kiddos and photo editing

I'm so excited. My friend Stacey told me about a photo editing course taught by Jessica Sprague, a name scrapbookers have likely heard. I decided it would be worth the money to take it, but I had NO idea just how much.
I told Josh last night, it's like I've just increased the value of my camera and Photoshop purchases. I'm now going to be able to make pictures shine like never before. If you have any interest at all in this, it's DEFINITELY worth the cost. I've taken 3 of the 5 sessions now, and can't believe what I've learned! It's so much fun!!
I got these pictures of the three kids on Sunday, and just learned how to turn them sepia after improving the exposure and brightness (by hand, instead of just doing what other people create).

First, the brightened version of my picture of Jasmine:

And then the Sepia pictures of all three...I finally know how to turn pictures sepia and to get bright black-and-white pictures!




And if you'd like to see a side-by-side before and after picture:



So my next step will be to take a real photography classes so I can get better shots to begin with. I've learned a lot by trial-and-error and reading various photography books and websites, but I know I could do even more with a little instruction.

a bit later: I made a layout!