I've been following the post of Dean's about photography. some input for the misinformed or possibly confused about camera RAW, Photoshop & photography.
when images are captured there are no curves applied. images from the camera without curves are murky B&W, soft and fuzzy. the thumbnails you see in the LCD or in the conversion software are only suggestions of the curves that can be applied. no WB, contrast, saturation, sharpness has been applied . . AND you will have some latitude with exposure however RAW is the not the magic bullet for 'blowing the exposure' . . shooting in JPG, the 'in camera processor' applies the curves you selected as it converts (develps) the image from RAW to JPG.
in the digital world we think of our cameras a 'positive and not negative' film . . the ccd/cmos of our cameras don't have the latitude of negative film yet so we must watch our contrast ratio . . I think high quality film will do 11 stops and 'slides' with do a bit less than 5 if I remember correctly . . with the difference being WB, we don't have to select the films or use filters (too often) to get correct colors like we did 6-8 years ago . . so our job as shooters is to either select or create situations the camera will accept and then capture them . . no big deal really if yer interested in doing so, and are willing to spend the time to learn, and to invest in the effort at time of capture to 'grab' the correct exposure with proper contract rations that will produce an image without 'blown high lights with lack of detail' or 'noisy dark shadows with lack of information'.
after the captures are completed it's time to select the 'appropriate curves' in the RAW converter and spit the files out . . at this time the editor or photographer will select the WB, tones, contrast, sharpness etc with just a bit of exposure latitude as I've mentioned . . of choice . . and this is the key to the process, "of choice" . . your choices might not be Deans choices. than some 'shop' to sweeten the image a touch . . just for fun
now about Dean and his shooting . . first thing is this: if Dean tells you he shooting 2-3 days a week don't suppose he's not working on his photography the other 4-5 days. all the serious photographers I know work 60-100 hrs a week, don't drink excessively or use drugs.
Dean spends hours and hours researching locations, researching software, researching lighting equipment, colors and fabrics, looking at glamour hair and makeup, spends hrs and hrs in post learning to achieve what his eyes tell him he needs to see. I'm very sure that the reference thumbs Deans sees on the LCD are very close to what he converts in RAW, within reason . . Dean is a very accurate shooter and has the time to set his shots correctly . so then what is Dean doing in RAW and then Photoshop? my educated, experienced guess is minor stuff that you wouldn't even notice, pushing a color saturation here or there for fun, messing around with a highlight or two . . fixing a few minor errors, if any (we all make the occasional mistake) in the past Dean has gone a bit overboard on cleaning the approach to the eyes however he's admitted that on this forum so it's no secret . . much of the 'Photoshop bashing' is in reality the quality of lite & glass that Dean is using . . different lite qualities affect skin differently and lens selection . . . glass and distance has a large effect on skin and contrast as well as a number of other factors like color and bokeh . . you guys are so used to seeing very low quality 'filthy whore lighting/photography' you aren't able to understand the effects of different lite modifiers, combinations of lite modifiers and glass on skin so you immediately cry 'Photoshop' and it's simply not true . . (wanna burn down the library so it never happens again?)
we all learn by making mistakes. unlike a cook who gets to eat theirs or a Dr who buries theirs. you see Deans on GFY. I've watched Dean's work since 2003 and I see major improvements and I know Dean works long hrs to get them . . if you want Dean's secrets just spend about 100 hrs a week figuring it out . . it's all there right in front of your eyes. he's not using any secret cameras or lenses or lights or secret software . . all the gear and software he uses is readily available right 'over the counter' at any vendor or any online retailer.
-bmb