We forget this so often as engineers and producers, but people are capable of automating themselves. A little more muscle when playing the drums on chorus is far better and more natural sounding than automating a fader in Pro Tools so things get louder. In my opinion, that should be a last ditch effort, not your first thought.
We can navigate the end result of a session much better if we coach the performance and get the end result we want as it's going into the mic. The same can be done for singers by getting closer and further from the mic or guitars strumming a little harder or a lot harder.
Don't wait till mixing to do what you wish was in the recording, put it in the recording while you have the chance.
