220/365 & some before/after edits

Today we stayed home and I cleaned ALL day!  I tackled the closet and got it mostly done....still a few things I want to reorganize.  Projects like this usually take me at least a day because I have to deep clean everything.  We did several loads of laundry and I bagged up 3 bags of clothes and 1 bag of shoes to get rid of.  It already looks SO much better!  Ana Kate napped pretty late in the day, but did get a good nap.  It rained while she was napping and that always seems to make her sleep better (as long as there is no thunder).  After her nap we played for a while and then I put her in the tub while I finished cleaning my bedroom (I could see her the entire time....she takes a bath in our master bathroom...no worries).  She would stay in the tub for hours if I would let her.  She happily played with her barbies and dolphins until I finished up and got her out.  After that we took pictures...her hair was still wet.  Then dinner and we're about to watch some TV before bed.

I thought I would show you a couple of before/after pictures from today and tell a little about what I did when editing them.

SOOC (straight out of camera)

After editing:

SOOC:

After editing:

Ok...so a little about what exactly I did to these.  The process was pretty similar up until the last steps.  First I open the up in Camera Raw (since I shoot in Raw this is always part of my workflow).  I tend to always overexpose just a tad in camera.  I used to always go with the lighter pictures because I tend to like that look, but over time I have started to adjust the exposure in Camera Raw so they are better exposed and not so light.  If I want them lighter I just make that adjustment later on in Photoshop.

Now in Photoshop I followed the following steps.

1. Fixed the blemish by her right nostril (I think her nose was running) with the spot healing tool.
2. Sharpen the photo and then reduce the opacity until it looks the way I want...about 50% here.
3. Brighten the eyes because they darkened quite a bit when I sharpened the photo.
4. On the first photo I ran an action called 'Cashmere' and reduce opacity to about 50%.  On the black and white I ran a vanilla black and white action that love.  I upped the vanilla opacity to about 40% and that was it.
5. I then re-sized and sharpened for the web.

That's it....these were pretty easy and straight forward.  I actually liked them after step 3 and could have just sharpened and re-sized....which is often all I do.  But I love adding some actions or black & white shots every now and then.  I have learned SO much about photoshop in the past year and I am still continually learning.  Hope this makes sense to those of you that read and are into photography.  Just remember that I am 100% self taught and still learning....these are just some of the things I do to edit.  I am constantly updating my workflow as I learn and as my personal style evolves.