I'm surprised no-one has picked up on the particular photographic dogma I intended to
tweak with my little aside. The one that declares: "Remove evidence of human presence in a nature/landscape photo." But maybe that's my fault for not being clear enough. Otherwise, what Lux/Terry has written is pretty much my own take on the subject of alteration. Like I said, don't worry much about realism. Do what works for the photo.
The attached pic has had part of a tree removed via cropping and both a tiny bird and a dust spot removed via "healing." However I've left in the evidence of human presence.
As for one specific other part of the thread: identity posturers will posture.
-Dave-