© 2003 LA Times / Photographer — Brian WalskiThe photograph above is a composite created by ex-LA TimesphotographerBrian Walski. He was dismissed by the newspaper when they discovered that the above photo, which appeared on the front page of their March 31st issue, resulted from the combination of two separate photographs taken seconds apart. I suggest that you read theLA Times' editorial commenton this issue, view the two original frames, and then return here.

Welcome back.

Naturally this issue is of interest to photographers. It's been around for more than a decade and was discussedad nauseamwhenNational Geographicmoved a pyramid on the cover of one of their issues "for artistic reasons". In that instance the argument was made by some that there was "no harm, no foul". But in this instance anews photographwas altered, raising all kinds of concerns.

Naturally this isn't an issue of digital vs chemical photography. People have been altering and...