Now you see him, now you don't: Washington Post forced to disqualify its photograph and winner of prestigious prize after discovering it was photo-shopped The image submitted by staff photographer Tracy Woodward originally won the White House News Photographers Association 'Eyes of History' sports feature prize However, the photography desk at the Washington Post later realized the competition entry had been heavily edited from the version that appeared in print - a practice banned in the contest The newspaper alerted the prize-giving authorities about the alterations leading to the picture being disqualified A Washington Post photograph has been disqualified after winning a prestigious photography prize after it emerged it broke the rules by being heavily photo-shopped. The image, taken by the newspaper's staff photographer Tracy Woodward, won the sports feature section of the White House News Photographers Association (WHNPA) "Eyes of History" contest for its depiction of a high school wrestling champion in Virginia at the moment he won. However, the newspaper discovered the dramatic image had been edited from its original format prompting the picture editor to alert the authorities and have it withdrawn - after it had been handed a top prize. Unedited: This is the version of the photograph entitled State Champion which appeared in print. It shows the referee and the audience watching behind Where's the ref: In the version submitted for the prize the referee is much less noticeable. Photo-shopping in such a way is against the rules of the prestigious prize The newspaper founded in 1877 said it has strict editorial guidelines on the use of photo-shop, and although the picture appeared in its unedited form in the paper, they said their rules extend to competition entries made by members of staff. Photo-shopping in such a way was also barred in the competition entry rules. Photography Director MaryAnne Golon told the magazine News Photographer: 'A Washington Post photographer entered an altered photograph to the WHNPA contest. Once Post editors saw that it had been altered from what had originally been published in The Post, we withdrew the photo from consideration. The Post's ethics policy prohibits the manipulation of photographs, and we have taken action in accordance with that policy. Woodward, who has worked at the paper for 16 years, is believed to have submitted 'State Champion' into the contest of his own accord. The two pictures, when presented side-by-side, clearly show the changes that have taken place. Embarrassing admission: Editors at the Post informed the competition authorities that their staff photographer had made photo-shop changes to his winning entry that breached the rules The print version of the picture features a referee in the background of the dramatic shot while the competition entry has the figure of the referee blacked-out making him hard to notice and the wrestler more noticeable in the foreground. WHNPA president Ron Sachs's issued a statement on Monday saying the photograph was 'digitally manipulated in violation of the contest rules'. 'When we became aware of the altered image, the photo was immediately disqualified in accordance with our published contest rules,' he said. The rules state: The content of a photograph must not be altered in Photoshop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph and the image must be a truthful representation of whatever happened in front of the camera during exposure. Retouching to eliminate dust and scratches is acceptable. Disqualified: Washington Post photographer Tracy Woodward, left, has been removed from the White House News Photographers Association prize after it emerged his picture had been photo-shopped Reasonable adjustments in Photoshop are acceptable. These include cropping, dodging and burning, conversion into grayscale, and normal toning and color adjustments that restore the authentic nature of the photograph. Excessive changes in density, contrast, color and saturation levels that alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning. Frames or borders outside the image area are not allowed nor is text - digital or otherwise - allowed on the image. The newspaper did not comment on Woodward's ongoing status at the newspaper, telling the magazine they were 'taking action that is consistent with [their] photo manipulation policy,' and that 'it's an internal personnel matter at this time.'