So I’ve been playing with it since I got it.  I still have a long way to go, but here’s a product of what I’ve learned so far:

Before PSE8

After PSE8

Both images are clickable and open in a new window so you can see the world of difference. I am by no means an expert in any aspect of photography or post processing, but it seems to me that I am inching my way closer to that threshold (which happens to be miles away, BTW).

For those who care: I did spot healing on her face, hue adjustment (upped everything but reds and magentas–I backed those down to get rid of some of the reds in her face), unsharp mask, and a screen at 25% opacity.

That’s pretty much all I’ve been up to in the past few weeks. There’s a blooming Magnolia tree across the street from work but the blooms are fugly thanks to torrential downpours we have had every couple of days here lately. I’ll work on getting something new up here in the next couple of days.

Exposure: 1/500
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 1600
Custom White Balance
Flash Fired