Photo Tip and a Book

I've been enjoying using the Curves tool in Photoshop CS5, and I've been trying out the "auto" curves button.  It will automatically fix things in your photo like color balance, brightness, and contrast.  It doesn't always give the desired effect, but sometimes it works brilliantly.  On this photo of the book Saving Leonardo, all I did was crop it and hit the auto curves button.  What a difference!

Before | After

So here's a photo-editing tip for you: try auto editing features.  It's not an automatic recipe for a great edit, but sometimes it works wonders, especially on photos that have major lighting problems like the one of my book did.

And by the way, Saving Leonardo is a good book.  I haven't finished it yet, but I've been interested by the comments Nancy Pearcey, the author makes on worldview, history of art and culture, etc.  It's a very "heady" read - it makes you think.  But in a good way.  If you're looking for a good read on worldview, I recommend it.