I suppose it depends on where you draw the line and what interpetation one is meant to put on the finished product. We have to remember that the photographic process is pretty poor at capturing the extremes in life. Do we say that we can only photography subjects which do not exceed the limits of the latitude of the photographic medium. Is using a polarizing or graduated filter on the camera to control light levels cheating ? To take this a step further, is taking two exposure levels of the same scene and making a composite cheating in order to reproduce what the eye perceives ? The next step of taking a sky from different time and place to achive the same effect is this not much the same. Most advertising shots are heavierly touched up and air brushed but do we feel conned ? If the sky was changed to add more drama then this is into the realms of digital manipulation. I think it is only cheating when you intend to deceive the viewer that you exposed the shot as is.
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