ZGFX and CHILLS, with Dr. E [Tribute]

@frank22 Thanks. I don't know that I've seen an Aussie version of any Elvira production. (Unless I did and didn't know it.)
Will have to look that up, thanks.
(Trivia - I watch for both. 😊)

Tis the season to watch classics with cocktails and Cassandra.
(I hope she's doing better since Paul - Reubens - died.)

@legolas18 Interesting rendition. No I don't mind at all. I figure once these things are out there they're sort of left-the-nest children in a way. Take on a life of their own.

While I don't have any strict rules of not using PS, I rarely do much anymore simply out of principle. Over the last few years with DS I've gotten away from the habit, other than light or level corrections. But for that I've more recently switched up to Darktable (a sort of free/open version of LightRoom), so, really, I don't much touch PS anymore, at least for DS renders.
Some might consider that a "mistake" or a "fault". Maybe not getting as close to perfection as possible before sharing an image. Or not "finishing" an image properly. I choose to see it as a motivator to do as much within DS as possible before processing. And if I never process at all, and am still satisfied with a render, then all the better. DAZ is nowhere near perfect, but it does have its character traits, and many of them I've learned to like well enough. DAZ Iray can never* compare to something like Arnold, but for what it's worth it does a kind of unique job just the same.
*(Unless someone or something comes along to completely re-write or re-utilize the engine somehow, as discussed at length elsewhere in the forums.)

Comparing orig render and your edit, for example:
While I do find the tone more balanced overall, the sharps have obviously been de-tuned out as well. While that blurring or smoothing has created a more natural and acceptable feel in the foreground, and balancing through matching, the background details have been lost. And even though there was a purposeful DOF and fog effect to dull the original render background, the non-edited render still also maintained a more vivid and illuminated brightness in the DS-only ver; along with the detail and lighting in the background objects. (If you view them side by side, or use the superimposed-toggle back and forth trick, the differences are more stark.) (Or perhaps this is just an effect of the lower resolution image in comparison? Not sure.)
None of this is to say one image is "better" than the other, either direction. That's not at all what I mean to imply. They're both good quality and have their merits. But for the purposes of my original intent, the rendered image came closer to the vivid and high contrast original main reference photo. (Sorry for low-res, low quality ver.)

It's taken a while to get to this point using solely DAZ Iray, to be sure. And maybe it's a "beat your head against the wall" kind of pointlessness, to some - the learning is certainly never over with such a system. And, of course, depending on the render or the intent, PS or Darktable are always options. But, for me, the closer I can get to a finalized and acceptably realistic render using only DS when possible, the more I feel like I can use that knowledge in the next project.
(Just a personal approach. Can and may change again at any time, who knows.)(Thanks for the input as always, of course.)