Geesh, I feel like a loser....

[nightspidy]

I downloaded the Aperture 2 free trial version as I feel I am "ready" to start tackling this aspect of photography and I feel that most of, if not all of, the photos that I took on my honeymoon in May are very, very washed out and lack any sort of color or pop (we were in Arizona). I think I've figured out the basics of Aperture but the problem is when I look at the changes I've done, they seem so "fake", even though to me, that is what I remember the colors looking like. I'm really only decreasing the brightness and/or exposure and adding more punch to the skies/red rocks with the color tab and eye-dropper thingy and of course, getting rid of dust spots. But it just seems so......fake. I guess my question is, how do you go about modifying photos or is that really just in the eye of the beholder as they say. I will post some pictures as soon as I can, but I am at work right now and this for some stupid reason is really bugging me!

Also, how do I merge my untitled projects so that they are all in one folder? I accidentally created 2 and I just want to have one folder/project.

Thank you for you help!

[MarkR]

Are you shooting Raw or Jpeg?

I don't use Aperture, but many Raw converters will give you a flat tone curve to start, and allow you to change things from there. Is there a "curves" or "levels" option in Aperture? You might want to start there.

Also, if you post some examples, one of the helpful Aperture gurus on the board might be able to help you out better.