Digital Workflow Primer

One of the most frequent requests I get from readers is —can you please explain from start to finish the steps taken in creating a print. What they mean by this is not just what to do first in Photoshop, but the entire creative journey, including the tools used.
With this article I will attempt to do so, but please be aware of two things. Firstly, it's just one man's approach. There are a multitude of ways of accomplishing the same or similar tasks, and every photographer will do things somewhat differently. Secondly, what is described below applies tothis specific image. Every photograph is, of course, different. Another image may require different approaches and tools, though what's shown below is typical of how I work with a non-problem image.
The Finished Image
Immediately below is the finished image that will be discussed, and the steps that were necessary to achieve it. You can see a larger version by clicking on it.
This was not in any way a challenging image to process, ...