Photoshop or any kind of editing tool is a formidable weapon in post production cleanup for a photographer. Not only are you able to edit or airbrush out unwanted blemishes but simple adjustments like saturation, colour balances and cropping can add a lot more drama and character to a shot.
Let me illustrate with a few examples that I recently took at Boschendal Estate:
Before:
The shot composition overall isn't too bad but the big amount of sky and trees at the top is kind of distracting.
After:
Taking a bit off the top and playing with the saturation and colour balance gave me this - a little bit more drama, definition and awesome perspective.
Before:
The extra bits around the edges are once again distracting the eye of the viewer and the colours looks a bit washed out because of the glass, but not to fear!
After:
Using the frame of the panel to frame the photo and adjusting the colour balance and contrast gave me this.
The biggest piece of advice I can give you is, make a backup of the original image and then play around with the different settings. That way you can always go back to what it was if you don't like the mess you've made. Further more, be brave! The most important thing to remember is that some of the most exceptional shots does not follow the rule of thirds or conform to any of the rules out there - it's a good guideline but it's not set in stone.
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