Fix it Friday-112

With a mound of my own photos to edit from a senior photo session I still decided to tackle a Fix-it-Friday photo since I haven't in a while.  Every time I do they claim the photo needs some serious work, but I always think the straight out of the camera version isn't that bad at all!  

Here is the original:

Most anyone would be happy with snapping such a photo that editing wouldn't even cross their mind.  It would be slapped up on Facebook and inundated with "likes" in the matter of minutes.  But, of course there is always room for some fun tweaking and playing around.  

After a little bit of time here is the same photo after I got a hold of it...

Here is how I edited this photo:

1. Increase the brightness and contrast significantly
2. Increased the saturation slightly
3. Upped the curve for the shadows, left the curve for the highlights alone
4. Increased the exposure almost +1
5. Adjusted the color balance so there was less blue
6. Sharpened it
7. Increased the Brightness on the background and the girl's hair only
8. Dodged the eyes, slightly.

Now you have a professional looking portrait photo!  Its entirely possible to do this to about any photo, even if it was just something you snapped at the playground.  And of course, I did a couple more edits, because I always do and can't resist looking at a photo just one way.

Here is a black and white version:

And here is a "grungy version" where I added a little text.  You know, jut for fun.

So which one do you like best?  I am honestly partial to the last one.  I think the texture and text fits the girls' style and attitudes in the photo, but as always I love hearing about your favorite and critiques of my edits!

Check out the other entries at IHeartFaces!