Can you believe our little Crew is 2 months old now? Here’s my little buddy on a walk this morning. He LOVES fresh air and was in such a happy mood.

Now look at this same picture before I edited it:

People. Do you know about RAW? Definitely old news to you who are a little more seasoned with photography. But something I definitely felt like mentioning today because it just may change your life. Okay, that’s a strong statement. But if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, read on.

I am not … I repeat NOT … a good resource for technical questions. Seriously. Don’t ask. I just need to be sure you know that. But my technically saavy brother Kevin, convinced me to shoot in RAW a while ago and I’m learning more and more why. PS – Kevin is a great resource, and since I’m his favorite sister, maybe he’ll chime in on the Comments below if you do have questions for him. (Love you, Kevin!)

If you have the option to shoot in RAW on your digital SLR camera, then change that in your settings. You see, when you bring a RAW image up in Photoshop, this window pops up.

Do you see all those options on the right? It took me less than a minute – literally – to do a quick edit on the original image and turn it into a much better result. This is what I did: It was a bit overexposed, so I brought the exposure down, increased the temperature (warmer tones), increased the blacks, brought the clarity down (making it softer) and … that’s it! It does not take an expert to use this panel of options and I’m just SO in love with RAW for this reason alone. You have to try it (if you have a digital SLR with the RAW option)!

Oh! I bet you’re wondering who won a free Holiday Card kit! Congratulations to:

1. Rhiannon in Conway, Arkansas
2. Kim in Altha, Florida
3. Michelle in Walla Walla, Washington (is that a real city? how cute!)

E-mail your name & shipping information to Vivian (vgrothe@ckmedia.com) and she’ll get your kit to you. Happy card making, ladies!