"Nothing wrong with plugins, but always have back-up manual skills in case you are without them. ..."
Meh ... that's not a convincing argument to me.
I'm all in favor of knowing the basics incredibly well and teaching the basics before you turn someone loose with plugins. I've preached that policy for probably over a decade, ie, from when plugins first became widely available/popular.
However, at the point I'm at in photography, if some piece of SW saves me time and money or increases the quality of my images at a reasonable cost, there's no question - I just buy it and use it. The cost of such software is negligible compared to my time. If I don't have a computer with the software I need on it, I've done some *really* bad planning, and I will likely be having much more serious problems than simply missing some of my favorite plugins.
Besides, what pro makes critical image adjustments out in the field using some ill-equipped computer? Image critical adjustments go hand-in-hand with post-processing efx, and they are both done best on a high-end, hardware calibrated monitor in an environment with stable, controlled ambient lighting. Away from home, I might want to review and back up my daily shots, edit out the poor ones, but not bake in any critical image adjustments in a bad environment. If there was a need to get that sort of work done quickly, I would just send the images back to a good PS person back home.
Just my $0.02,
Tom
