Before & After Blog Hop

It's Thursday again which means it's time to blog hop with Pixel Perfect.  I am really starting to look forward to Thursdays because this blog hop has really encouraged me to play around more with my photos and learn some new tricks.  So here is my SOOC (straight out of camera) shot:

This was taken in macro which I've only experimented with a few times.  It's an interesting mode - one that I don't think I've quite figured out just yet.  Here is my edited pic:

I did some very subtle editing in Photoshop Elements 8.  I was afraid to do too much because I didn't want to lose the detail of the flower.  But I did boost up the color a tad by using some blending techniques and soften the edges a bit.  

To see more before & after pictures or to submit one of your own, head over to Pixel Perfect by clicking the logo in the beginning of this post.  Have fun hoppin'!