My sister, who used to work with Mac computers at work showed me how to do a screen shot on my Mac a few months back.  Yeah, I’m still pretty new to Mac’s even though I’ve been religiously using my Mac book for about 5 years now.  With this new knowledge, I am now able to do screen shots of my photoshopping talent…haha…kidding.

I really wanted to share how a photo can easily go from plain to a soft bluish tone to a sepia grainy look.

This is the original taken with a Nikon D90 set at manual.  It’s not so bad the way it is but I think it’s a little pink.

Here, I’ve added some blue.

Here, I’ve made it more yellowish/sepia and added graininess.  I also gave it a little glow and brightened her face and chest a bit.

This is a screen shot showing the tools I mainly used on the photos: Color balance, sharpen tool, and dodge tool.  I did use the burn tool too to add a slight shadow in the corners and in her hair.  Click on the screen shot image to view larger in new window.

It’s pretty fun to play around and learn different techniques to enhance a photo.  Sometimes it’s not necessary but when you want to give a photo a certain feel, it’s nice to be able to do it yourself.  Of course, the software (Adobe Photoshop) is pricey but there are other much more cheaper software out there that can do exactly what Photoshop does.  I don’t even have the latest Photoshop software (I think it is CS5 now – I have CS4) but what I have works for now.  My husband uses iPhoto which comes with the Mac book.

I hope this inspired you to learn or play around with the software you have. ♥