Color Tweaking

For cute baby/tot pics, try putting a blanket over their head, and let them peek out. Totally cute. And note the home-made polymer clay buttons!

The original photo, out of camera to the left. Pretty bleah, in terms of colors. A small pic, so you won't dwell on it for long. It was a gray day, and colors are washed out, her face is a bit dark - just looks smoggy. Hooray for photoshop! I recently learned a new way to fix colors (both Intensity Increase and White Balance) by watching some youtube videos about photoshop - there are plenty out there. This is just one of many ways to fix colors - using Lab color mode and Curves. I suggest you look for videos yourself if you're interested in attempting this.

First change color mode from RGB of CMYK to Lab Color. I have no idea what Lab Color is. Next, go to Adjustments -> Curves, and you'll get a box like that to the left. The diagram somehow quantitatively describes your photo. I don't really understand how. Anyways, change Channel to "a" which represents your greenish to reddish colors. If you pull the bottom left tiny square to the right a bit, the pic becomes greener. Bring top right tiny square to the left, the pic becomes redder. Tweak them along the X axis until you strike a good balance. On Channel "b", you'll tweak your blue-ish to yellow-ish colors. Revert back to RGB to do other edits.

If you get adventurous and start tugging on points that are not on either end of the line, or move along the Y axis - good luck.

I used this method (plus other edits, sharpening and such) to get the pic above from the yucky-colored original. It's a portfolio pic for sure!