Hi & welcome to my PS blog! This blog is for full PS although some steps will also work in PSE. Most actions, unless stated are not PSE compatiable. I do try to make an action for PSE from time to time. I hope you have fun here and learn some things along the way. If you have any questions, just drop me a comment! :O)

Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Ziggy~Licious action set now available for purchase....

Wow..it's been a long couple months from when I first started thinking of the ideas for this set to the final product. It's been a great journey and I learned a lot about myself in the process which is always great!

This set will work in Photoshop CS2 & for for PC & MAC but is not compatible in PSE. Sorry!

So first off, if you haven't seen the Sneak Peek take a look and see what this set is capable of when mixing and matching actions from the set!

I was very lucky to have a lot of fabulous women send in images for testing and the examples that you will see on this blog. To all of you...thank you! You made this post much more beautiful than if I had to fill it with all of my own images! :O)

This set has 22 actions included. It is meant to give you a tonal shift in colors and a slight haze while keeping detail in your images and your whites still white! Your skin tones will get a slight shift as well, but remain natural!

When you purchase the set a pdf file will be included which will go over the basics of the actions, how they are set up and how to get the most out of them!

I am really proud of this set and use it on most of my images now! It's exactly what I was missing in my panel and I hope you feel the same way! So...let's get on with the show...

The set is broken down into 5 sections. Here is the list of actions you will receive...



The first section is your "Base Ingredients". These are basic clean work flow type actions that will help boost contrast, color and a bit of sharpness. They will not add any haze or tones and as each image is different, these are meant to be adjusted to your liking! These should be run on your SOOC images as your primer to either edit clean or to go under your creative edits.

Base Ingredients contains 3 actions... "Low Fat" for those who shoot jpeg, do a lot in ACR or LR or just have that rockin SOOC image that doesn't need much. Half & Half is a little stronger with a little more umph and color boost. This is the one I use for my work flow action. Heavy Cream is pretty strong and will most likely need a fair amount of adjusting and possibly some masking of the skin. Do make sure that before running any of the "Base Ingredients" or any editing for that matter, that you have a good clean WB and your exposure is good. Any editing will only enhance problems in your photos. Here is a lovely shot from Anne Oliver of her beautiful daughter...



Then once you've ran one of the Base Ingredients {or your own work flow edits} you can move onto the best part...the creative fun!

The next section has 5 creative edits that will shift the tonal range of the image, add a bit of haze and add a bit of contrast. I call these "Desserts"! They are the most creative of the set, but still not a heavy handed action. You MUST flatten before running any in this section. One thing that was important to me as well when making this set was time! I wanted actions that didn't take forever to run but also wouldn't take forever to adjust! I spend too much time adjusting layers of actions and I wanted to minimize that for this set! So the actions in this section will leave you with 1 photo layer and a white layer mask above your background photo layer! Then you simply adjust the opacity and do any masking if necessary! Quick and easy. And for the most part, lowering the layer opacity should yield nice results. But if you would like a little more control you can use your history panel to go back to the step before "merge visible" and the layers will be opened for you or you can go back with the ctrl/alt/z button until the layers open. Usually 3 or 4 steps. Then you can adjust the layers and mask each layer to taste.

Ziggy~DE...Licious ~ The next two images were sent in by Janett McKee



Could she be any prettier! I LOVE this shot! Honey & Sugar...


My little Nugget with some Strawberries & Cream...


Rainbow Sherbert sent in by Carla on this soft yet sharp image...



Warm Razzberry Pie on a warm sunny beautiful images sent in by Shelley Schaffer...

The actions in the next section are even lighter and great toppers to any edit. So I call them "Dessert Toppers". These are a simple 2 layer action that is grouped in a folder and can be run one on top of the other. No need to flatten before running any in this set! I often will run a couple of these on top of a Dessert and just play with the opacity of the folder. But you can open the folder and adjust the two layers if you so choose.

Here they are and this precious image was sent in by Farrah Jobling of her darling little Claire



Also in this section is "Cream Sodas". This action will run 14 tones/tints for you to customize your image and top it off even more! Each layer is turned off and you can turn on any that strike your fancy for a different look every time. I also run this a lot and will turn on just a couple like the Cherry on top! :O) The creams will mostly effect anything lighter than 18% gray and are great for babies, newborns, kids...anything you want to be creamy! The sodas ROCK for urban, grunge or just that little extra something. The Sodas will tint your shadows and anything darker than 18% gray. I LOVE this look and use the Sodas a lot. And to spice it up the creams WITH the sodas give a great result. I will say that Cherry Soda is one of my FAVS...along with Cherry Haze from the section above! So def check these out and don't afraid to play and experiment!

First some examples from the Sodas...

The next two rockin little girl images were sent in by Nicole Matthews



This is a Cream & a Soda combined and gives a very fun and unique look almost similar to my XP set I shared for free a while back! This one on it's own is a lot of fun as well!


And now we have the creams. This beautiful image of these darling kiddos was sent in by Dana Fowler...

As you can see they are very subtle and you may have a hard time actually seeing a difference on here. Each one is just one layer at low opacity and these are meant to be in addition to the other actions, a final topper..like the cherry on top I was talking about versus them being used alone like in the sample. So keep that in mind!


And I loved the light in this image so much that I had a clean play with it using the actions from this set and wanted to share that example as well!


Now for even more fun stuff! The Blur/Grain section! I am VERY into the Tilt Shift lens look {t/s}. But sadly I'm on a poor sad little crop sensor! So until I can upgrade and get that expensive T/S lens, this is as close as I can get! So I included an action that I use a LOOOOT! It will do it's best to mimic a T/S lens. I also included a soft dreamy blur that mimics more of a soft focus effect for a pretty selective focus option. Both require you to paint with black where you want to remove the blur. I have two GREAT tips in the pdf that comes with the set on how to get the most natual look with the blurs. You MUST flatten to run the two blur actions.

This image...be still my heart was sent in by Taryn Lewis! So I had to run the T/S action on it! Here is my editing process for this image...



And so you can see the yummy goodness close up...


In this section as well is an action called "Sprinkles". It is a simple grain action that I love and does not require you to flatten before running. There is also a white layer mask for any masking needs and runs at 50% opacity. So you can raise or lower it to taste!

Then the last section is the Extras. Very simple, basic tools to help you get a little more out of your images. All of these actions can be run at any time, no need to flatten first! Dollop of whip cream rocks and I use it like crazy. It's basically a center light and you can raise or lower the opacity! Then there is Oven High/Low which is your standard dodge/burn action. To get more out of the dodge layer, change the blend mode to screen and to get more out of the burn layer change your blend mode to multiply. Be CAREFUL when doing any type of dodge/burn. Go light with the brush opacity for a natural look and use a larger soft edge brush so that it blends and enhances. The worst thing you can do is have your dodge/burn efforts wasted by screaming it's been done! It's takes practice and patient. It took me a while to get it! :O) Then you have a basic brighten and darken layer called Oven On & Oven Off!

So...if you are still with me and are as excited as I am about this set....lets get to the details! I'm not a fancy bloggin action seller as you all know! Lol! So I do not have a fancy blog like MCP or the other girls that allows you an instant download. I am sorry about that. But I do not plan on going into the action selling business, so I cannot justify paying for that option!

To order this set paypal $50 to momaziggy AT yahoo DOT com and make sure you check your email for your paypal account as that is where they will be emailed, along with the pdf file! Your actions will be emailed to you within 24 hours of your order, but in all honestly...most likely MUCH less time! You can email me anytime as well at momaziggy AT yahoo DOT com

So I think that's about it. Head over to 2Peas to see more examples I've posted, I'm on FB as well and let me know if you have any questions. I hope you buy them, LOVE them and get as much out of them as I do! :O)

The Ziggy~Licious action set Sneak Peek...

Hello all! I am VERY excited about my new set. This set is a labor of love and very personal to me! I have decided that I will be selling this particular set. I know I said I would never sell my actions, that they would always be free. I still feel that way. So I do want you to know that I will still be sharing action sets I make for free. This set is different though which is why I've decided to sell this one.

I was at a point where I felt my processing was missing something. I have an action panel full of amazing actions, that I love and use regularly. But something was missing. So I finally asked myself what was it that was missing and what I needed to do to achieve it. And VIOLA I created "The Ziggy~Licious" set!

I had a few things that were very important to me when I made this set. First was I wanted a set that would change the tonal range of my images and add a slight haze without adding too much contrast and losing the detail I work so hard to get in camera and that wouldn't make the whites and skin tones wonky. Don't get me wrong, I have actions that add a lot of contrast and I LOVE them. But I wanted the option of both. Lilyblue {LB} is as close to what I wanted as possible. But I wanted different tones and a slightly different feel! The other thing that was really important to me was that this set be fast and easy to use. I wanted a set that I didn't have to do too much tweaking of layers so that it would help speed up my workflow. I spend too much time playing in PS! Lol!

So all in all I really could not be happier with this set. I met my goals and am thrilled! I've gotten so much use out of this set already and I truly hope that you guys love it as much as I do.

They are almost ready for release. I'm just fine tuning everything and should be up within a couple weeks.

I wanted to share a Sneak Peek of images that were sent in to me for testing! The images themselves will blow you away and I hope you love the actions run on them as well. This is meant for you to see what is capable of achieving with this set. The actual post where they will be for sale will have all of the before and after examples. These simply show different looks you can get combining the actions in this set! Note...I did use TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses on a couple that of course is not included in this set.

These will work in CS2 & up PC & MAC but are not PSE compatible. Sorry PSE girls!

Here we go...

This beautiful image was sent in from Anne Oliver...



This gorgeous baby with the most amazing eyes I've ever seen was sent in by Cindy Mandernach ...


This sweet candid moment was sent in by Tiffany...


These next two beautiful flower images were sent in by Michelle Olson ...



This awesome shot/expression was sent it by Shelley Schaffer...


The next two beautiful beach images were sent in by Sarah Seibert...



This awesome urban shot was sent in by one of my dearest friends and also an amazing photographer Amanda Ward


This shot was sent to ME by ME! Lol! Macro shot taken with my 100mm 2.8 {non L version}...


This stop.your.heart.romantic.moment shot was sent in by Vanessa Kearns ...


The next two images of this adorable little girl and beautiful setting was sent in by Suzi...


Here I wanted to show that you can take the same image and get different looks and tonal ranges depending on which actions you use! :O)


And I'm sure after looking at all of those amazing.beautiful.breathtaking images you are feeling happy and positive! Beauty does that to people! :O)

So that is the Sneak Peek. I hope you enjoyed it, it's gotten you excited about the action set and that you can imagine these actions on your images! I would love to hear any feedback you have about the action set and I will post when they are ready!

Thank you very much for stopping by and supporting my first attempt at selling one of my action sets! Have a beautiful day! :O)

***PSA...for those of you who do not know me...I am a down to earth easy going person and with that comes good and bad! I use caps too much when writing and :O)! I also am the typo queen of the world, use the wrongs words all the time and am also known as the run on sentence queen of the world! I'm also VERY long winded! So now you know and might not run away too fast! :O) I've come to terms with who I am and am at peace! Lol! Oh...I use LOL a lot too! Hope you stick around...teehee! End of PSA***

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About my PS Blog

Hi, my name is Crystal and I am addicted to Photoshop. I have PSCS4 and it's my other half. I love photography, but sometimes I think it's a means to edit!

So I thought it would be fun to have a place to post the free action sets I record, tips and tricks that I learn in PS and tuts for various different types of photo editing.

I hope you enjoy and find my PS blog helpful and if you have any questions, leave me a comment with your questions and your email address and I will get back to you!

Happy editing!

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I am a stay at home to 2 great girls. My older daughter Haylee just started middle school and my younger daughter Avyree is in 1st grade! I have been married 11 years to my hubs Eric. I got my first DSLR June 31, 2008 and have been hooked ever since! My style is primarily Lifestyle! I like to take a natural and real life approach to my images! I want them to remind me of WHO my girls were when they were little, not just what they looked like. I love to edit and my editing style is always evolving and changing! I like variety and photography is a means to edit! I shoot Canon (full frame) and almost only primes. I pull out my wide angle zoom from time to time! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like our story...
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