learning photoshop

I finally broke down and installed Photoshop. I decided that in order to get some of the vintage dreamy looks I've been admiring in some wedding blogs, I have to learn this damn program. The reason I never used it before is because I don't want to depend on easy actions to make my photos look good. I want to be able to do that from the manual settings on the camera and to force myself to utilize the camera to the max. However, I'm getting to the point where I want to have more diverse looks to my photos, and since the busy school season is right about to start, why not procrastinate with this?

This had to be done in baby steps...trial and error with lots of junk food. My friend always sets up with the programs I want, makes sure that I know how to maintain/use them in case he isn't around to help me, and then leaves me alone for a few days to let me tinker with it. He taught me where to find the basic tools, and then left me with youtube tutorials. Three hours later, I got these results....which is pretty close to what I had in mind. Baby steps...

I got this dress at Victoria's Secret last year. It's super comfy so I've taken it out on wine tasting in Paso Robles instead of the beach. It's a light lavender so I wanted a pinkish hue to showcase this dress for Easter.

victoria's secret swim dress