Hi and welcome...

This is my first post on the new Photoshop (PS) blog and I'm very excited! First a little about me... I'm Crystal aka Momaziggy! This is my husband & I taken this month in Vegas at Supercross. WAHOO James Stewart!

I’m a SAHM to two AWESOME girls. This is Haylee… our 7 year old who is finishing up 2nd grade. When did THAT happen? She’s our quiet shy one.

And this is Avyree aka Nugget. She’s 2 and is our wild child!

And this shot pretty much sums up my life as a mom. My quiet Haylee clinging to me and Avyree trying to break away and my camera & Zebra Zoom in hand. Ah....you gotta love life!

So where did it all start? Photography & photo editing have become a deep passion in my life. The love affair started back in Jan 08 when I started making sigs on the GREAT board SMFB on iVillage. Anne was the BEST CL and taught me so much. I loved making sigs but what I really loved was editing the photos for the sigs. It was the editing that drove me. And as I learned more about editing (although looking back I really didn’t know anything lol), I found that I was becoming frustrated with the quality of my photos. So June 30th last year I purchased my first DSLR. I bought a Canon XSi. An entry level DSLR. At that time I just wanted better quality Auto shots and maybe I’d play a little bit with some of the other modes. Well that didn’t last long. I was instantly hooked! I dove in head first.

I learned everything I could. In this time my DEAR friend Amanda Ward (also a photographer and when her site debuts, you’ll get to see it here) encouraged me to jump from PSP9 to PSCS3. I thought I could do everything I needed in this little PSP program. But once I got my hands on PSCS3, I realized what a difference a program could make. So I was now throwing myself into learning photography and PSCS3. And the passion really took off from there!

Fast forward to today. I am a photography & editing JUNKIE and it’s a crazy obsession. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll agree! I do this for the love of it, not to make money. I love the art of it and I love the technical stuff. I now have PSCS4 and couldn’t be happier with it! Powerful amazing program that you can do pretty much anything you want in.

For the first time in my life I have a passion…something that drives me, something my blonde brain can retain (lol) and something that makes me feel like more than just a mom. Not that it's not rewarding...well I don't have to explain myself to you girls. If you're a mom you know what I'm saying. I finally have * my thing * and I’m enjoying the ride…not the debt tho! Ha!

Now I’m getting ready to upgrade cameras. The need for this Canon 5D Mark II has taken on a life of it’s own. I want it more than I want Orange Chicken from Panda Express. And for those of you who know me…THAT’S BIG! :O)

So I wanted a place and outlet to post about my crazy PS obsession because I don’t think my husband or friends can handle it anymore. I wanted a place to share and help…to pay it forward. When I first started I was LOST…and I mean LOST. Especially with photography. So whatever I can give back to others who want to learn to get better end results from their SOOC shots, I’m happy to do.

I don’t know a lot yet…notice the YET…but what I do know I want to pass on. And I’m obsessed about learning and am brought so much joy in sharing.

So I hope this blog will serve as a good resource for others and help them the way I was helped along the way.

I’ll be posting tuts on techniques that I already know and techniques that I learn. I have a couple workshops I want to take (MCP Actions workshops) for color correcting and using curves to their fullest potential. I'll be sharing great sites that have helped me and given me inspiration. I'll post little tips and tricks that are quick and easy. And I’ve started recording a few action sets that I want to share and will always share the ones I make in the future. I just have to figure out the best way to share them.

So bear with me as I get this all figured out.

This is going to be FUN!