Plus a good fotographer would know to spell it photographer!
I took photography waaaaay back in 7th and 8th grade and lot of it's coming back to me. The advantage to digital cameras, especially those with the screen on the back, is that you can see your shot right away. Even with the little screen on the back, I've had to shoot the scene again simply because the little screen doesn't show as clearlly if you're out of focus.
I got my digi-cam from eBay and it didn't come with an instruction manual, so I'm messing around with the settings so I can get some low light shots. Photo editing software helps, but it's no substitiue for a real shot in low light.
What you were poining out about the colours that "appear" that aren't really there is something that drives me nuts as well. I can spot faked photos almost right away and there are times that sorta ruins an otherwise nice photo for me. Almost like musically inclined people with perfect pitch, it's a blessing and a curse. Outrider's great arial shots aren't ruined for me simply because I know they're fake, but he does a great job to make them look real, so they're not ruinied for me, however looking at an auto broshure a few years ago, it hurt to look at the pictures because the vehicles were shot in studio and superimposed over an outside shot. Some were obvious like a truck in snow with no tire tracks around or shadows in the background facing a different direction from the foreground, while other the hints of fakery were much more subtle.
One thing I love about this site is the it's not only a site for collecters of our favorite Real American Hero, but it's also a great photography site.