Horses on the beach for C&C and a ?

[jinx]

I took these last summer and tried to fix them up a little bit last night, using some of the tips I've read here. I like 2 and 3 but don't know how to fix 1... ie. I would like to lighten the horses but nothing else. So, what editing software should I spend my $ on, and time learning to use - I know nothing. (my husband 'shopped the tire tracks out of 2 for me.... better, but now it looks 'shopped)

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[jinx]

Bueller?

 

[The Hue]

I really enjoyed #3, it's just too bad the fisherman's in the background because as a darker figure in a light area he's kind of distracting, but I love the natural composition of the horses. My husband and I use Photoshop for our editing and we like it just fine.

Sorry if this wasn't much help, I'm relatively new to the whole photography thing.

 

[Gaerek]

I just use Photoshop Elements 7. Especially for a beginner, it has all the tools you need to edit your photos. There's only been a couple instances so far for me that have limited me in what I have wanted to do, and those were mainly in ACR. Besides, you can get PSE7 for about $80 whereas PS CS4 will run you $699. They also have an upgrade path to CS4 from PSE7 if you decide later that PSE is too limiting.

In #3, it would probably be fairly easy to clone out the fisherman if you didn't want him there. I'm not sure there's much you can do about #1, but playing with the levels might have the effect you want.

 

[jinx]

Thanks for your help, I'll check out PSE7....

 

[Big]

I photoshopped the fisherman out of #3 as someone suggested. I think it does look better. What do you think?

 

[Scotty]

I think photoshoping the fisherman out did wonders for the picture.

 

[jess28]

Wow, it is pretty impressive the difference that getting rid of the fisherman made. I didn't realize something so small could have such a big impact. Great pic!

 

[jinx]

I love it Big, huge difference!