... I could deconstruct this if Slobodan hasn't had enough coffee to stay in the discussion ...
Ok, after my second coffee, I am back.
First, my apologies to David if my posts contributed to his decision to lock the thread.Of course I understand what you guys are talking about, it is just that my mantra is the opposite: KISS (and for our French friend, that means Keep It Simple, Stupid
)
I am aware there are many Photoshop gurus (and "gurus") out there, peddling their proprietary techniques, secrets, "silver bullets", the more complicated and convoluted, the better (how else would they differentiate themselves from the pack?). That often involves sprinkling magic pixel dust during post-processing, waiting for the right phase of moon, alignment of the stars, etc. Btw, none of this is in reference to Chris or David.
Ever since I practically abandoned Photoshop in favor or Lightroom, my approach is similar to Occam's razor principle: do not complicate what can be achieved with less.
90 to 99% of basic post-processing tasks can be achieved in Lightroom simpler, faster, non-destructively, and with less disk space.
Yes, I often catch myself going overboard with sliders and local adjustment in LR as well (I tend to favor strong post-processing). Then I step back and often start from scratch, this time having in mind the final effect I am after and asking myself: how can I achieve it with
minimum adjustments? Do I really need this +2 or +5 left or right, every ND filter and brush? Do multiple changes cancel or multiply each other (eg, increasing contrast often increases saturation) and is that what I want?
My philosophy is to stay as close to the original, while, at the same time, satisfying my vision, which often requires aggressive manipulation. I know, sounds contradictory, but if in doubt, to do that extra step or not, I would ultimately rather resort to "not."
Trying to simplify the amount of adjustments and manipulations has an added benefit, as Jeff Schewe would tell you: it reduces the amount of strain LR puts on your system, and helps avoid slow-downs and freezes.