ditto what Geert said.  My workflow is such that postwork is incorporated into the process right at the point of taking the picture (my camera is also set to neutral) - you would be incredibly surprised at how some of my shots look straight out of the camera.  And the clone/healing tool is invaluable for removing dust which can be a problem - all of my recent uploads on the beach had a massive lunar shaped dust speck on the top left 3rd intersection.  Without postwork all of those shots would have been "ruined" ;)

Also as far as portraiture is concerned i am fairly sure that postwork is a fairly routine part of the workflow, even with the control you get from using a studio setup.

"In every colour, there's the light.
In every stone sleeps a crystal.
Remember the Shaman, when he used to say:
Man is the dream of the Dolphin"

Rich Meadows Photography