Touch-it-up Tuesday, episode 3

You remember Touch-it-up Tuesday? It happens every week when I remember it's Tuesday, which I didn't last week. Regardless, this is where I fix a photo or two using Photoshop and try to explain what I did and why I did it.

Let's start with this picture of Rosebud. Here it is, straight out of the camera:


When I walked into my bedroom and saw Rosebud asleep atop the dresser, with her paws crossed and her image reflected in the wood, I thought, "awww..so sweet...now where in the heck is my camera and will she still be there by the time I find it?"

I found the camera, and she was (she's a very lazy cat). But when I looked through the lens, I saw stuff that I wished wasn't there...the ugly tv over on the left, the blown-out sky over on the right. I could move the tv and close the window shade, but then I'd risk Rosebud moving and losing the moment altogether. So I fired off some shots, knowing that I could crop them later.

Here's the edited version:


Here's what I did:
1. Cropped image to lose the sky and most of the window.
2. Ran PW's Warmer action at 100%.
3. Ran MCP's High Definition Sharpening action at 50%.
4. Ran MCP's Touch of Lightness/Touch of Darkness action to slightly brighten Rosebud's reflection in the wood.
5. Ran Coffeeshop's Vignette action to darken the edges, drawing the eye to Rosebud and her reflection.

I learned a new HTML trick last week and have been dying to try it. Here goes... Place your mouse over the image below, then roll your mouse off the image into the margin somewhere, then back onto the image. The before and after photos should alternate each time you move the mouse.

If that worked, you can thank Shadowhouse Creations, who posted this tutorial. If it didn't, you can blame me for screwing it up.

Justina sent me this next photo, of Nigel and Fergus. She captured them in all their wonderfulness resting their heads on Bernard, but the New Mexico sun was high in the sky and the harshness of the light all but ruined this tender moment:



Could Photoshop save the day?


Here's what I did:
1. Straightened the fence post using the Ruler tool and "arbitrary rotate," (my number one favorite photoshop trick of all time).
2. Using the Clone tool, removed whatever those distractions were in the top left corner.
3. Ran PW's Old West action to tone down the harshness of the light.
4. Ran MCP's Touch of Lightness/Touch of Darkness action to bring Fergus' and Nigel's muzzles out of the shadows.
5. Shooed those flies off of Fergus' nose and eye with the Spot Healing brush.

Let's try that before and after trick again...roll your mouse back and forth from the image to the margin.


There are days when I just love technology. You'd think they'd invent something to remind me when it was Tuesday.