Maybe I can weigh in as a bonafide "noob."

I know a LOT of people who press shutter's. (My wife for example, but I won't go there. I won't.) But I wouldn't necessarily call them "photographers." I am trying to become a photographer, and I am working very hard at it. I haven't had any formal training, got everything I do have out of books and taking my camera out every day I can. (I've had it about 2 months now and am over 4000 photos, approaching 5000.) Most of that stuff is CRAP. I like to think that I am not in the minority in this. Most of what I shoot is not worth the film, or chip if you will, that it is printed on. We try different angles, different lighting, different weather, different voodoo dolls... oh... wait a minute. That's probably just me. My point is that we TRY to make everything just right before we press the shutter on every photo, but somehow the image just doesn't "work." I've heard many people say that they get 1 "keeper" for every 10 shots, and they call that a good ratio! Even you professionals don't use every photo you take, you take a mess of 'em and pick the best one for use. No?

Is photoshop going to make the rest of them keepers? I think not. It may improve the color, the sharpness, and the contrast; but it won't make them "the shot." The keepers proclaim themselves and are different for all of us.

What I have learned, as a digital shooter, is to not try to make the camera do everything so I can have a little control over the final product when it comes out of the camera. What I'm talking about is sharpeness, contrast and color. I set my camera on Adobe RGB, which is as neutral as can be, and color to taste later. I don't find this inherently (sp?) wrong. Not at all. I find that photoshop is one more tool in my toolbox to help me create compelling images. But you know what? I'm not drawing in there, there has to be something for photoshop to work with or I'm just playing with CRAP. And I'll end with a saturated, oversharpened, tweaked up piece of crap.

Rereading I'm not sure I've actually said anything here, so I'll try to clarify it. Photoshop is merely a tool. It can't take the photo, it can only adjust the photo you took. Good or bad. And that is a matter of taste. You "pureists" are afraid that the values and skills you learned are disappearing. They aren't. Those of us who want to get past "snapshooting" are still working to learn all we can about exposure and lighting and all that stuff that you accomplished photographers have learned, so we can offer the world as compelling and/or interesting an image as our talent allows. Photoshop is only one of our tools, and not the most important one.

That's my story. And I'm stickin' to it.

Regards,

Danny