Quick Tips

In the interest of having a 'bite-sized' post and a bit of a review/re-link to my earlier posts - here's a bare bones list of tips for Photography and Photoshop. I'll try and list them from simplest to more advanced.

Photography

1. Shoot pictures in bright light. The more light the better, diffused light if possibly (less harsh shadows)
2. Learn the different shooting modes. With the exception of the very inexpensive Point and Shoot cameras, there are ways and reasons to control some things directly
3. Adjust the exposure compensation If you can't shoot in bright light, this does help
   
4. Set the White Balance. Or at least know what else you can do about tinted pictures

Photoshop

1. Sometimes the best fixes are quick Autocorrect is your friend (most of the time)
2. The next best things are automated You just have to know where to find them
   
3. Know what the program can do Part 1 Part 2 With enough time, source pictures and expertise, just about anything is possible
4. Blending options are a quick way to add some pizzazz

Automatic Image Correction - Do you feel lucky?

Well, do ya, punk?

Auto image correction, whether in Picasa (source of the question) or in Photoshop is a quick way to (sometimes) improve your image. Luck doesn't really come into the picture though, as the Undo button can always fix this one-step action.

Fortunately though, it usually does benefit your image, or at the very least, does nothing all that noticeable.

Most of the time it seems to focus on the contrast of the image.

As you can see, the difference between Picasa and Photoshop is minimal. However, the advantage with Photoshop is that you can Fade the result in the case it seems too extreme.

Quite often though, it also tries to remove a colour cast from the photo as well. Often (in my pictures at least) this tend to add quite a lot of blue to the image - often where it really doesn't belong.

In a few cases, typically those shots with a small number of colours, it goes in a very bizarre direction.

UNDO!