The word "manipulation" is an extremely loaded word that is often accompanied by infinitely

negative associations. As a photographer, I find that people often love to hate digital manipulation of imagery, insinuating that the work is somehow "unfair" and "deceitful." Personally, I completely dismiss that idea, standing firm with my personal definition of of the word or act ... manipulation is simply a means to a desired end. 

For exmaple...here are some retouched

 ("manipulated") images by Steven Meisel...

Here is an image from the superbowl that I edited to show how drastic a little manipulation can be to an image...