Playing with Photos

I am starting to really experiment with photos and how to manipulate them after the shot is taken. I use a "point and shoot" camera right now, which means that I don't have a lot of control over the final product. The camera works pretty much on auto and if I don't use the flash the pictures come out very out of focus.

I was reading my new favorite blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, and she talked about brightening up pictures after you take them. I don't have a fancy program right now, just whatever came with Windows, but I think it works pretty well. Example, here is an original picture, straight out of camera:

After I played around with the brightness and contrast levels, I ended up with this:

Definitely a brighter, more vibrant picture. Maddie pops! The background is a bit glaring, but not that bad for what I am using. I am planning on purchasing Photoshop Elements which will be more effective and hopefully teach me a lot. Another future dream is a DSLR camera, probably the Nikon D60, but that is a purchase for another day!

Here is a Katie before and after, just so she doesn't feel left out! (This was brightened and cropped.)