I was planning on participating in fix-it friday at i heart faces, but I just wasn’t feeling the photo they offered this week. Then I had an unexpected opportunity to spruce up the following graduation photo. I jumped at the chance. It has terrific basics: a beautiful girl, color, and good focus and exposure:
I started in photoshop where I brightened her eyes (PW’s Sharpen This and Bring on the Eyes), lightened up the shadows under her eyes (TRA’s Yin/Yang), ran a little Claire-ify and Smooth-O-Matic (TRA, again), and warmed it up a bit.
Then I headed over to Picnik, where I rotated/cropped, added more warm tones, used the clone tool to remove her foot in the background and add some grass to the top of the photo, reduced shine on her knuckes and temple, whitened her teeth a little (didn’t want them warmed up with her complexion…), played around just a little in curves, and finished it off with a vignette:
For the top photo, I cropped, sharpened, and added a frame and text. (I tried to remember the steps I took, but I’m probably missing something…) I’m so excited by the finished product!