Re: In the early mornng rain.

Another way of looking at this...

Keep in mind that ALL digital images are post-processed. The difference between the "out-of-camera" jpeg and a manually processed raw file is that in the first case, the camera's firmware takes a "best guess" shot at the processing based on either default or customized camera settings, while the raw image leaves those decisions to the photographer for later implementation. There's nothing sacred or inherently "correct" about that camera processed shot. It's no more true to the scene as it actually looked IRL than a by-the-photographer manually post-processed image, and in fact, as it's a default, best-guess process it's more likely to be wrong. We all understand that good photographers don't use auto-mode when they shoot. Good photographers also avoid auto-mode in processing.

While you may or may not agree with a given photographer's processing decisions, post processing of raw images is not cheating or unfairly manipulating. It's the final step a skilled photographer takes to properly represent their view of a given scene.

Scott