Before and After

I have been working on organizing my three hard drives.  While extracting/looking/moving files, I ran across a photo I scanned and edited for my brother-in-law not too long after his mother passed away last year.  It was a favorite of his…I can understand why because it is a great photograph.  When I look at it she is young…she is beautiful…a woman at the cusp of her adult life.  Maybe I relate because we were about the same age….and you got to love the peace symbol pillow she is resting on.   🙂

After I scanned the photograph I softened the image to minimize the texture.  The texture on a lot of image in the 70’s does not scan very well, especially if you are trying for a high resolution.  It reminds me of a heavy linen texture.  There was also a slight blur so softening the entire image makes it a little less obvious.  I used a layer mask to mask out the softness on her eyes….I wanted them to stand out.  As a landscape image (horizontal), it was difficult to look into her face and eyes {which I thought were a real focal point of this image}….but as a portrait image (vertical) the pose looked awkward.  My solution to that was to crop the image and rotate the crop slightly.  You still have her relaxing on the pillow but now you can easily see into her face…and her eyes. The crop also eliminated the edge of the bed.   A little boost of color and there you have it….