As editing software and apps drop costs and become more readily available, digital photo manipulation -- commonly referred to as 'photoshopping' -- has turned into a popular hobby for amateur and professional photographers alike.
Although post-process work traditionally went against the rules of photography, creatively altering an image is now an art and a true skill in itself.
We partnered with Hewlett-Packard once again for this week's Mashable Photo Challenge. Instead of limiting yourself to minor tweaks like cropping or adjusting brightness and contrast, use editing software such as Photoshop and Paint Shop, or apps like Snapseed and Afterlight to give your images a whole new look.
You can layer two or more photos to create a surreal effect, skew sizes and perspectives to tell an impossible story or invert colors to give your picture a completely different vibe.
We encourage you to manipulate your photo in an extreme way, going beyond mere enhancements or corrections. We want you to blend reality with illusion to create something unique and remarkable.
Follow the directions below to share your photos by Sunday, August 3 at 8 p.m. ET, and we’ll feature some of our favorite submissions on our Instagram account and in a follow-up post.
How to enter the challenge
Tweet your photo with the hashtags #ExtremeEditing and #HPBendtheRules OR
Instagram your photo with the hashtags #ExtremeEditing and #HPBendtheRules OR
Upload your photo in the photo widget below.