Lately I've been working to improve my... umm... skills behind my new Nikon D40. Before a couple of weeks ago it had never been off of Auto Mode. Sadly, when I'm out and about and really taking a lot of pictures, I still don't feel comfortable enough shooting in Manual, for fear I'll miss a good shoot because I'm fiddling with the camera - or actually get a good shot, only to find that it's out of focus due to my lack of skill.
So until I learn what I'm doing, I still reply on Photoshop to get me where I need to be. I may not be comfortable with my using my camera on any mode other than Auto - but I can Photoshop like a mad woman. I'm also pretty comfortable with Adobe Lightroom. For awhile I used as a crutch for my not-so-good photos, but I'm getting better...
Here's a shot I got of Wes at the park a couple of weekend ago. He was crawling through the tunnels and kept peeking out... this is a shot that I probably wouldn't be able to get again if I tried. The original is cute, but is pretty BLAH. The revamped one really pops, shows true color, and redirects the focus to the center of the photo.
BEFORE
AFTER
