Well said pjz99.

Last night I  worked on an image in Photoshop for over an hour. I thought I had finally gotten somewhere when I decided to compare it to the raw render...and it looked worse!

I don't completely agree with your point Tiari, that photography is only within the realm of capturing the moment as it is seen before the camera. How about those wonderful light anomolies from lens refraction, or any of the countless, (sometimes luck accidents) that occur that couldn't possibly be seen with the human eye. Knowing your equipment, knowing your conditions, and purposley captureing something on film that could not be seen...doesn't that go against your definition?

Just playing devil's advocate here. I don't personally worry about defining or categorising 'art'. I simply like whatever knocks my hair back :).

Peelo. Don't worry about the lens flair and diffuse glow comment. I use them all the time too! :). They're great tools, just used in moderation.

If we can hit that bullseye, the rest of the dominos will fall like a house of cards...checkmate!