Quote Originally Posted by Minnesota scroller
Nice tutorial, but unless a person enjoys sitting in front of the computer or has a real need to "save" a photo, I think it'd be easier to go out and try and retake the picture the right way. It just seems to me like a lot of time and work. I suppose if it was for an assignment or you're doing this for resale, it makes sense.
Mike:

I totally agree, many times it is better to reshoot. In fact, it is pretty much impossible to create a really good shot out of a bad one and still retain the original meaning - we could probably turn the two woodpeckers into dogs playing poker if we wanted, but that wouldn't do us much good. The end result here is still two downy woodpeckers fighting around the trunk of a tree, the original feeling and message of the photo has not been too far effected by the post processing. When that is possible, it is often worth the time and effort to post process.

That being said, you can't judge a shot to be good or bad without knowledge of what is possible; a person who has never eaten anything but McD's probably thinks McD's is pretty good food. Knowing the capabilities and limitations of software is a fundamental to good digital photography, just as darkroom knowledge was integral to film photography. There is always a balance to be struck between pre and post processing.