I like how Ansel Adams approaches it in Examples, with ample explanation for how the technique allowed him to render the scene differently than it appeared.
Photography would be pretty easy if what we saw in the world would inevitably end up in print. But it takes an effort to make great images, and that's true irrespective of medium. I'd think it would only illustrate or highlight one's skill to talk about the original scene and what kind of effort it took to create such an effective image.