Anatomy of...My Boy

I was using Mary Sue's camera this weekend at a soccer tournament and I super quick snapped this shot of Wild Child~

He was lookin' so boyish at that moment...sweaty...gritty...dirt smeared on his cheek....everything a boy should be~

We were outdoors but under a shelter so it was pretty dark and I love how the background just completely blacked out. The pop up flash went off on her Canon Rebel xti at 70mm focal length, F stop 5.  Since he was so close to me, probably less than 2 feet, the flash just caught him and that's why the background blacked out.  (...at least I think that's why!)

Of course I wanted to add a bit more drama so I opened my original in Photoshop Elements 6 for Mac and sharpened just his left eye with Pioneer Woman Sharpen This.  Here's my screenshot:

Next I flattened and ran Pioneer Woman Boost action and lowered the Zing layer to 73% opacity:

Finally I ran Coffeeshop Butterscotch Vintage to add the drama.  I LOVE this action on skin tones for major impact...I lowered the Contract Boost layer to 69%...

and here's my final with mcp Finish It border added...

The original was great but this just has a little more punch to it....and Heaven knows I need more punch in my life!