I've just gotten much better with my post processing so I managed to salvage a picture that used to be not so great.

The perspective was all kinds of funky before and the picture was super dark and boring.

Lightroom and Photoshop CS6 fixed their raw conversion software between the time this was taken and now so it allowed me to fix things that couldn't be fixed before. Perspective for one, and I've learned about the magic of layer masks so that definitely helped make this better.

You can change the perspective in PS?!?!?!

I've always felt weird around PS (I still use PSC5, when I need to)... seems to me it still has too much of a Mac environment (I am, for better or worse, 100% PC).

I've replaced PS for color control and such lately for Nikon's Capture NX2... Let's you work with masks in a much more simple way (for me anyway).... Combined with Nikon's Color Efex 3 pro a cool combo, should you feel like giving it a try someday.

P.S. If you ever do, ask me about copying masks on Capture NX2... I just learned the trick recently :P

I think you can, I usually end up correcting perspective in Lightroom but I'm pretty sure CS6 uses the same RAW converter. I hated PS for the longest time but then I learned how to use it and I can't go back to just Lightroom. You have so much more control in PS.

I do use Color Efex Pro with just about every picture I edit now. The Tonal Contrast is incredible and makes everything pop. I shoot Canon so would Capture NX work for me still?

I use Capture NX for the final editing of the JPGs, after RAW processing in PS, or Photomatix if I'm doing HDRs. So it would definitely work for you :)

What I like about CNX is that you don't have to create layers to create masks... Masks are always, literally,1 click away... I haven't found such an easy way of doing it on PS, and not for lack of trying... or maybe I'm just (MAc-)retarded....

If you hated PS for its complexity, you will love CNX!

There are still things CNX will never do.... want a double exposure? Will have to go PS :(

Gotcha, I may have to check out a demo of it then. It sounds pretty neat. I refuse to use MACs though so I don't have that problem with PS. But it sounds like it'd be good for basic edits and stuff like that but lately I've started replacing facial expressions and scenery and the like which sounds like CNX might not work for. I'm always up for adding more to my tool belt though.

Yeah! And it's not so "basic" as it sounds, you will see. If you have questions after downloading the demo feel free to ask... PS will for sure do a lot of the same things, but I find CNX WAY WAY faster!

Good luck!

Awesome! Will do!

Thanks!

Thanks!