Editing Of A Photo

I know this blog is supposed to be of the photos I've taken when bored. But I'm going to occasionally post things other than that. I just got done posting about my first two camcorders (I'll be posting about my new camera within the week) and now I'm going to do one on how and why I edit some of my photos.

I use Photo Explosion Deluxe. I used it in one of my photography classes in school and it's just what I'm used to. I only had to shell out $40 for this instead of $100 for adobe ps. Most the time when I go into pe it's to put my copyright mark on it or to fix red eye. If I'm not satisfied about a photo I usually delete it instead of editing it. I know shoot me now for deleting potentially good photos. I don't have much free time on my hands to sit down and edit it well.

First up we have my sisters dog Belle. While I was taking this photo on a sunny day, she was laying the shade. Since I have no flash on my camcorder I couldn't really compensate for the back light of the sun. So the background ended up getting washed out along with some color on Belle.

This is the original. Taken with my DXG 580-V camcorder. As you can see it's not the most flattering picture. I then went into PS on my iPod to edit it. I just did the auto fix and came out with the second photo.

While this isn't as bad a the first photo I much prefer the original. This one is much too dark for my taste. I love the color on Belle.

  This I just did real quick on my computer while making this post. I bumped up to emphases on highlights and nearly maxed out the saturation. If I was a really good photo shopper I'd mix this and the second photo together to get the perfect blend. You be the judge on which you like best.

 The above was also taken with my DXG 580-V camcorder. I really wanted to get a shot of the daisies with the beautiful sky behind it. Well I got what I wanted just not in the color.

Insert picture into my px and fix saturation and voila. Here you have this beautiful picture.

I would've added a photo from my new camera but I'm satisfied with the pictures that it produces that I don't see a need to edit them. If you have any editing tips that are helpful they're much appreciated.