Just read an article on Andy Goodwin, noted editorial portrait photographer, Very Nice Work! Looks to me like much of the toned down backgrounds may have been achived with Photoshop, ...what do some of you people think about that? you can find his work at www.agoodwinphoto.com

He's been showcased a couple of times in the professional magazine "The Rangefinder."

I expect that he achieved pretty much the total effect in the camera. That kind of work was done on transparency film by the best commercial photographers, but it was tedious, requiring considerable testing on film prior to the shoot or with Polaroid during the actual session.

Using digital certainly removes most of the tedium, but when dealing with executives you have to have your methodology cold even with digital--you can't waste their time with a lot of chimping and adjusting.

Were the backgrounds created in PS? I doubt it. Were they modified in PS? Most definately. Some more than others, but I would say most were.