Today Adobe is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Photoshop. They made a feature video for it:
Photoshop is a tool I use every day, too. That indeed is amazing. I started with version 3 when I was a student. My work with it is a bit different from what you see in the video. Compositions are not my thing and never happen in any of my series. But I use Photoshop to adjust colours to create the mood that I intend. And I retouch skin a little. I always try to do as little as possible and for me it is very important that you don’t see any of the things I do. When photos remain natural, I am more happy than with an ironed skin. I believe many people out there overdo it. I would suggest to just play with sliders and knobs a tiny small bit and see how you like the results.
In media Photoshop often is a synonym for prettifying uglyness. I find this very awkward. Especially because I get sometimes asked how the girl I photographed looked without Photoshop and I can only tell you, she looked the same. I don’t liquify bodies. I simply remove a pimple here and there.