Ava Grace's Closet: An Amateur's Guide to Photographing Children {Part 3} : Editing
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

An Amateur's Guide to Photographing Children {Part 3} : Editing

I remember the days when editing photographs before printing them was the stuff of dreams. Or at least the stuff of professional photographers.
You sometimes printed photos only to find that the subject had red-eye or the picture was too dark or too light. 
This need not happen anymore.
Really, even Costco offers customers the option to edit photos in the store. It's crazy how far we've come. 

For at home editing, especially fabulous for bloggers and individuals who like to share photographs on social media, there are a ridiculous amount of options available including many that are extremely low cost but provide an amazing variety of options. 
For the purpose of today, and my sharing what I personally use on the daily, I will focus on PicMonkey.
The service can be used at no charge for basic edits {think resize, clarify, add a filter} or in the vicinity of about $5/month for their "royale" features which allow you to do just about anything. Think photoshop but not as advanced. or as confusing.
I assure you it is money well spent.
Here is just a small sampling of what you can do in no time at all.
unedited photo
auto adjust only
manual adjustments including a crop, removing the {ahem} gum from her hair {on right side} + a small spot on her shirt {i also slightly lightened up the darkness under her eyes just to show you what it can do!}
one click filters
rapture / b + w / tranquil
 Amazing right?
And honestly, so user friendly that literally anyone can feel comfortable using it. 
It even lets me make my little sweeties into the sweetest vampires ever.
Oh yes, I did.

What do you use to edit your photos with?
Read part 1 + part 2 in this series.
Winner of the My Mummy Loves Shoes giveaway is a shoe lover I admire, Celia from High Heeled Life. 
Congrats friend! 

11 comments :

  1. Dearest Susan,
    Lovely post! So far I still use my Photoshop Elements 9...
    It is a dream compared with what we ONLY had in the 80s or way before that. When scanning old photos it shows you what a luxury we have now.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  2. I use Lightroom for my editing. But sometimes I use Picmonkey when I need something quick - or for collages.

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  3. i use photoshop. love that last pic!

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  4. hahaha the last pic kills me!!
    I love picmonkey because it's so fast. i need to bite the bullet and upgrade!

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  5. Just found your blog. Love the editing tips. I'm working on my photography this summer. I also had my last baby just before 40... it was one of the best things that ever happened to me. He ended up an "only" during his high school years but we had a ball. It was worth all the morning sickness!
    Suzanne
    www.chapter-two.net

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  6. oh wow, that is great! I have PS but the thought of using it is always so daunting.

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  7. I have photoshop for Mac... Which I like but it takes so many steps that I'm usually in Picmonkey. Plus Picmonkey is WAY easier. And agreed! The upgrade is worth it I think. Cute little vamps!

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  8. I have photoshop for Mac... Which I like but it takes so many steps that I'm usually in Picmonkey. Plus Picmonkey is WAY easier. And agreed! The upgrade is worth it I think. Cute little vamps!

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  9. I also use picmonkey. I love using the curves feature to adjust the lighting on my photos for that perfect exposure.

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  10. You have opened up a whole new world for me!!! ... this is awesome. Now I just need to make some time to explore it. I'm so far behind on all the social media and photo stuff ..as you may notice by the catching up I'm doing on post reading and blog visits today... blessings, Celia M. (HHL)

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I love reading every last one. Thanks so much for stopping by our little blog. xo.