A friend recently told me that post-production editing in photography is “cheating.”

I won’t lie—it felt like a slap in the face.

But instead of reacting, I paused and reflected.

Every time I press the shutter, I already know why I’m taking that photograph. More importantly, I know how I want the final image to look. The moment isn’t accidental—it’s intentional.

I don’t use post-processing to fix mistakes. I use it to bring life to what I saw before I even clicked the shutter.

Photography, for me, is art.

And as an artist, my responsibility is to create—not just capture. Post-processing is simply part of that creative process. It is my paintbrush, my chisel, my finishing glaze. It allows me to shape the image into what my mind envisioned, even when the camera alone cannot fully achieve it.

So don’t confine me to just the camera. Let me use every tool available to express what I see—and what I feel.

Recently, I spent time reading how award-winning photographers created their images, particularly in botanical photography. What stood out to me was that many of them combined multiple images to produce a single final piece.

Is that cheating? Absolutely not.

That is mastery.

These photographers didn’t stumble into greatness—they envisioned it. They understood their tools, their process, and their creative direction long before the final image existed. They saw the result in their minds first—and then built it.

There’s a quote attributed to Michelangelo:

"If people knew how hard I worked to achieve my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all."

Read that again.

Mastery is not luck. It is time, effort, persistence—and vision.

This year, I was incredibly proud to win First Place in the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY), in the Beauty of Flowers category.

That recognition didn’t come from a single attempt.

It came from years of refining my craft. From experimenting. From failing. From learning how to see—not just with my eyes, but with intention.

When I studied the exhibited winning images in the exhibition, something shifted in me. I couldn’t immediately put it into words—it felt almost abstract—but there was a common thread running through all of them. If I had to define it in one word, it would be this: Vision.

Butternut Squash Tendril - my Curly Wurly!

Each photographer either discovered something extraordinary—or created something extraordinary. And I have no doubt that post-processing played a role in bringing those visions to life.

Not as a shortcut, but as a tool.

Great photography is not about rigid rules, it’s about expression. It’s about translating what exists in front of you—or inside of you—into something others can feel.

The work of the IGPOTY winners moved me in a way no other work has before. And since experiencing it, something has shifted in my own photography - not deliberately, not by imitation, but by evolution.

And that, to me, is the true power of art.

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Post-Processing in Photography: Cheating or Creative Mastery?

The Dahlia That Winked: An IGPOTY First Place Story