If a photo undergoes changes that keep it from fully meeting the Trust Test, it is disqualified from TTG regardless of the photographer’s rationale for making those changes.
Period.

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A. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done to make the photo look the way the photographer remembers that it “felt.”

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B. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done to compensate for not initially getting the photo the desired way, for whatever reason

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C. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes make the photo look “just like” the scene looked at a time other than when the photo was taken (see “seen vs. simulated”)

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D. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done to remove something very small in the scene depicted that might look like dirt or a mistake

(Note that removing sensor dirt and other “surface flaws” that are NOT part of the scene depicted does not disqualify a photograph from TTG: see Allowable Change #3)

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E. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done to compensate for something the photographer didn’t see in the frame when clicking the shutter

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F. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes replicate what could have been done had the photographer used different equipment

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G. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes duplicate the way the photographer could have made the scene look had they chosen to step in and do so

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H. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done instantly (in the camera) or days/months/years later

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J. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes fit the photographer’s personal definition of what is “minor”

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K. It doesn’t matter whether the photographer thinks that photography is “a subtractive medium” and thus thinks it’s no problem to delete things

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L. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done in a darkroom or on a computer (or any other way)

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M. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done accidentally or on purpose

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N. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done by the photographer or by someone else

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P. It doesn’t matter whether the disqualifying changes were done to make the non-light-related aspects of the photo “more accurately* depict the scene” (light-related aspects, of course, can undergo whatever changes are needed to look more like the scene; see this Summary if the distinction is unclear).

*For more on “accuracy,” see questions #321-324