I ♥ Faces

I ♥ Faces is having a non-contest challenge this week. It is a "before and after" challenge in which each person has the chance to showcase their pics at an earlier date and then a pic from the month of August. The idea is to see how each person has improved........ I have only known of I ♥ Faces 4-6wks so wasn't going to enter this challenge, I feel that I have progressed so much since i found their site though that I decided to take the embarrassing plunge.....

I have loved photography as long as I can remember.... My first camera was a Polaroid that I earned selling cards and wrapping paper..... For those that knew me then, don't panic! I am not going to post any of those pics!!! I have slowly upgraded through the years...
I got Photoshop Elements about 4 yrs ago but, up until the early part of this year, the only thing I could do with it was fix red eye and crop. I would also occasionally try to paint out distracting backgrounds.... I knew nothing of layers, opacity,actions, etc.... I didn't even know there was a photoshop that wasn't in the elements family!!! I had a Nikon coolpix that I loved for macro but HATED for kid pics. It was just too slow! So here is a before pic with my first attempts at editing:
(Hmmm.... not so great. I think all I did was too lighten shadows.........)


Here is one of my more recent color edits.... and also the start of pics taken with my new DSLR. My wonderful hubby bought it for me after my coolpix died!





One of my first B&W's........ I tried to compensate for the lack of contrast by "hand tinting" and diffusing the glow. Um, BAD idea!!!

Here is my most recent B&W done with a technique I just learned through an I ♥ Faces entry....


I am still struggling with a near fatal vignette addiction and a heavy hand with my PSE but, after reading through the other before and after entries, I have hope that I will recover and my skills will improve. I also am still strictly shooting Automatic but an hoping to change that soon! :o) Through I ♥ Faces, and the many blogs I have discovered through them,I feel like I am learning new things every day!
Head on over to I ♥ Faces
to see more Before and After entries..... Most are a lot less wordy than mine! :o)