So what have we done so far?
Adjusting lighting, colours and even venturing into the realms of Black and White or Sepia.
Ok. So what can we use this for ... other then the exciting world of envelopes?
Well, the processes are valid for just about any shot. Since people tend to pick up or portray colours badly in poor lighting, lets go with that ...

Location: ??.????°N, -??.????°W Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 1 October, 2008
	ISO: 100
	Aperture/Shutter: F/5.6, 1/8"
	Focal Length: 40mm
	Camera: Olympus Evolt E-510
Category: None

Here, we can see that I'm working hard at my desk. The clean background and subtle hint of tone makes for a reasonable portrait ... and not badly done as a blind shot either, I might add. It's amazing what you can do with a rough eyeball of a scene and a timer ...
Anyways, as this shot was taken only inches away from the previous two (here and here), it still suffers from the same long exposure times and crap lights. Now, in my case, getting the subject to remain still for a slightly longer period of time was no biggie, however you will need to take that into account for your shots. An eighth of a second is a surprisingly long period of time when you're actually paying attention.
Since I've already made the corrections for lighting etc here twice before, I've saved the pattern as an Action in Photoshop (I'm sure you can look up how to do that if you're clueless on the fiddlies), so it's a simple matter of running the action script and waiting a few seconds.
Now, because this is a portrait, you will find a few minor details may need to be adjusted. Typically (but not always) you will find that a slightly lower then average Contrast level will give you a more human looking shot. Also, I've added a slight diffusion to the image, which helps to smooth the skin, making the person look slightly younger and more healthy (your subjects will appreciate the thought, I'm sure).
Also, to clean up the image slightly, I've removed a somewhat distracting poster from the background. There have been no truer words in photography then "What does not add to the picture, takes away".
Below you can see the initial dismal image:

Bland, isn't it?
Note that now I have the pattern for the initial corrections and general maintenence scripted, the total time for processing this shot was less then 20 seconds.
It's worth recording if you're doing any more then 3 or 4 shots, even if you delete the process shortly there after.

Location: ??.????°N, -??.????°W Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 1 October, 2008
	ISO: 100
	Aperture/Shutter: F/4.1, 1/25"
	Focal Length: 89mm
	Camera: Olympus Evolt E-510
Category: None

Ah, a good job completed. Signed, stamped, sealed and ready for submission to the Great Bureaucratic Machine.
Whatever the hell that is.
Ok. You try finding exciting shit in an office to photograph. Cut me some slack!
Read More...

Location: ??.????°N, -??.????°W Alt: ???m
	Photo Date: 1 October, 2008
	ISO: 100
	Aperture/Shutter: F/6.3, 1/20"
	Focal Length: 78mm
	Camera: Olympus Evolt E-510
Category: None

My experiment is concluded! I have indeed confirmed that my days are, in fact, mind numbingly boring!
Not surprising given my capture and subsequent enslavement by the bureaucratic establishment. However, as promised, I will subject you to it all in glorious and excessive detail!.

My day began with a greeting of a pile of union propiganda on my desk. Obviously dropped sometime overnight to remind us of our impending walk outs and the unique abilities we have to vote for our next employer. Not many people get this strange collaboration, but I assure you, it doesn't help our plight to fare wage any.
The colours where a nice mix however and,with a slight arrangement of bands, it seemed good enough for at least a quick shot (I'll probably email it to them actually). the shot above is, of course, the finished product. Adjacent, you can see that the limitations of my wrecked nerves and poor lighting did require some slight adjustment to the image as it came out of the camera.

Behind the Lens Details
As I've already stated, the bands did not fall naturally this way but where slightly arranged. Also, due to the low light and several different types of florescent lights, the colour is a little off.
First order of business is to assault the colour with Curves (in PS CS-3). Setting the white to the page (it was, after all, white) and the 50% grey to the baffle wall at the top of the image, gives us a pretty acurate correction of the colours. Also the histogram is still pretty intact with no drastic spikes or gaps.
Next the tone. As some colour was subdued by the lighting and subsequent Curves changes, a slight tweak to the Saturation and a bit of reinforced contrast where added to finish off the shot.
Total post-processing time: about 5 minutes, including load times.

More of my day tomorrow afternoon!

All photo bloggers are familiar with the typical friendly, but largely uninspired comments like "That's nice" or "Awesome!".
While I'm glad you stopped by and made your visit conspicuous, and I do appreciate visits, these sorts of comments do not do much for the actual progression of the skill on display.
Even bad comments, if well constructed and thought out, can be extremely useful ... actually in many cases the disappointments of the viewers can be more helpful.
I fully welcome comments and critiques of my work regularly and, granted, may not heed all of them, but I certainly reflect upon them and my work.
The nature of pleasantry or limits of experience, for some, does tend to restrict the extent of comment they are willing to provide. In order to help educate the commenter (as there really isn't a course for it), I've found an article from the Digital Photography School website that has a few great tips on leaving better and more useful comments.
Even if you consider yourself a good commenter, it's worth a quick browse:

"How to Win Friends and Influence People - A Guide to Commenting on Other People’s Photos"

It slowly began to dawn on me a couple of weeks ago, that I origionally switched this site over to the blog style format for the purposes of posting pictures and receiving feedback on my work ... you know, those links at the top of the menu on the top right there.
Since I haven't really posted any new pictures since December , I think I'm falling short of my origional goal.

Picture was taken 26 May, 2006 (yeah, just a little late), this little guy was 'running' across my front steps after a spring thunderstorm last year.
10 minutes of harassment, in the form of a lens up his antennae, soon followed.

Understandably, I should have a veritable crap-load of pics when I get back to Canada and will more then likely be very eager to get them all posted for all to be harassed with, but I have a tonne of domestic shots just lying around on my hard drive, waiting to be exploited.

With a little effort, I should be able to get some new shots into the photo gallery and showcased through the feed.
Until now, enjoy the little guy above as a quick sampler.

Eventually, I'd even like to get some tutorial posts up as well. Techniques both for optical and digital manipulation of pictures and photographic styles that I've found particularly handy in the past.
I suppose the manifestation of that little venture will probably depend on the level of interest I get on the idea.