original scene, sharpening that is not obvious, and complete conversion to grayscale monochrome.  Other derivations, including infrared, are not eligible. All allowed adjustments must appear natural.

Note: "Restoration of the appearance of the original scene" may include techniques such as HDR, focus stacking and dodging/burning provided they do not alter the contents of the original scene and the result looks natural.

Borders

Borders are optional, but must be 3 t0 5 pixels in width and must be white or a shade of grey. Images are presented in the final competition catalogs at reduced size and jpeg artifacts that occur in the reduction process can distort the appearance of borders, so the larger width is recommended.