I try to approach photoshop and any retouching almost as if i was still in the dark room, starting out in this way you can achieve the image you first previsualiz.

I have also built action sets for Photoshop and with the press of a button you can create a number of different affects.
The action sets I use are a quick and simple way to get a different look and feel from a image in seconds they are not any thing new but are based on things I do and have seen other do, made into a action set to save time. Don’t think of them as a way to retouch an image but a process to take out guess work and save on time, of just sideling a sidle bar from left to right and hopeing for the best, something I’m sure we’ve all done!