I think that the post processing done now is often so artificial that it detracts, not adds. If it doesn't look natural, then it isn't.
That being said, what is "post processing"? Ansel Adams built an enlarger that allowed him to increase or decrease light in any section of the image (basically a big grid of small lamps which he could turn on, off or adjust) which gave us some of the best known photographs in the world. When he exposed the print, he was adjusting it AFTER taking the picture... which is post-processing. No other word for it. I think the issue today is you can do such wild things with it that people now notice the artificial nature of the digital photograph more. Nobody looking at Adam's photos of Yosemite would have thought they were anything but natural. Now look at an HDR photo with wildly accentuated clouds, water turned to magical mist on the river, and a hundred other aspects all digitally tuned and tampered with... But it's still art, on some level. And photography has always been the science of producing art from nature - which is a triple oxymoron, if you want. Go figure...
That being said, what is "post processing"?
Ansel Adams built an enlarger that allowed him to increase or decrease light in any section of the image (basically a big grid of small lamps which he could turn on, off or adjust) which gave us some of the best known photographs in the world. When he exposed the print, he was adjusting it AFTER taking the picture... which is post-processing. No other word for it.
I think the issue today is you can do such wild things with it that people now notice the artificial nature of the digital photograph more. Nobody looking at Adam's photos of Yosemite would have thought they were anything but natural. Now look at an HDR photo with wildly accentuated clouds, water turned to magical mist on the river, and a hundred other aspects all digitally tuned and tampered with...
But it's still art, on some level. And photography has always been the science of producing art from nature - which is a triple oxymoron, if you want.
Go figure...