How To Tuesday {Auto Curves}

What the what?!  How to Tuesday?  What's that?  (These are all things I'm assuming are going through your head since I haven't done one of these in a verrrrrry long time.  Go ahead, get it out of your system.)

So last time I did a Photoshop HTT, I mentioned the next time I'd do one on Auto Curves.  Well, this is next time.

I love Auto Curves, but it's a bit undependable.  Sometimes it brings about magnificent change, other times not a thing and still on some occasions, something truly ghastly.  It's fun to play with though!

I think I first discovered the power of Auto Curves with this photo taken last fall.

The sun was kind of behind and to the side of Aidan, so it produced this hazy sunshine, which is not so bad and works very well in the right type of photo.  But I knew there was a way to minimize that, because I'd seen it done before in some tutorial.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find that tutorial.  So I just started messing around in Photoshop and I found Auto Curves.

To get to it, click on the aforementioned circle that is half filled in on your layers palette.  Click Curves and then the "Auto" button in the Curves window and voila!

Much better!  You still see that sunflare and the sunshine on the left side, but now there is more contrast in the rest of the picture.  And I love me some contrast.

Auto Curves can also help when the color balance in a photo is a bit wonky.

You might be thinking what is wrong with this?  Well, I'll tell you, it's too yellow/orange.  But click that Auto Curves button and....

the blues are bluer and their skin is more pinkish.  (This my boy after his potato car won his heat in the potato derby at the Jarman Family Reunion.)

Auto Curves is a great shortcut.  I try it on nearly every photo and I'm often surprised by it's results.  So, go ahead and give it a whirl!  Who knows what will happen!

Happy Tuesday, y'all.