Class Week 4: several new tools (part 1)

Unlike the previous two weeks, we learned a lot in Week 4. It is kind of funny -- I really took this class hoping to learn more about Adobe Camera Raw as well as general Photoshop Elements tips. I am not going to learn Raw at all from this class, but I am definitely learning some Photoshop tips -- but it turns out that now I am working in CS4. Despite my disappointment with week 3, I think overall the class is a pretty good deal for me, at this point in my life: meaning, really just starting out with my digital camera as well as having such limited time with little kids.

We learned so much in our Week 4 class that I had to write it down to make sure I didn't forget:

Edit-Transform-Distort -- used to straighten perspective when needed, e.g. a leaning window
Filter-Blur-Gaussian Blur -- used to mimic the in-camera results with DoF (Depth of Field)
Select-Modify-Expand/Contract -- used to slightly adjust your selection, as needed. This is an alternative to feathering if you have a "halo"
The Crop Tool (really, we didn't need to cover this as a topic in class as far as I'm concerned, but I don't know that the other students felt this way. Shouldn't it be all about me?)

The most interesting to me was the Gaussian Blur. I can see that being pretty useful for me. I practiced on one photo that I took quite recently, of Elise during our little family egg hunt for Easter. She's standing in front of some bark chips, horribly ugly weed cloth, and our new wood fence. It's a photo I'd like to print for our family photo wall, actually, because it just seems a little different (in a good way) from the typical "look at my happy smile" portrait type photos that I usually take. I thought maybe adding some blur might make me happier with the overall photo.

Well, I am happier with the after photo, but this is far from final as far as my eventual printing is concerned. Not sure if "final" will be good enough to print. I need to be more judicious with the blur, and do a bit of some lightening/darkening work too. Perhaps a tiny bit of vignetting. I was definitely heavy handed with the background blurring in this photo because I think it's good to go heavy -- to really understand what you're getting -- and then ease up to where you actually want it. I didn't ease up enough, however, with the blurring. It's especially glaring (to me) around the Easter basket handle.

Before:


After:


If I have time, I will add more posts on Week 4 to address the other new tools I learned.