before and after

here’s the deal with my Photoshopping skills…we’ll just cut right to the chase…they are miniscule!

i have tons to learn. and i’m really really wanting to learn it! so i’m posting some stuff i’ve worked on in Photoshop over the last few months in the hopes that those of you who know more than i do about this stuff (and there are many of you!) will give me some pointers. i am still hoping to take a class soon…but you know how that goes! i have two kids, a hubby who is presently taking his own classes (seminary) and ~~little~~ no extra funds, so that might take a small miracle! but miracles happen, don’t they?

anyway…i have a small nagging feeling that i will regret this post someday, just like i’ve regretted pretty much all of the past posts i’ve done on photography. cause the more i learn, the more i realize how little i know! and how totally amateur my work really is! and when i make the poor poor decision to start comparing my work to others out there that i see in blogspace…well…let’s not even go there!! but i guess that’s life…we’re always learning, right? and at least it’ll give me a laugh sometime down the road!

here’s my deal with Photoshop. i really love it. i love using it. i’ve gotten to the point where i pretty much edit every photo i take, even if its just a little. i don’t like to do too much changing to a photo…just enough to make it a little bit better. with these following photos, most are some combination of multiple things i’ve done…lightening, blurring, boosting, burning, brightening, sharpening…etc….none of them are just one simple action. i rarely…maybe never…do the same exact same thing to multiple photos. and if you asked me to explain what i’ve done, i couldn’t for the life of me tell you! i want to get to the point where i’m understanding a little bit more about what all i can do to make a photo the best it can be! and i’d love to understand it enough to tell you guys about it too!

also…i cannot figure out how to convert to black and white where i am really really happy with the results. please help!

so here goes. PLEASE feel free to leave me suggestions and tips!