Answer… I think it is easiest to start with my published artists statement:
My photographic aesthetic is the “Wilderness Sublime.” This term is a modification of the term “Landscape Sublime” used by the photography greats Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. The “Landscape Sublime” furthered the idea of “straight photography” by Alfred Stieglitz with his popular “291 Gallery” in New York in the 1900s-20s, which was created in response to the pictorialist movement. My belief is that the principles of the “Landscape Sublime” can encompass all things grand or minuscule in the wilderness of our great planet.
I adhere to many of the ideals of the straight photographers. For my images I strive to be able to call them “non manipulated” which means: A single uninterrupted exposure. Cropping only to taste (no drastic crops, always keeping 3500 pixels on the long end, or more). Common adjustments to the entire image, such as color temperature, tonal curves, and sharpening. The only local editing I do is dodging and burning; but that is used sparingly. I strive to make my images as technically perfect as possible, from the beginning. Shooting an image incorrectly and fixing it later is for “Photoshoppers.” This belief dictates that if I am looking for a "creative effect" I need to think of a way to do it even before the image is captured.
Becoming more proficient with my camera has allowed me to branch out into new ways to render images that can stir emotions in a way that only the wilderness can. With the common acceptance of High Dynamic Range Merging (HDRM) to merge different exposures of multiple identical photographs, the ability to match what the human eye can see, in regards to color depth and dynamic range, is finally possible. The allowance for multiple exposure images merged to one final piece of art makes it possible to display what the human eye is able to see and perceive when the image is captured. This is something I use sparingly, and when I do use it I clearly label the output image as such.
If an image is anything other than what I have outlined above, it will be clearly labeled as such.
I photograph wild, non captive, creatures. I avoid approaching too closely and causing stress to the animals. I am a firm believer in "Leave No Trace" ethics and try to live by the following mantra: "Take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but footprints."
By capturing the traditional, non-manipulated images of the wild, and at the same time looking for the "straight beauty" that can be made with "creative capture," I am able to push myself into new realms of photography. The “Wilderness Sublime” is what I find inspiring, what I seek to capture, and share. My goal is to, with every release of my shutter, create an image that allows others to briefly glimpse inside nature at its most sublime.
NANPA has a few other general guidelines that I follow, they are presented at the following links:Ethical Field Practices Truth in Captioning
Now for a shorter answer; if I can do it in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, I'll consider doing it. Occasionally I will use Photoshop CS5, and tricks within, to enhance an image; but even then I do not bring new elements into an image. My star trails are single exposure, and my HDRM work is all that is creations from 2 or more exposures. I teach students how to do all kinds of editing "cheating;" but for myself if I knew how to do it in the darkroom, it is probably something I fell good about doing in the "lightroom."
Lastly to your question on digital workflow; buy and use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 and/or Apple Aperture 3. Use of these applications, once trained/familiar, makes life as a digital photographer significantly better/easier/faster/more efficient. All of my images go through Lightroom 3 and the "keepers" live there, referenced on my external raid (Drobo).
If you have questions you can email me at Learn@DaveShumway.com.
UPDATE... I should mention that before I used 18/21MP cameras my crop guide was 3000 pixels on the long end I also use the same standard when cropping to 6:6 and when turning a landscape into a portrait, or vise versa. I also should note that I do create panoramic images, though I prefer to use T/S lenses so as to create stichless panoramas much as we did with film. After chatting with some professional bird photographer friends, in regard to this post, I have been advised to leave myself room to crop bird images to 3000 pixels on the long end. I also fully realize that in the future I might need to start baiting/calling/staging for some species of birds, when/if I decide to do so, I will disclose that with the image.
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