It was a striking image of fishing boat sheds with Lindisfarne Castle in the background and was heralded as the best landscape photograph among hundreds of entries in a top competition. But now the photographer who won the prestigious prize has been stripped of his title and the £10,000 prize money - because of his use of Photoshop. David Byrne, 43, from Cannock, Staffordshire, won the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award last month as it was a 'clear favourite' of the judges who agreed it best captured an aspect of the UK landscape. A photographer showed how the position of the clouds and the light in David Byrne's winning photograph of Lindisfarne Castle was physically impossible because the sun would have to be in two different places at once. The red lines in the image point to two different points in the sky where the sun would be positioned if the shadows and light were correct . Striking: David Byrne's picture of upturned boats on the coast of Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England, was doctored to include clouds in the sky to make it look darker and gloomy . David's father's photograph of the same landscape, also doctored, was taken nine minutes later and the light is shown to be different . However after winning the prize, Mr . Byrne said he was subject to a 'witch-hunt' for adding clouds in the sky, leading to his . disqualification for employing excessive digital manipulation in his . winning entry. Two other photographers turned . detective and highlighted in their own blogs how the photograph was . realistically impossible and days later Mr Byrne was pulled from the . competition. Mr Byrne told MailOnline that he had . removed some moored boats in the middle of the harbour and doctored the . sky to make it look dark and gloomy by adding a few clouds. He said: ‘I added clouds because the sky was a . bit boring. Unfortunately, while I don’t . feel like I have done anything wrong, I didn’t read the regulations and . it does say that replacing the sky is not allowed. ‘The purists out there were not . happy. Messing about with pictures has been done for over 100 years. I . treat my photography as art and I try to make the best looking picture.' After winning the prize in October, . two landscape photographers posted blogs on the internet explaining . through a sequence of images why Mr Byrne's photograph could not be . real. One of the photographers, Tim Parkin, . who entered the competition the previous year, highlighted through a . series of red lines how the varying lights and shadows in the photograph . were realistically impossible. For the shadows on fishing boat sheds . and the light from the sky to be correct, the sun would have had to . have been in two different places at once - highlighted by where the red . arrows point to. While the red lines on the shadow on . the sheds point to the correct position of the sun, the arrows on the . other image point to a position in the sky where the sun would not have . been at that time of day, according to Mr Parkin. Atmospheric: David Baker's misty view of pines in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, won the 'Your View' category . Ambiance: Delamere Forest, Cheshire, England, the Classic View winner in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award . Mr Byrne, who has only been taking . landscape photographs for two years, said since winning the competition . he had received abusive emails from other photographers. He said: 'To me I feel like I have been hounded for days, it has been quite unsettling. 'I can’t blame Take A View, the witch hunt was not going to stop anyway. ‘I felt like I was being investigated by the FBI.' He said some of evidence used against . him was a picture that his father took nine minutes after him on the . same day - which showed the clouds in a different position in the sky. His father, Philip, told MailOnline: . 'It is quite accepted and desirable to add another sky to enhance the . characteristics and remove ugly modern day rubbish and graffiti etc, . after all this is art. 'Thousands and thousands of . photographers in camera clubs do this all the time, it is accepted by . the world ruling body F.I.A.P. as long as composite images are the work . of the photographer.' The contest's organisers, Take a . View, said Mr Byrne’s photograph was assessed in 'good faith' and was . the 'clear favourite' of the judges. Winner: This wistful image of Fishermen on Loch Ard, Trossachs, Scotland, was crowned winner in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award living the view category . Lines in the landscape: The 8:30 from Hamworthy crosses Holes Bay, Poole, Dorset, England in this picture which won the Network Rail Award . Charlie Waite, founder of the . competition said: 'This is extremely regrettable and it appears there . was no deliberate intention to deceive the judges but the level of . manipulation means that this photograph gained an unfair advantage in . this category and in winning the overall competition. 'The integrity of the competition is . very important to all involved and it was clear that disqualification . was the only course of action open to us.' A second photograph by Mr Byrne, which won the 'classic view' category of the competition, has also been disqualified. The new winning image is of Port . Glasgow by Simon Butterworth. t is the first time that an urban . landscape has won the main award. Other winners included Paul Bundle, . whose shot of Loch Ard in Scotland won the 'living the view' category, . and the 'urban view' award went to Simon Butterworth for his striking . shot of buildings on a hilly street in Port Glasgow. And a train speeding through a coastal . wetland scene in Dorset, taken by Graham Hobbs, won the Network Rail . 'lines in the landscape' award for pictures of the rail network within . the surrounding landscape. Stephen Colbrook, 16, won the Young . Photographer of the Year section of the competition for his film . noir-style black and white picture of a man in an Oxford street at . night. More than 100 of the best images will . feature in a free exhibition at the National Theatre in London from . November 12 and a book of more than 170 photographs is also being . published. Gritty: Stephen Colbrook, 16, won the Young Photographer of the Year with this picture of a man in an Oxford street at night, left, while Simon Butterworth's striking hilly street in Port Glasgow, right, was made the new winner of the competition following David Byrne's disqualification .
David Byrne, 43, added clouds in sky to photograph that won him Landscape Photographer of the Year award .
Other photographers were not happy that he doctored the image and highlighted conflicting light rays on blogs .
It was a striking image of fishing boat sheds with Lindisfarne Castle in the background and was heralded as the best landscape photograph among hundreds of entries in a top competition. But now the photographer who won the prestigious prize has been stripped of his title and the £10,000 prize money - because of his use of Photoshop. David Byrne, 43, from Cannock, Staffordshire, won the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award last month as it was a 'clear favourite' of the judges who agreed it best captured an aspect of the UK landscape. A photographer showed how the position of the clouds and the light in David Byrne's winning photograph of Lindisfarne Castle was physically impossible because the sun would have to be in two different places at once. The red lines in the image point to two different points in the sky where the sun would be positioned if the shadows and light were correct . Striking: David Byrne's picture of upturned boats on the coast of Lindisfarne, Northumberland, England, was doctored to include clouds in the sky to make it look darker and gloomy . David's father's photograph of the same landscape, also doctored, was taken nine minutes later and the light is shown to be different . However after winning the prize, Mr . Byrne said he was subject to a 'witch-hunt' for adding clouds in the sky, leading to his . disqualification for employing excessive digital manipulation in his . winning entry. Two other photographers turned . detective and highlighted in their own blogs how the photograph was . realistically impossible and days later Mr Byrne was pulled from the . competition. Mr Byrne told MailOnline that he had . removed some moored boats in the middle of the harbour and doctored the . sky to make it look dark and gloomy by adding a few clouds. He said: ‘I added clouds because the sky was a . bit boring. Unfortunately, while I don’t . feel like I have done anything wrong, I didn’t read the regulations and . it does say that replacing the sky is not allowed. ‘The purists out there were not . happy. Messing about with pictures has been done for over 100 years. I . treat my photography as art and I try to make the best looking picture.' After winning the prize in October, . two landscape photographers posted blogs on the internet explaining . through a sequence of images why Mr Byrne's photograph could not be . real. One of the photographers, Tim Parkin, . who entered the competition the previous year, highlighted through a . series of red lines how the varying lights and shadows in the photograph . were realistically impossible. For the shadows on fishing boat sheds . and the light from the sky to be correct, the sun would have had to . have been in two different places at once - highlighted by where the red . arrows point to. While the red lines on the shadow on . the sheds point to the correct position of the sun, the arrows on the . other image point to a position in the sky where the sun would not have . been at that time of day, according to Mr Parkin. Atmospheric: David Baker's misty view of pines in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, won the 'Your View' category . Ambiance: Delamere Forest, Cheshire, England, the Classic View winner in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award . Mr Byrne, who has only been taking . landscape photographs for two years, said since winning the competition . he had received abusive emails from other photographers. He said: 'To me I feel like I have been hounded for days, it has been quite unsettling. 'I can’t blame Take A View, the witch hunt was not going to stop anyway. ‘I felt like I was being investigated by the FBI.' He said some of evidence used against . him was a picture that his father took nine minutes after him on the . same day - which showed the clouds in a different position in the sky. His father, Philip, told MailOnline: . 'It is quite accepted and desirable to add another sky to enhance the . characteristics and remove ugly modern day rubbish and graffiti etc, . after all this is art. 'Thousands and thousands of . photographers in camera clubs do this all the time, it is accepted by . the world ruling body F.I.A.P. as long as composite images are the work . of the photographer.' The contest's organisers, Take a . View, said Mr Byrne’s photograph was assessed in 'good faith' and was . the 'clear favourite' of the judges. Winner: This wistful image of Fishermen on Loch Ard, Trossachs, Scotland, was crowned winner in the Take a View Landscape Photographer of the Year award living the view category . Lines in the landscape: The 8:30 from Hamworthy crosses Holes Bay, Poole, Dorset, England in this picture which won the Network Rail Award . Charlie Waite, founder of the . competition said: 'This is extremely regrettable and it appears there . was no deliberate intention to deceive the judges but the level of . manipulation means that this photograph gained an unfair advantage in . this category and in winning the overall competition. 'The integrity of the competition is . very important to all involved and it was clear that disqualification . was the only course of action open to us.' A second photograph by Mr Byrne, which won the 'classic view' category of the competition, has also been disqualified. The new winning image is of Port . Glasgow by Simon Butterworth. t is the first time that an urban . landscape has won the main award. Other winners included Paul Bundle, . whose shot of Loch Ard in Scotland won the 'living the view' category, . and the 'urban view' award went to Simon Butterworth for his striking . shot of buildings on a hilly street in Port Glasgow. And a train speeding through a coastal . wetland scene in Dorset, taken by Graham Hobbs, won the Network Rail . 'lines in the landscape' award for pictures of the rail network within . the surrounding landscape. Stephen Colbrook, 16, won the Young . Photographer of the Year section of the competition for his film . noir-style black and white picture of a man in an Oxford street at . night. More than 100 of the best images will . feature in a free exhibition at the National Theatre in London from . November 12 and a book of more than 170 photographs is also being . published. Gritty: Stephen Colbrook, 16, won the Young Photographer of the Year with this picture of a man in an Oxford street at night, left, while Simon Butterworth's striking hilly street in Port Glasgow, right, was made the new winner of the competition following David Byrne's disqualification .
David Byrne, 43, from Cannock, Staffordshire, won doctored to include clouds in the sky to make it and highlighted in their own blogs how the Landscape Photographer of the Year award living