Suggestions not statements

 So the second stage of any image is  post processing. Do you feel like you are weighed down by the expectations of what you are supposed to do with your images. It is your image, so why should you do what others want you too do. You were there when you pressed the shutter, something in that Nano second caused you to press the shutter, so how would someone else know what is required in post processing to make your vision/voice heard.
As an accreditation  judge and someone who has been judges many times, I am disappointing how so many so called experts tell us what we must do with our images, they should only critic the image as it place in front of them not what they would have done. Make suggestions not statements.
Too often we lose the story we captured with the post processing we use, we over process, so the image become how good or not we are in Photoshop or Lightroom or whatever program you use. These programs should be used as an emery board not a jackhammer.

Do not let technology weigh you down, use it to your advantage, the more you get it right in the camera and the more you know about your equipment and the technology you will use the more you will understand what the final image will look like. You want to paddle along,  enjoying the experience, it is not going to happen overnight, but if you keep working and staying true to yourself and your vision, you will create images that will move viewers the way you were moved when you captured the image. Have fun.