Before and After

Most photographers strive to shoot perfect SOOC (straight out of the camera) images every time they push the shutter release button.  I know I do every time my camera is in my hands.  Sometimes, for whatever reason, my SOOC shots are less than perfect and often need a little extra something to set them apart from the rest.  This is when post processing software comes in hand.  I recently purchased Lightroom 3 for this very reason.

I shot Piper's 6 month photos a few weeks ago.  I had her in terrible lighting and struggled to find the perfect spot for her to sit.  I came home only to find several of my images weren't as I had expected.  For instance, I loved this shot:

Now, you'll notice the harsh lighting piercing through the trees onto her face and placing her in the shadow made her skin tone quite cool (blue"ish" if you will).  I could have done a few things different to avoid some of this but I didn't and I ended up having to adjust some things once I got home.  Having a software solution at my finger tips allowed me to address these imperfections and I was able to come out with this in the end: