Before 'n After

I love Photoshop. I love it even more since upgrading to CS5. I think I'm addicted to content aware fill. And I find myself wondering how I ever managed to properly crop a picture before when I didn't have the handy rule of thirds grid assisting me. And the updated ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) is fabulous.

Of course the goal of any photographer would be to get as close to perfect a picture in camera ... and my typical photoshop edits aren't usually very dramatic. But there are times when I fall in love with a picture that might typically be flagged as a reject due to poor lighting or composition or exposure and I just can't manage to let it go. That is when photoshop can really shine.

So where am I going with all this rambling? I just finished the edits last night on a senior session I recently did in Seattle and came across one of those photos that just begged for a makeover. And since I LOVE seeing befores and afters on other photography blogs, I thought I would do one myself!

So here ya go ...

I started with some basic Camera Raw adjustments, then ran it through my special combination of steps, which includes a curves adjustment, adding some contrast and color saturation, lightening and brightening and sharpening, as well as a slight tonal shift. Some of the steps are using my own know-how and some are actions from TRA and Florabella. Then I used the healing brush in photoshop to get rid of some of the specks on that lovely stadium turf. And then I decided the white sky was very distracting so I added in a lovely blue one with clouds. I had a lot of fun creating the finished product!