The Magic of Photoshop

It's amazing what one can do to a photograph using a computer nowadays. Photo-manipulation has come so far since the days of film. Take this photo for example. This is the original, a picture of the bride of the wedding I was shooting last week. It was taken in relatively low light right before sunset. It's not that bad of a picture, but just look at what it can look like with minimal editing:

Before/Original

After/"Enhanced"

As Chris would say, I "enhanced" the photo using curves and the channel mixer, changing the levels, and the brightness/contrast. Just minimal changes and it already looks that much better. Not only can Photoshop "enhance" photos, but you can also add filters and use actions. Here are a two different options for this photo:

Black and White

"Sun Kissed"

In the first, I took away the color. In the second, I boosted it. Which is your favorite? There is also the other version featured in yesterday's Wordless Wednesday. That one has more "fantastical" colors- obviously she doesn't have purple skin, but it makes the picture pretty anyway. It's really easy to find actions for Photoshop. Just Google "Free Photoshop Actions" and tada! You can get lists of them! I got the "Sun Kissed" action from this website and the action used on yesterday's WW can be found here.