Impressive Dynamic Colors (Superficial/Artificial) vs Washed Out Faded Colors (Originality/Natural)

I'm in total agreement with you. And I don't really think anyone here is trying to say one method is better than another.

As far as my personal opinion is concerned, I have stated that "It's not for me" with regard to heavy post processing. And I also have said, that I have images that I tend to take artistic license with and other images that I leave alone. That is completely my choice.

As I have said before, there are some AMAZING images out there. What it took to get them to that point is, "Just not for me." And I am not saying that everything happens in post processing. It has already been stated here that lighting at the time the shot is taken, if it is near perfect, can sometimes make an image so great that one would think there was a lot of PP.

What Ansel Adams did was great. The amount of processing that went into it, and the knowledge of the darkroom that was needed to do what he did is simply, "Not for me." You have photo journalist types and you have artistic types. I fall into the category of the former.