The New And Improved Me

My interest in photography as a semi-serious hobby is increasing. To aid in my thirst for knowledge of all things photographic, I've been trying to relearn Photoshop. I say relearn because I knew a little about this program for a little while. That knowledge has since escaped my brain, and I'm basically having to start from scratch.

On a recent trip to Borders, I purchased a discounted digital photography book. The beginning of the book teaches the reader about functions and settings of the camera. The second half describes different applications in and uses of Photoshop. I've found the second half of the book very useful thus far.

Photoshop does more than I could possibly learn in several sittings, so I began with the lesson I thought most useful - how to retouch photos. In other words, I'm learning how to make myself and those I love look more attractive in photo. It's as simple as a soft blur of the skin, a whitening of the eyes, the removal a blemish or two and lightening bags under the eyes. It's fantastic. Heck, I'm even making my teeth whiter without the $300 procedure.And I'm learning to Photoshop in a subtle enough way so my improvements look natural. It's kind of like good plastic surgery. But free! And painless!

To demonstrate, below are two photos of me. The first is in it's original form. And the second, gussied up with a little Photoshop magic.




















Better! And this photo also reminds me of how desperate in need I am of a good cut and color. All the Photoshop skills in the world couldn't make my current do look anywhere near as good as it does in the photos above, aka the last time I got a hair cut.