"...If you look at the render I made, it does not have all the imperfections you are pointing out Tom..."
Clare, what are you talking about? I didn't point out a single imperfection in your version. I thought it was great. In fact, the only comment I made about your version was:
"Clare's understanding, approach and end result is absolutely masterful, but, FWIW, sometimes money *can* buy you love. :mrgreen: "
---------
WRT using commercial, 3rd party plugins (like Topaz) vs. learning to do as much as possible with native PS tools, I couldn't agree more. I could find and cite many examples where I suggested exactly the same thing in other threads. In fact, I have often said that it is virtually impossible to use commercial plugins effectively until you are very experienced with Photoshop's concepts, organization, and native tools.
That being said, for my work and hobby-related processing, I need speed. For years (decades), I learned and used many of the native tools, but now, if something speeds up my workflow and saves me time, I'll use it without a moment's hesitation.
A different question is what to use in post processing examples / tutorials on this forum.
In most cases, I figure that you or someone else will give the OP an approach based on "native tools". OTOH, I know that some people are interested in commercial plugins, so, to satisfy these folks, and to save myself time, since the "native tools" approach will likely always be covered, I will often use and then write-up a plugin approach, thereby giving a mini-review / introduction to that particular plugin.
I hope this at least partially clarifies my POV on plugins.
Best regards,
Tom
