It's the Little Things...Before and After

As many of you know, I have been taking a Photoshop class with my good friend, Heidi.  It's been a fantastic opportunity to learn a program I think will be instrumental in my future success as a "good" photographer.  I'll be honest though, for the first couple weeks we struggled.  There wasn't a lot of concrete knowledge being shared and with computer issues and odd teaching styles, we weren't really doing anything we were talking about.  In the last couple weeks that has changed, however.  Finally, this week we learned some basic touch up skills that will prove to be fantastic in my photography moving forward.  You know the scene...you take a great picture but the shadows are a little dark, or there's a misplaced item in the background that's horribly distracting the real focus of the photo.  Those little things that "ruin" an otherwise fantastic shot.  So, last night in Photoshop class we finally got hands on with some tools that make all these minor blips practically a thing of the past!!!  It's a little thing that makes a BIG difference!  So, for today's It's The Little Things Thursday, I thought I'd share a few examples of how a little thing (healing, cloning, and burn and dodge tools) can make a HUGE improvement to some (otherwise) great photos!  

Keep in mind that I'm VERY new (with less than 12 hours of experience under my belt) at these skills so my teacher warned me not to go public with my teachings yet until I had time to hone my abilities.  But as you know, I'm a rebel and he likes to yell at me anyway, so what's different here?!?

 BEFORE : my precious sleeping babe with an obnoxious dog hair obstructing his sweet face...

 

AFTER - Voila!  No dog hair to be seen!  And a brightened and smoothed out his face a little...

BEFORE - my Wordless Wednesday (seen here) from yesterday...the helmet was casting a precarious shadow right over his eyes where his concentration is so keen...

 

And AFTER - I used the "dodge tool" to brighten up the light under his helmet and make his eyes a little more noticeable...This is one of those things that can be easily overdone, but I think for a first attempt it was an improvement...

Anyway, I just wanted to share these fabulous tricks I'm learning!!  Just think of how fabulous I can make my pictures now!!   Stop over to Starts at Eight to share your little things that make this journey through life fun and exciting!