I'm off to the farm this morning but when I get back I'll cut an "old" version for you. Some of the changes are subtle and Topaz does a much better job of sharpening than I do (my main reason for using it).
Edit: Topaz won't really "fix" a poor photo -garbage in, garbage out. It simply speeds up my post processing by putting a lot of the tasks I need to do behind one interface. I also think that it's giving me access to CS4 level editing tools in a simplified form without having to pay for CS4 (I'm using Topaz with Elements 8).
Last but not least I was kinda stunned at the number of emails and PMs that I got from people who had already been using Topaz Detail and Adjust but they didn't say anything until after I mentioned using it. I think people are afraid of the misconception that if you're using some sort of post processing plugin that you're somehow "cheating" or your doing something wrong with the camera and you're trying to fix it in post. But like I said if you've got CS4 then you have the ability to edit files in the same way as the Topaz plugins -it will just take you a little longer to make the edits...
For a start, I don't know much about PP. I have used Picasa from the start a few years ago and stayed with it simply because anything else just seemed too complicated, still does. But I am about to buy into better IQ (dslr-articulating lcd) and would like to do it justice, so I'm looking at what people of demonstrable skill with a perceived need for simplicity are doing.
In the second of the two you just posted I see slightly better colour and sharpening, it doesn't blow the highs in the hairs left of eye in #2 (Topaz Detail), and looks sharper to the right of eye. It appears to be a better finished image and you say it simplifies your pp, putting much of it behind one interface. I want it all (including cropping behind one interface, maybe too much to ask.
Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye out for your PP tutorial/s.
PP cheating? We better get back to charcoal and stone then.
behind one interface, maybe too much to ask.