Why should I post edit my pictures?

A post edit picture is worth a thousand words! Compare these pictures. Now I ask you, why would you choose to NOT? Post editing turns a snapshot into a photograph.

I used an expensive consumer camera with an expensive lens to take this shot. I used all the right settings! The picture still turned out dark and flat! One simple click in the right program and voila, the snapshot has now been turned into a photograph worthy of display!

There is a good reason for all this. The electronics in a camera does not see the same way our eyes see. When a camera sees the color white or any light color it automatically underexposes the picture in an attempt to correct what it perceives as a problem.

When the camera sees a dark color it automatically brightens up the shot for the same reason. What this means to you and me is that when we are taking pictures we have to be constantly aware of the coloration in our frame. We then have to set the shutter speed and aperture manually or the picture will be over exposed or under exposed.

On top of all this, one has to set the exposure for the surrounding area, not the butterfly. Why? Because the butterfly is the problem to begin with. I would have to use an exposure card or something that is in the middle ground for light reflection.

Don't ask me to explain it all. The purpose of my entire site is to make things simple. My site is here so you know you can get photo quality pictures with minimal investment, minimal experience and minimal effort.

That being the case, we could just set the camera on automatic, let the camera take the picture as it will and run it through a post edit program! What will you choose? I choose Post edit! It's a whole lot easier than remembering a thousand things while I'm busy trying to get this split second shot!

Remember this photo?

It's on my home page. The second of these two pictures is the before. It's before any the post editing.

Which would you rather display? It took me about 3 minutes from start to finish. I cropped the picture slightly and hit a couple of automatic fixes.

See how much more beautifully the flower stands out in the top picture? It's sharp, crisp, clear and colorful. It just about jumps right off the page and into your lap. Kinda looks like a tiny, lop eared bunny to me.

That's not all. It's usually pretty simple to make some fairly major changes to a picture. This took me a while, but this was still done with simple steps.

First I had to outline the bus, including inside the windows and stuff like that.

I created some of the shadows because the sun was in a different place in the original than in the beach scene. These are all things to be taken into consideration when you're doing the work. You'll learn them with experience. Never the less, it was not complicated. It just took some time.

Like anything, learning to do post edit work comes one step at a time. And so many cool effects just take one click of a button to accomplish.

Check this out.

One click of a button and the picture goes from a typical shot to an old fashion looking photo. And this finish photo will enlarge up to about 4 ft X 6 ft without showing the dots!

How's that for worthwhile post editing?

Here's another example of post edit salvation. I took this picture with an inexpensive point & shoot camera. I had the camera set for a stationary subject. The picture also snapped later than I wanted.

However, I loved the resultant shot except for one thing. It was blurred. I was going to dump it. I decided to keep the shot and see what I could do. I am glad I did.

Along with the auto fixes, I used a paint option in photoshop. I like the result. It sharpened the body of the bird right up while leaving the wings blurred. That gives one the sense of motion. When it is printed it looks like a beautiful oil painting. All this from a blurred shot that I was going to dump!

Jennifer has compiled a number of free editing programs so you don't have to spend a lot of time searching. She also has lots of other free stuff on her site.

I have tried a bunch of different editing programs and I settled on Photoshop Elements. It is not free. It cost around a hundred bucks. From there one could step up to something like Photoshop CS.

But CS doesn't offer the simple quick fixes that Elements offers. I noticed that I just don't need the features the very expensive programs offer. For doing general fix up and some decent creative work Elements does great.

I think the best thing to do, is try a variety of programs then decide which is best for you.

Also, be sure to check out Jamie's site. He goes one step further in creating stunning images. This is a little different than merely post editing your shots. Here is an example of a picture I took and compiled with a program Jamie talks about. Take a close look at the before and after!

This is how my expensive camera captured this scene!

The color, the detail, the life in this picture afterward is amazing!

Go ahead, check it out! I'll be here when you get back. Just be sure to bookmark me before you go. I may get lost in the shuffle.

One more reason to post edit your pictures is found here. And this is probably the best reason I can think of. How often do you take a great shot only to find that it is a tiny bit crooked and for that reason you don't like it?

The only way I know to be sure you always have your most precious photos is to be sure you never lose your camera. For some ideas on keeping it safe, click here.

Every camera comes with software. I don’t like any of them very much. Some allow you to do a little editing, but none can compare to Photoshop Elements and some can't even compare to the freebees available.

If you want to use a free editing program, Picasa, Photoscape and Paint.net are popular.

Or go to my Learn Photoshop page to get started post editing.

Go to my Home Page.

Read about us here. Our privacy policy here. And our disclaimer here.