No matter how perfect your diet and workout is, you will never be perfect.\u00a0 Ever.\u00a0 You will never look like the\u00a0beauties\u00a0gracing magazine covers\u00a0and advertisements.\u00a0 Don’t even imagine you can go there.<\/p>\n
I can hear the sarcasm now: “Great, Elissa – that’s reeeeeeeeally helpful advice!\u00a0 Thanks for the encouraging words.”<\/p>\n
But hey – bear with me for a moment.\u00a0 There’s method to my madness.<\/p>\n
I’m not trying to bring you down…quite the opposite, in fact.\u00a0 I’m\u00a0just drawing a line between\u00a0fantasy and reality.\u00a0 And the reality is that\u00a0you’re seeing\u00a0a fantasy: the models and movie stars\u00a0don’t look like that in real life.\u00a0 As supermodel Cindy Crawford once quipped: “Even I don’t wake up looking like Cindy Crawford.” <\/p>\n
But there’s more to it than\u00a0the expertly applied makeup, hairstyles, lighting, and designer clothes…the\u00a0babes that stare\u00a0back at you from the\u00a0pages of Cosmo and\u00a0Vogue have\u00a0yet another advantage that you don’t: Adobe Photoshop.<\/p>\n
You may have already heard the term: “Photoshopping”\u00a0– but unless you actually own\u00a0and use the program,\u00a0it’s tough to appreciate what it can accomplish.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
I’m a Photoshop user, although I’m a rank amateur…entering the world of Adobe Photoshop is like\u00a0walking into\u00a0a library – no matter how much effort you put into it, you’ll never be able to take it all in.\u00a0 I’ve used the program to create some pretty cool graphics for e-books, although I’ve barely scratched the surface of\u00a0managing photo transformations that look realistic.\u00a0 I’ve learned enough and seen enough, however,\u00a0to truly appreciate the artistry that goes into it.<\/p>\n
Take, for example, this photo<\/a> – which was transformed by the digital wizardry of Greg Apodaca (roll your mouse\u00a0over the photo to see the “before” shot).\u00a0 This is an even more extreme example<\/a>.<\/p>\n Is this guy good, or what?<\/p>\n