Commons talk:Wiki Loves Earth 2016/Winners

Fake image wining 1st prize

I can't believe that this fake picture won the 1st prize in the Bulgarian Wiki Loves Earth 2016, this picture should be disqualified --The Photographer (talk) 20:28, 31 July 2016 (UTC)

Dear The Photographer, I fully understand your concern, it was raised by other people, too. But since this was the decision of the 8-person jury this year, and since it had already been announced, the organizers' decision was not to disqualify it. I accept that the image cannot / will not be promoted to the status of featured picture or in the international stage of the competition. This is the second time when we organize WLE, and photo concourses in general, and mistakes still happen along the way. In attempt to at least learn from this experience, I have the idea to propose that next time (WLE'2017, or WLM'2016) before announcing the winners, the shortlisted candidates to be placed for discussion first in the FP or QP procedures, in order for the jury to get alternative opinions about the potential of the images. Thank you for being concerned, I hope that such a problem will not repeat in the future. →Spiritia 07:34, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Dear Spiritia, thanks for your fast feedback. Some types of editing, which significantly alter reality, should not be accepted and the same problem is happening with the photo that won third place. The principle of this competition is the same of any other quality section like FPC and QIC, that is, add value to Wikipedia articles, and a false image is totally useless for any context. Additionally, this image is the composition of two images (fake moon and Rila National Park) where moon image comes from?, this is clearly a derivative work and this not being mentioned in the description which is a serious copyright violation. --The Photographer (talk) 15:29, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Spiritia: and @Лорд Бъмбъри: . I see that you replaced the two images in question with two new images. As a member of the international team I appreciate this decision and I think it is the most appropriate decision in this situation: realistic images with encyclopaedic value deserve being WLE winners more than photoshopped images. Thank you for making this difficult decision. We will now proceed with the new top-10 for the international stage — NickK (talk) 23:02, 1 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi @NickK: , thanks for the update, however, I think it's ethically wrong to make that change without telling the authors. --The Photographer (talk) 04:56, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

The author was told by the Bulgarian organisational team three days ago and showed understanding for the decision. --Lord Bumbury (talk) 07:40, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

Hi @Лорд Бъмбъри: , you did warned the previous author, but did you warned the authors of the new images? --The Photographer (talk) 13:59, 2 September 2016 (UTC)

We are working on it. Spiritia has already created a draft blog post and I will be writing to all authors about the change in their rankings during the weekend. --Lord Bumbury (talk) 14:06, 2 September 2016 (UTC)