Photoshop Skillz, I haz dem

Before - UGH!! YUCKY!!

After - BEAUTIMOUS! Cropping, lightening, Sepia-ing (since the colors were SOOOO BAD, I had to just remove ALL colors!)

Much better, yes?

Outside Photos

We did a super cute photoshoot outside today. The sun was low enough in the sky to give enough light, but not be so bright everything was washed out. Here are some awesome Aric pics:

I edited this with www.picnik.com. I think the effects were Boost and Cross Process.

This one I edited with Picassa. I used the temperature function and make the image "warmer."

These images were some nature ones that I took. The first is a bird's nest in our bush, and the second is a lilac bush in our yard. The first lilac photo was the Straight Out of the Camera shot (which I loved) and the second was edited in Picnik.

Comments, critiques? Scathing remarks?

Lots of photos tonight

This afternoon the lighting was PERFECT in the living room and Aric was playing in his exersaucer, which made for some awesome, bright, colorful pics. First I'll start with some images I edited, then to images I left as is. And, as always, feedback is appreciated!

Focal Length - 24.4mm
Exposure Time - 0.011s (1/90)
Aperture - f/4.0
ISO - 400
What I did - Just removed all color. Nothin fancy.

Focal Length - 32.5mm
Exposure Time - 0.002s (1/500)
Aperture - f/4.0
ISO - 400
What I did - Messed around with the brightness and contrast. And cropped it.

Focal Length - 40.0mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

Focal Length - 55mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

Focal Length - 23.1mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

Focal Length - 37.5mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

Focal Length - 55mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

Focal Length - 26.3mm
Exposure Time - 0.017s (1/60)
Aperture - f/5.6
ISO - 400

The same photo over and over

Ok, so I attempted a "photo shoot." I made a mock studio with a fake backdrop and whatnot. I took almost 300 pictures. One came out.

Aperture - f/4
Shutter speed - 1/45 sec
ISO - 400
Focal Length - 32mm

Here is what auto smart fix in Photoshop did:

In Black and White:

And with my artistic edits:

Thoughts? Opinions? Scathing remarks?

Phun with Photoshop

Ok, now that I've figured stuff out, here's what I've done today.

Don't ask what I've done as far as which effects and what not, just accept for what they are.

Yes, I did notice the error with the Magic Wand tool thingy in the second photo. Also, what do you think of the new, fancy watermark?

Son of a #$%@&

Yeah, just found everything I was complaining was missing.

Carry on.

Thwarted by Photoshop Elements 4.0

So I've been reading The Pioneer Woman's Photography Blog. She's a self-taught photographer and has neat tutorials and such for then rest of us to become photographers.

Recently she posted some downloads for Photoshop Elements to do neat things to photos, like making things look vintage or soft or fresh and lively.

So I downloaded these since I still haven't been able to figure out to mess with color other than going to black and white and adjusting saturation and hue. Sepia tones don't exist, unless I haven't found that yet. So I thought these downloads would be awesome.

They are for Elements versions 5.0-8.0.

I have version 4.0.

At some point, I'm going to have to read that instruction manual.

At least I know the version I have is good for blog design. Now to make it work for editing photos past adding cool filters and making it look like digital art.