Photoshop Before & After

[Margy Z]

CG -

Your photos are great! To bring faces out of the shadows I run the photo through Picasa first and use fill light, then I go on to the heavier artillery for the other elements. Picasa also has this great "I'm feeling lucky" button which sometimes is all you need for exposure, color, etc.

There's a less expensive program than PS that has an easier curve - it's called Mircosoft Picture It. I have V10 (compatible with XP, Windows 7). It has the cloning tool, dust removers, cut-out tools, etc., I think MS has discontinued making newer versions but it should be easy to find on eBay. I find myself going to this one before getting into PS where I have to think a lot to remember how to use it.

Can't argue with success, though, and your pictures are wonderful, CG!

[California Girl]

Thanks Margy! I'm going to look into Picture It, that sounds great! I've always heard good things about the Picasa editing tool, as well. Maybe that's all I need to bring out the shadows.

[surfnh]

Oh yeah, I use that "I'm feeling lucky" button all the time on picasa......great for rookies like me!

[California Girl]

I have a plug-in for Photoshop called Velvia Vision and it's something like a "I'm Feeling Lucky" button that you can adjust to your own liking.

[Anthony]

If you can't afford Photoshop, GIMP is a free open source piece of software that supposedly has all the same features - but I think it can be a little tricky to install.

http://www.gimp.org/windows/

Nice job on the photos Margo. I love post-production - you really can get some amazing results!

[dc3group]

Fabulous!

[California Girl]

Thanks everyone! I think I love the post-production almost as much as taking the pictures!