I learned! I learned!

Before...

After!

Notice how the scratches above his cheeks disappeared? That was the spot healing tool!

Before...

After!

OMG! Have you ever lost sleep, dreamed about, researched and prayed over something that you were trying to learn to do? Well, I have! Just when I was ready to wave the white flag and surrender I found a video that saved my photography life! I have PSE 8. It does not have a layer mask icon on the bottom of the layers palette. EVERY tutorial I found for smooth skin used layer masks. In my class, we are learning PS, not Elements. So, I figured that I would learn to smooth skin with the layer mask in class. This just wouldn't do for me. Plus, we haven't even started on PS, we are still learning about aperture and shutter speed and various styles of photography and the history of photography and so on. Meanwhile...I have files and files of pics that need smooth skin and patience, well...patience isn't my thing. Instead, I have to stay up till all hours of the morning, obsess over this shortcomming and bear down and figure it out. Praise God I found a way! I would share it with you, but I would have to charge you money. That's how sweet this deal is to me! Seriously I found it on the web, so if you really want to know, ask. I would hate for you to go through what I just did! Peace of mind is upon me. For real, I was going to bed everynight dreaming about working in PSE. This has brought me so much comfort!
Oh, I also learned how to use the spot healing brush! It's a miracle tool! That little thing is smart. It will rock your photoshop world!