Photoshop: Retouching and Adjustment Layers

For our next assignment, we were to practice adjustment layers and retouching. Retouching is removing blemishes and areas we don't like. I reduced my eye wrinkles and removed a few blemishes. This photo isn't super high quality, but it did the job for practicing these skills. I then added a black and white adjustment layer, a color balance layer to warm it up (the black and white gave it a greenish tint), and then messed with a curves layer to brighten it up.

I wanted to make the sky blue, but there was a tree on the right that looked funny and made it difficult for me with the skillset I had. Well, it wasn't just the tree that made that hard. I couldn't add color to a white sky and make it look good, so I cropped the photo and eliminated most of the tree and the sky.  This is a photo of me with my youngest in downtown Santa Fe. Looking back at this edit, I would work more on my face because it looks pretty splotchy still. But, if I change all my edits now, I won't see how I have improved. :)