Just Digital

Even the old school guys spent all sorts of darkroom time with different developers and pretty complex techniques (eg, Unsharp mask, contrast masking, hand dodging and burning). Ansel Adams had his own master printer and spent days with the guy working up prints.

The camera gives us raw material and it's ALWAYS post processed with different contrast, saturation, hue, sharpness (more accurately "accutance") parameters tweaked. It's just a matter if you want to give your camera one set of instructions for every shot you take (out of camera JPEGs) or actually have far more control to make the scene either look like it really did to your eye or look like what your mind imagines it to be (PP with Raw).
For those just starting out several books and authors come to mind:
-- for a more cookbook, but still useful approach, Scott Kelby's books
-- Blatner and Fraser-- Photoshop CS(x)
-- Fraser -- Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS(x)

-- Katrin Eisman -- Photoshop Restoration and Retouching, and Photoshop Masking and Compositing
-- Dan Margulis -- Photshop Lab Color - The Canyon Conundrum

It's also well worth your while to go back to the master and read Ansel Adams -- The Camera, and The Negative. You'll learn a ton about light.

For composition IMHO theres no one better than Freeman Patterson -- Photography and the Art of Seeing.
You can also learn a ton on the web. Dave Black comes to mind.

Now, having said that, the closer you come to the perfect shot in camera (exposure and composition) the better your picture will be and less PP you will have to do. Equipment matters, especially lens quality, and stability of support (tripod and head -- don't skimp there). Also technique (expose to the right, use graduated ND filters to balance the scence, etc.).

Finally, learn when to shoot. Personally, I favor after the sun has set (example below). With a good tripod, there's never not enough light, and the subtle stuff is beautiful Keep in mind that even though you make pictures, not take them, it's always F8 and be there! Predawn and just before and after sunset are the photographers best times (landscape at least), though mid day can be great for the right subjects (second example below shot at noon in blazing sun in Death Valley). Both examples were very minimally PP'd. Mostly exposure adjustment and sharpening.