Photoshop greatness...

here is a prime example of why I love Photoshop!
I mean, my camera is like an extension of myself and truly never leaves my side but when it comes to taking your photos to the next level, Photoshop is a dream come true!

from adjusting the contrast and color to the shadows and brightness. something as simple as cropping the photo to morphing an object completely out of the picture. Photoshop takes a possible miss and turns it into a hit.

case in point:

I loved the view in this shot and just as I snapped, my daughter walked into the frame.
no problem, crop her out.

but the color in the photo doesn't even come close to the vibrant hues that were surrounding him on that hilltop.
so, let's adjust the levels and the exposure.

now, let's make those clouds really pop by adding a cyan filter.

and to give the entire photo a more unified look, we'll add a frame.

this is only the very basic stuff with Photoshop. there is so much more you can do, it's insane. you're basically only limited by your imagination.
and I find that mine is always soaring high.

basic border tutorial...

I've been asked more than once "how do you put the border around your photos?" So I thought I would post a quick tutorial. I use Photoshop CS3, so I don't know how well this translates to earlier versions. nonetheless, here we go.

first, open any photo you want a frame around (this works best on flattened images but if you need several layers just be sure the background layer is active when you apply the script), and make sure your action pallet is showing (shift-f9 if it isn't) ...

then, click on the "create new action" button...

in the dialog box that pops up give your action a name...

choose the set you want it in and if you want to give it a shortcut, now is the time to choose that...

now Photoshop is "recording" every click you make (every breath you take, it'll be watching you.)
oh. sorry! that was the geek husband influence kicking in.)
click on (the menu bar) image, then canvas size (or alt+ctrl C) and in the dialog box set the size of the border, I use 50 pixels that way I can run the script more than once if I want a wider border...

most importantly make sure the "Relative" box is checked and the anchor is in the middle...

and the last option, "canvas extension color" will determine the color of your border. I use black most of the time. this gives you a basic border...

click OK.

then go back to the actions pallet and click on stop...

now that you have your action recorded, you can replay it on just about any image you like by either using the shortcut key you assigned it or by clicking on it, then clicking "play".

you can also mix this up a bit if you like. while recording you can increase canvas size more than once using different colors and/or sizes.
I must give the credit for this tutorial to my geek of a husband, Jason.
(he told me to type that, I swear!)