[irishmuth]

The selective coloring seems to draw you into the subject more with your granddaughter...although I like the original quite a bit, too. I would use a tighter crop, though - so that the pink doesn't look out of place in a large sea of gray.

The most important thing is that you love your pics and we continue to try to improve. I am new to photography but have a small background in post-processing. It can definitely be a challenge to really improve without spending thousands on lighting, remote triggers, etc. My purchase of a dSLR was my expensive jump into photography and was hard enough to justify on its own before even thinking about spending more. But when I look at my pictures now vs. my old point and shoot, I am more than happy that I spent that money and I can appreciate my pics even if they're missing the perfect lighting set up.

Mike