Holy Lightroom!
So, I've been growing increasingly frustrated with my photo editing options. PicMonkey and the like are good, but I want something GREAT! My Photoshop Elements program is like trying to do something in Chinese, and it's so outdated now that it's hard to find good online tutorials. I really just don't have the time to devote to it either.
So, what is a girl to do? I need the power of Photoshop but with the ease of use of PicMonkey. Aha!
Enter Lightroom 4. :) These are the first two pictures I edited...and I actually did it fairly quickly...but spent a lot of time playing around. I still have A LOT to learn as it is a VERY powerful program. But, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Don't you?
Here are some screenshots I captured so you can see the before and after images. (Before on the left, after on the right.) I also want to thank my Father-in-Law for my amazing new lens. Both of these images were taken with it and it is AMAZING!!! My new go to lens.
So, lets talk about what I did. In Lorelai's picture above her face was slightly blurred as it seems I focused on her hair on the left side. (This kid moves FAST!!!) The picture was kind of dark. So the first thing I did was to use some "presets." These are prefabbed filters you can download (some are free some have to be purchased) for Lightroom. The first preset I used was a "lighten". I then put on another filter to bring out the blues in the picture. I believe it was called "Berry." Her cheeks were kind of dull in the original image so I added some rosiness to them with a brush, and I also lightened her eyes with an eye sparkle brush, and luminated the image. I whitened her teeth a smidge, smoothed out her skinso the dark lines around her mouth and nose lightened up, and took out some of the dinner she had on the corner of her mouth. (This kid always has food on her face! HA!) Then I added another "preset" and sharpened the image up a bit so her face was a bit more in focus.
Below we have Gabriel's picture with Paisley, and the toad we caught in his critter cage. I love his expression here. He's actually watching an airplane in the sky, while Paisley thinks about how she can get the toad. The color in this picture is SUPER flat. Shadowy...blah. So, I added a preset that brings a golden sunset hue to the picture. This lightened up his face, brightened the grass, fence, and Paisley as well. Then I went in and softened some of the lines where his jawbone line meets his neck, and around his nose. I brightened his eyes, whitened his teeth a smidge, and then added a chapstick to his lips to smooth them out. Took out a couple little blemishes (i.e. small battle wounds) and voila! Gorgeous no?
This program is soooo user friendly (for me at least). No creating 60 layers to do each little task. Here are the "after" pictures so you can see them in their full glory. I'm really pleased and look forward to using this program even more!
So, what is a girl to do? I need the power of Photoshop but with the ease of use of PicMonkey. Aha!
Enter Lightroom 4. :) These are the first two pictures I edited...and I actually did it fairly quickly...but spent a lot of time playing around. I still have A LOT to learn as it is a VERY powerful program. But, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Don't you?
Here are some screenshots I captured so you can see the before and after images. (Before on the left, after on the right.) I also want to thank my Father-in-Law for my amazing new lens. Both of these images were taken with it and it is AMAZING!!! My new go to lens.
Below we have Gabriel's picture with Paisley, and the toad we caught in his critter cage. I love his expression here. He's actually watching an airplane in the sky, while Paisley thinks about how she can get the toad. The color in this picture is SUPER flat. Shadowy...blah. So, I added a preset that brings a golden sunset hue to the picture. This lightened up his face, brightened the grass, fence, and Paisley as well. Then I went in and softened some of the lines where his jawbone line meets his neck, and around his nose. I brightened his eyes, whitened his teeth a smidge, and then added a chapstick to his lips to smooth them out. Took out a couple little blemishes (i.e. small battle wounds) and voila! Gorgeous no?