Saturday encore ~ Mon petit fleurs and a few thoughts on Photoshop ... and we announce the winners

First things first. Thanks to everyone for participating in the "I'll do my best to fix your photo" contest. I was trying to think of a clever way to randomly select the winner, but I couldn't. So I've decided that all 26 of you who left a comment on this post are winners. I will Photoshop the digital photo of your choice and make it as perfect as I know how.

Now don't go thinking I've lost my mind - there's something in this for me, too. I've been thinking that when I retire from my day job, I'll need to do something to keep busy, and fixing other people's photos might be one of those things. So fixing your photos will be a test to see if Photoshopping my way into old age is something I really want to do.

Here's what you need to do to claim your prize:

1. E-mail the picture you would like fixed to: the7msn at gmail dot com. Please send the highest resolution/largest file that you have. Or if your photo is available somewhere online, send me the link.

2. Tell me if there is something specific you would like to see fixed (e.g., remove my ex-husband, make me a blonde, get rid of those wrinkles), otherwise I'll use my best judgment and do to your photo what I do to mine - improve the color, maybe crop it, bring out the details, etc.

3. Let me know if I have your permission to share the before/after of your photo on this blog. This might be the start of a regular feature here – Touch-up Tuesday or something like that. We'll see. If you don't want your photo published here, that's perfectly fine, too.

Thanks again for playing along ... and helping me plan my future.

* * * * *

This post from November 2009 seems most appropriate for today's encore presentation because it's about ...you guessed it... Photoshop.


The feline bouquet was arranged for dinner.

Daffodil sat atop the washer, looking like the prim and polite pile of purr she pretends to be.


Rosebud relaxed on the dryer, with her one big ear and one little ear (a story for another time), staring soulfully into my eyes.


Snapper (officially Snapdragon) snarled while he waited for me to snag his dinner and stop snapping pictures.



The lighting was perfect, and the felines were looking their expressive best. Too bad about the yucky white appliances, the electric cords, and the not-so-flattering paint color on the walls behind them.

Enter Photoshop.




Applying textures in Photoshop seems to be all the rage these days, so I thought I'd give it a try. I like what this texture* does to these images. Almost makes me want to repaint the laundry room.

Photoshop is to today's digital photographer what the darkroom was to yesterday's film photographer – a tool to make a good photograph better, or to express or enhance one's style. I use it all the time, if for no other reason than to remove the specks that show up in the sky because I neglected to clean the camera lens.


*Texture is courtesy of Jessica Drossin Photography , via the MCP Actions site. Thank you, Jessica and Jodi.