Retouched photos - before and after

[H2ODoc]

I took Dave C's and Driftin' By's advice and loaded up the Canon software so I could adjust the colors/contrast, etc. Messing around with them really improved some of the pics! Thanks for the adivce. Here's some before and after versions:

 

[TheTrickster]

Nicely done!

(I presume the artifacting is due to you compressing them for the web?)

Great stuff...

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Wow. Nice stuff.

Can't wait to get my new A640 wet.

 

[H2ODoc]

(I presume the artifacting is due to you compressing them for the web?)

I'm not sure, but probably. I used Windows resizer (PowerTools) to make them smaller, then uploaded to photobucket, so somewhere along the way, the quality degraded a little.

 

[Scott Riemer]

Can you elaborate on what you did to improve them or was it just trial and error? I have the basic Canon Software that came with my camera, A540, and also the ACDsee software that came with my old HP digital camera. I'd like to alter/improve my pictures without spending a fortune on PhotoShop if possible.

Thanks.

 

[mr3d]

Had to try Photoshop

 

[H2ODoc]

Can you elaborate on what you did to improve them or was it just trial and error? I have the basic Canon Software that came with my camera, A540, and also the ACDsee software that came with my old HP digital camera. I'd like to alter/improve my pictures without spending a fortune on PhotoShop if possible.

Thanks.

I don't recall the exact things, but in the Canon software (Zoom Browser EX) lets you select a picture and click "edit".

At that point, you can edit the RGB settings, brightness, contrast, and saturation, etc. Just move the sliders back and forth until it looks better. The best part is that you can compare that to the original pic to see if it is better or just different!

 

[Scott Riemer]

I don't recall the exact things, but in the Canon software (Zoom Browser EX) lets you select a picture and click "edit".

At that point, you can edit the RGB settings, brightness, contrast, and saturation, etc. Just move the sliders back and forth until it looks better. The best part is that you can compare that to the original pic to see if it is better or just different!

Alright then, I'll mess around with it and see what happens. Thanks.

 

[driftin' by]

I'd like to alter/improve my pictures without spending a fortune on PhotoShop if possible.

You don't need to full blown PS to get the editing capabilities needed. I have PhotoShop CS but usually only use PhotoShop Elements to touch up my UW pictures. Elements can be had for $100 or $150 packaged with Premier (Adobe's video editing software). I got the Elements/Premier package at Best Buy a couple of years ago at an after Thanksgiving day sale for less than $50 after rebates. Money well spent but after using it, I would have happily spent the full price of $150 for it. It's good stuff and a worthy investment if you've invested in a camera, housing, strobes, etc, etc, etc.

 

[driftin' by]

Had to try Photoshop

Not sure I like your changes.... it's too vivid. IMO.