Messing around with my new best friend

I have been getting more and more involved, intrigued, passionate, and potentially obsessed with photography lately.  Vince got me my lovely Canon about a year ago, and initially I was scared of it.  You may remember that I left it in it's bag for about two weeks before I started using it.  I was just overwhelmed at the thought of having a camera that was so complicated (and more expensive than I ever thought I'd own.)  But I have overcome my fear and intimidation and have grown to love it!  Bit by bit I am learning how to use it, what the settings can do, and what kind of lighting lends itself to a good photograph (or not).  I know I have a very far way to go and tons more to learn, but I'm getting there. Baby steps. 

Most recently I have started to get to know my new best friend...Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  In a word...IT'S THE BOMB!  Ok that was three words, but it deserves it.  Here's what I have been able to do with it recently...

This is a picture of Trevor and his girlfriend Whitney on prom night.  This is how it looked straight out of the camera.

  
Love that picture!  And this is what I was able to do while playing around in Lightroom...

Isn't that fun!?

Here is a picture that I took of Vince and his dad a couple weeks ago when we met them for dinner at Pannekouken.  I have no idea why it looks so yellow (or how to spell Pannekouken), but it probably has everything to do with the lighting in the restaurant (and maybe some photographer error, who knows).  But anyway, here is the picture right out of the camera...

And this is how I was able to make it look after messing around with it in Lightroom tonight while listening to Patty Griffin...

I'm not sure what Patty had to do with it, but I'm so happy I could just spend hours and hours and days and weeks doing nothing but sitting here at my computer going through all my thousands of photographs on my computer and editing them in all kinds of fun ways.  But I won't, because I have a husband and children.  And a house and a job.  And I may need to go to the bathroom now and again.