Photoshop is a Verb

In the past few months I have gotten much more adept at Photoshop (we have version 7.0 but I'd love to upgrade...). Due to some new abilities I didn't have before, I've been going back to some of my favorite shots and editing them. Some of them will have to be left alone, because I just don't have the time to spend "photoshopping" hundreds of pictures. I usually try to keep it simple, although it can be fun to completely overhaul an otherwise basic shot into something artistic. Usually I try to just enhance, however, rather than alter. I wanted to post a before and after (thanks for the idea Aletha!) of one of my all-time faves. We went to Moelker Orchards in Walker for some fall pictures by the apple trees, pumpkins, etc. You can see more here). I may even reprint this one since I have a copy in a frame hanging up...

Before: it was late afternoon with the sun to their backs, and the clouds in the sky looked so cool...

After: I boosted up the colors a bit (notice the sky, Ron's sweater, and especially Lucy's sweater), and added the darkened edges - which also made the blue in the sky appear much richer toward the top.

I believe that digital editing you do is almost as important as the initial picture you take. I do my best to take pictures that are good without editing, but I can almost always improve upon them with software (like Photoshop or Picasa) and end up being much happier with the results.