Be gentle, I'm a virgin

[kirbinster]

Well after telling myself I should learn photoshop I finally gave it a try today. I don't know why but that program is just so overwhelming to me, I can never figure out where to start and can't seem to understand what all the icons stand for. Now I would consider myself almost an expert in Lightroom - but this photoshop thing really scares me. Anyway, here is my first go, let me know what you think and what I might be able to do better: (the before was actually adjusted in lightroom before linking to photoshop for the other edits)

BEFORE:


AFTER:

[WooD]

I think you did good. I'd have probably cloned out the lite up area to the left of the monument too.

Where was the light source in the original shot?

[vsa]

Good job for a first try.

You should pay attention to duplicate stuff when cloning. I circled some examples in the after version. As you can see there are few identical spots. And the area in the middle below the statue is weirdly blurry. But you'll get the hang of it after a while. Also like Dr. WooD pointed out it would be better if the lighter area in the background was also cloned out or alternatively the new snowy part at the top would be similarly lit as the light snowy area. (if that made any sense )

[jojonac]

Excellent job! I find myself still using Adobe RAW even though I have lightroom and CS3. I love lightroom for the organizational aspect. But I learned CS3 first so that is what I stick too.

[kirbinster]

Thanks for the comments. I see what you mean about the repeating stuff. As for the light, it was about 7:15am so the sun was low coming from the left of the picture.