In early 2004, shortly after getting my first digital camera, I pirated a copy of a photo editing program that, like velcro or bandaid, has become the eponym for its genre of product. I spent hours playing with colour, correction tools, or artistic filters to create more interesting images than the simple pictures I took. It lasted me over 15 years before it simply stopped working, but by then I had a full time job and had abandoned most consumer frugality, so I bought a legitimate program that has not devolved into a subscription-based price gouger that brings artist poverty into the 21st century. Those are the more hands-on images seen here, though they're mixed in with smartphone apps for artistic photo editing, but honestly? Hands-on computer programs are more fun.
Having gone through a few hard drive tragedies in the first decade of using these tools, I have lost a fair number of images created this way — but they probably weren't very good anyway. Here are some that have survived, and many that I've made since, though it's still to be debated whether these are any better.
