Very nice shot. To manipulate, or not to manipulate? that is the question. As long as it is just an enhancement to an image, I don't concider it a manipulation. It is no different than the old school of film photography where you have hundreds of darkroom techniques to enhance a photo. Only when you start replacing, adding, or subtracting actual objects like skies and such would I call it an manipulation. The trick is to not make things look cut and paste in a creation.
Just wondering: what did you need 16 pictures for?
Get a Peleng
Second hand DSLR cams come quite cheap nowadays. The Nikon D70 can be bought at sites like marktplaats.nl for about 300 euro!