Before and After

Don't worry if what you are seeing on your camera monitor doesn't sing to you just yet.  Remember that your camera is gathering information on it's sensor for the final touches you will apply in your photo software editing.  The better your program, the better your potential final results will be.  Do you have an idea beforehand of what you want to say with the shot?  Make it happen in post-processing!

It is very much like going on a trip.  Suppose you wanted to go somewhere exciting on vacation.  You would never think of just getting in your car and start driving aimlessly around and hoping that your vehicle would just magically arrive at it's destination.  Your best chance for success would be to KNOW where you wanted to go and exactly what route you were going to take to get there.  A map of course, or better yet, a handy GPS telling you what steps to take would get you there.

Make decisions about your image before you move the first slider in your imaging software.  There is a lot going on in most images and can be confusing to the viewer.  Pick out the focal point of your shot and make it pop out and then chose edits to push everything else out of the spot light, only using them to enhance the star of your show.  More about how to do that later....