Editing -- Then and Now

I was going through my folder of photos from June looking for something when I came across this image:

A slightly underexposed, slightly blurry photo of one of the kids I work with. I had edited it at the time, and the result was this:

That edit was what caught my eye when I was scrolling through the folder of photos. Then I thought the edit was fantastic --- I had eliminated the shadows for the most part, and it was bright and colorful! But today, I look at it and wonder how I ever thought that edit was good! So I re-edited the photo, and here is today's edit:

It's just a simple edit, but so much better -- the shadows were not completely removed, making the most flat lighting you had ever seen, his eyes don't look like they have a flashlight behind them, and over all, I think it's drastically better! So why the big change? Well, mostly it's because I've learned so much about editing since I edited that first time, also because I have Lightroom and edit differently with it, and also because your style can change after time! Below is the side-by-side comparison:

 I love comparing my edits and images to each other to see how I've come along in the past year, which is one of the reasons I love getting my yearly photo book, because even from the start of the book to the end there is a definite change in the photos!