*Not strictly related to the galleries, but what makes me groan with despair for humanity is when I see a picture where the hair is obviously composited in from a photograph, and then a comment along the lines of "The hair looks so realistic!" smacks head against wall

*Especially when you know that those hair can be bought as photoshop or paintshop tubes  in the marketplace, complete with fitting poses and camerapositions, how instant can you make it.

I agree with Cobaltdream that professional photographers use a lot of post work, but to a certain level: you can go very far in glamour and fashion foto's but there's a line when it comes to pressfoto's. Some time ago there was a riot when a war photographe got a price for a prepaired foto. I think he even pasted in some dead bodies. He had to return his price of course.
I don't mind if someone use postworking and I even use it for removing the stains as I said, but I think it's a challenge to built up a scene with all the details and props, lightings and so on, render it and Taadaa!
It gives me more satisfaction to make a glowing lightbulb in a poserrender than to add it afterwards in Paintshop.

When I was a student I did some holidaywork in a photostudio where they made pictures for an interiormagazine. This was before photoshop was even invented, I learned there a lot of buiding scenes and all the tricks they used to make it realistic. All the postwork you had to do in those days, had to be done by hand and was very timeconsuming because you had to do it right the first time (no undo!) or you had to start over again.

There is more admiration for someone who creates a great effect in poser after several sleepless nights, then if he added it in fifteen minutes afterwards in photoshop.

Bopper.

-How can you improve things when you don't make mistakes?