Dramatic photo edit

It has been a rough day, so today during naptime instead of resting like I should have - I decided to watch the movie SuckerPunch.  I have been meaning to watch it for awhile now, since I saw the preview online, and made the time to indulge myself this afternoon. 

Review:  It was good.  If you like the don't-really-make-sense-the-first-time-you-watch-it, graphically stunning, action/adventure, women's rights kind of movies.  It definitely wasn't what I thought it was, but nonetheless, still entertaining.  I liked it, I don't know when I'll watch it again, but I liked it.

Anyway, it put me in a creative mood and inspired me to push the envelope in my photo editting.  I'm so tired of making every picture looking "pretty" or "cute", so I decided to change it up and went for the "ugly pretty".  I really like the tutorials you can find online, they are super helpful and usually easy enough for a beginner to follow.  You can learn a lot about the PSE programs in following the online tutorials.  Check out the links in my "Favorite Websites". 

Today, I used one from Morgan Kervin's blog, entitled "300" movie style.  While I like the ease of installing PSE actions that do the editting for you, sometimes it's good to go back to basics and "hand edit" the photos.  Helps you remember how to use all the tools and really makes the end product more satisfying.  I enjoy the ability to manipulate "layers" of editting to create something new.

Here's my SOOTC (straight-out-of-the-camera) shot of Zander enjoying a day at the beach in Northern Michigan:

And here's the dramatic redo of Zander at the beach:

I like it.  I really do.  I like the drama of the sky and the "contrast-iness" of the sand.  I'm big on contrast.

It's okay if you don't like it, you don't have to.  On a different day, without so much drama, I might not even like it.  But for today, it's perfect.  It matches my mood.