To me, post-processing is like using spices in cooking - When used with subtlety and care, they enhance the dish and the original flavours. When overdone, they become the centerpiece instead of the dish. A photographer I know uses up to 64 steps in his postprocessing, but when we look at the image, we don't see postprocessing, we see what we think is pretty amazing lighting. Of course, given that this person does street photography, there's no way that he's carting around softboxes and fill lights and the like, but his processing gives that kind of polish to the images. In that context, the postprocessing is not visible by itself, but it serves to enhance our view of the subject. You can see images such as
Jeffry Plomley Photography here...