Good points.

Generally speaking, in post work on portraits where natural skin flaws are distracting, it's very easy and quick to "take the edge off" detail in complexion, while leaving all the other parts of the image razor sharp where, and as, desired, such as eyes, mouth, hair, jewelry, clothing, etc.

And by "take the edge off," I'm not talking about those PS add-ons advertised with images turning a model with zits into some kind of plastic kewpie doll. UUUGGGHHH!!

When I am talking to a young woman (or anybody else, for that matter), I'm looking in her eyes. Maybe a glance to the mouth, a normal distraction during conversation. I'm not busy examining the texture of her skin.

Unfortunately, in a photograph, particularly a large size image, it's normal to wander all over the image, soaking up all the detail, desirable or not.

My philosophy is to try to recreate the image from a "conversation," not to put on display in glaring detail, all the natural, human artifacts of life. There is a degree to which this kind of post processing is "right," and points where it seems too much or too little to me.

And I might add, the crisp sharpness in the remainder of the image leaves an overall impression of a critically sharp, high quality photograph.

I'll take the 36MP; I'll take all the advantages, and deal with the disadvantages in a proper, and sensitive way.

AviSys