I'm glad you appreciate my long post, I always worry that I'll come across as some cocky know-it-all lol.
As for photo editing, it's always been a touchy subject for photographers, but hell, photos have been edited since the age of film, so it's not always a bad thing. It's really about the extent you do it. Personally I try to avoid per-pixel editing. The most I'll usually do is exposure compensation, color correction, black and white conversion and sharpening.
It's worth it to learn how to use curves in Photoshop, it could give your photos an extra pop, if you think it may need one.. and there's no harm in playing around with your photos.
One last thing to keep in mind, when it comes to plant photography, it's usually better to isolate your subject, with low depth of field or otherwise. Your wild strawberries are hidden behind a bush and there's a distracting, relatively in-focus background. Try using a larger aperture and getting closer next time.
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