I’m not sure if it is universal, but a question I asked myself many times when I was starting out in photography was, “Why don’t my pictures look like that?”. I always wanted to see my heros’ captures. I wondered what it looked like on their LCD? After a while, I started to realize much of an image’s power and punch happened after the capture. By no means am I claiming that you can’t get it right in the camera to start with. There are plenty of people who do. But most digital photographs could use a bit of contrast and saturation boost to realize their full potential. That is why, in my Six Guiding Principles To Improving Your Photography, number 2 is ‘Know your software’.

One benefit of not having to maintain a professional reputation is I can show you the before images. I posted this image long ago, but because the capture was so bad, it was good candidate for this video. Yep, it was pretty bland. I shot this after a long run, and only had my camera and water bottle with me. I could have fine tuned the white balance and applied some in camera picture controls, but I was exhausted and ready for a meal. I knew I could save it once I got back home. Here is a quick glimpse at the power of post processing. Hopefully it will help you realize the full potential of your memories!

Video:

Before (not quite like I remembered it)

After (More like it!)

Note: If you are an email subscriber, you will need to visit the site. Also, if you are interested in the plugins I used to process this image you can find them here: http://www.niksoftware.com and use the coupon code LIGHTASMAGIC to receive 15% any of their products. For my overview of their entire suite click here.