Tutorial Tuesday- Photo editing for the real woman

I know there are a bunch of you out there like me. You like to take pictures, sometimes they don't turn out the way you want to, and you need a way to edit them. I know there is Photoshop and other nice photo editing software out there, but I just don't get it. I've read tutorials, but the "layers" and all the other Photoshop lingo just never stuck. I need something that's a little more real, a little more user friendly to make my pictures a little better. Enter...

Ah yes, the infamous Picnik. After trying it out, reading reviews, and getting to know the program a little more, I upgraded to a premium account. Best decision, and totally worth the 25 bones for a whole year. (Stay tuned, you may be seeing another picnik project coming soon!) So today's tutorial is done entirely through Picnick, using a premium account. If you haven't upgraded, I suggest at least consider it. I have found it to be totally worth the investment, and it's not even a quarter of the price of Photoshop!

Let's get started shall we?

This is a picture of me this morning. Post workout, just took hair out of sweaty ponytail, unshowered, makeupless, all around, pretty gross. I can't believe I'm showing up this (and yes, I still look like this) All I've done to this picture was cropped it.

 See everything that's wrong with it? I tried to take it in the only natural in the basement I live and I had the decency to wash my sweaty face, but there is still a lot to be fixed.

 I opened it up in Picnik and clicked the "create" tab, then the "touch up" tab. The first thing that had to go was all my zits. Luckily right now my skin is behaving nicely! Click the blemish button, and make those blemishes disappear.

After fixing blemishes. Gosh, I wish this thing worked on my real life face!

Next was wrinkle remover. I am so blessed to have next to no wrinkles, so I really only used this tool to fix the bags under my eyes. Fix any areas you think need fixing, but don't go overboard! Adjust the size of the tool as necessary.

After fixing under eye bags. Maybe I should just try getting more sleep. HAH! Yeah, hat's not going to happen.

Next I used the airbrush tool to finely smudge away the lines from the wrinkle reducer and lightly erase discolorations on my face. This is one of my favorite tools, it's not an eraser, but it kind of smudges colors and lines together to make them things uniform and smooth looking.

After using the airbrush tool. Still a little bit of darkness under my eyes but at least the luggage is mostly gone!

Next I added the tiniest bit of sunless tanner, I'm so freakishly pale that a little color is nice, but any more than a touch will make me look ridiculous! Pick a color and darkness similar to your skin tone to avoid a nectarine-like appearance. Brush on the forehead, nose, and cheese, where the sun would normally hit your face.

Hmmm, maybe I should start thinking about investing in a bronzer?

Next, makeup! I used a light bush and added mascara. Choose a blush that complements your skin tone and brush it over your cheeks. For the mascara, I amped up the strength because my eyelashes are blonde and need a lot of help.

Ahh, it's amazing what makeup can do isn't it?

Next, I fixed lips and teeth. I whitened my teeth using the teeth whitener tool and then added a little color to my lips. Usually I wear lip gloss that naturally brings out the color of my lips, so I chose a color just a shade darker than my natural color. Use different sized brushes to fill in the lips and teeth, experiment to see what colors look good on you.

By this point Picnik was giving me problems because my picture was too big, so I had to resize. Isn't is amazing what a little teeth whitener to do?

Because this was early morning, I decided a little eye brightening was in order. This will just make the pupils a little larger, to make you a little more bright eyed. Only use this once, even if you don't notice a difference it will help the overall look of the picture. I also darkened my eyebrows, since my hair is blonde they often get lost on my face and usually need a bit of help to stand out and shape my face.

Doooooooooooooon't mind the sudden change in color of my eyes. I was having fun with the eye color changer tool and accidentally saved it! So they will be this unnatural looking blue from now on, sorry about that.

The last thing I did was brighten up my hair a little with highlights. This was how I darkened my eyebrows in the previous step. This was by far the most difficult step, it was hard to find a color that just highlighted the natural color and didn't make it look unnatural. I would suggest skipping this step unless you're having fun with the picture.

Tadah!! All done! Just a few subtle changes to really make a big difference in the picture.

Except for the change of my eye color, I think the overall look of the picture is so much better! I look less tired, my face is smoother, there is more color, and my hair is a little more blonde.

Now, I am no professional photographer. (Obviously!) My photo editing skills are far from perfect, and those professionals using a fancy program will obviously get you better, more professional looking results. So keep that in mind when you are editing your pictures. Hopefully my scratch of the surface tutuorioal  will help you on your way to getting a little bit of a nicer shot.

And have fun turning yourself into a vampire. Happy editing! Don't forget to see where I am linking up.