Momaziggy's Photoshop for FUN!

Editing 16bit vs 8bit...

2011-09-22T15:06:00.000-07:00

My original post HERE had problems in showing my images. Not sure why but I wanted to try to repost the pictures only. If you want to read what I wrote...please refer to the old post!

8bit....

16bit...

before and after...

Action review... Pure Actions & some thoughts on actions...

2011-09-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone! I'm back with another action review! First I quickly wanted to chat a bit about my thoughts on actions and what works for me!

I get a lot of questions regarding what actions I use the most and which are my favorite. So I'll answer that question first...all of them! Lol! Not too helpful right! Well for me, I don't have one set that I love more than another. I have several different action makers loaded in my actions panel. And as many of you know, I use actions for 95% of my editing! I do things by hand as well. But most of what I need, I can do with the actions I have loaded. I think actions are wonderful and very helpful, not to mention a huge time saver. But I feel to be able to use actions and use them well (not as a crutch) you of course first have to have a good SOOC shot! There is no action that will fix your photos better than taking a good SOOC shot and enhancing it! So learn in camera first! Learn your camera, how to exposure properly and how to watch for good light. It will make editing easier, faster with better final images. Then learn PS. Learn to edit on your own. Learn to clean edit. Once you have both foundations in control, then you can start to learn to use actions. You may have noticed I said.... "start to LEARN to use actions"! That's not a mistake. Actions aren't a magic fix nor should they be used as a crutch. But when you are ready to start using them...LEARN them FIRST!!!! Not all actions are created equally. Not all actions will be your style!!! Not all actions look good on all photos and all different lighting. And 99% of the time, the action will need some adjustments and masking! If you take the time to learn your action and what each layer does and the overall look you can get with different actions, then you can begin to use them as your workflow!

Onto my favorite makers! I now have my style pretty defined and know who I want to buy from. There are so many action makers out there, you can go broke buying them all. Then what happens is your wallet is too empty and your actions panel is too full. What happens when your action panel is too full...you become overwhelmed and don't use them! It takes time to learn who you really like and who fits your style. But once you do, you'll be using them and using them well! I like variety and like to edit each image as an individual as per the mood & lighting in each photo. So my actions panel gives me the variety to edit each image as I see fit! Makers that I like are, Lilyblue, Pure Actions, Florabella, MCP, Michelle Kane, Red Leaf and some TRA! As you can see, there is a wide variety of looks from maker to maker. But each maker has a look that fits the variety of style that I like for my photos. It's different for everyone!

So the next question I get is.... "How is this set/maker different from this set/maker" or "I already have this set from this maker, can it do what this new set/maker can do"! That's a tough one to answer! Creative edits are whole different story. So I'll just quickly talk about clean edits! I have three main makers I go to for clean edits... Pure Actions, Florabella (new workflow set) & Michelle Kane! Each will give me a nice clean edit I will love! But...there IS a difference in the look of the clean edit from each maker! I can take the same photo and run clean edits on each from each maker, and they will be slightly different. That is the difference of style per maker. So one is not better than the other...just different. Depending on the light & mood of the photo and what final look I want, will determine who I use for that clean edit! Below I'll show you what I mean. Do know that the Pure action examples were already done and the Michelle Kane (MK) & Florabella (FB) examples I just did. If I had more time the MK & FB examples would be better! I'm not trying to show that one is better than the other...in ANY way! Only that for me, all three produce a good clean edit but each have a slightly different feel to them...

And now onto my Pure Actions review...

What can I say! Pure Actions are truly EXACTLY what they say...PURE! I will give a leg up to Pure Actions for my clean edits. When I want truly clean, truly pure, truly beautiful clean edits...I go to my Pure Actions! They are different than any actions in my panel! Hard to explain exactly how they are different...but they are! There is something to the quality and look I get with them that is really so Pure and clean! I was never too big on clean edits because I could never get a clean edit I LOVED! I could get a clean edit..but it always bored me and I always felt something was missing. So I'd do a clean base edit, then go creative over! But since I've gotten Pure Actions, I now do more clean edits than I ever have and feel that my clean edits now have that something that was missing. That something that took it from a clean edit snapshot to a clean edit professional print quality! Wow...that was a terrible sentence! Lol! These actions will take your images and bring them to the next professional level! They are great for sessions, events and family snaps! I can get my clean edits done in half the time with a much more professional looking clean edit now. THAT makes me happy! Most of the clean edits in my Idaho 2011 Album were done with Pure actions! Which you'll notice is where a lot of my examples came from!

I'll break down the sets I use and which actions within that sets are my most used...

Pure 1 ~ Come out of the shadows baby, Warm that baby up, Hazy Baby, Hazy Baby 2, Fix all that red baby, Look at all that color baby (SWOON)

Pure 2 ~ Cloud 9 baby (SWOON), Snap that baby, Boost the shadows, Boost the blue (SWOON) & Boost the Yellows (SWOON)

Just a Pinch ~ A pinch of warming (SWOON), A pinch of haze, A pinch of Soft Light (SWOON), A pinch of makeup (SWOON), A pinch of Aloe Vera (SWOON), A pinch of tone and A pinch of Film Noir

Pure Haze ~ Yellow haze (SWOON times 2), Pink haze, A touch of haze, Brown haze, Get rid of that yellow (SWOON), Custom clean light, Pure Haze, Warm soft & pop (SWOON) and Pop the haze

SWOON means they are the ones I CANNOT live without and use the most! I do use others from each set, but these are my most used Pure actions!

And for my standard clean fast workflow when using Pure actions, I usually use Look at all that color baby, Boost the shadows/yellows/blues (which ever are present & needed per photo) and if I want a bit more in my edit I'll add (if needed) A pinch of warming or Cloud 9. Again this is kind of my base Pure editing and when I just want to take a good SOOC shot and have a normal basic clean edit! Super fast with GREAT clean PURE results!

I can honestly say, for CLEAN edits, Pure Actions have been my best spent money! I can also say that while I love them for their clean results, I freaking love the Pure Haze set. What amazes me the most about this set, is that you can get CLEAN CREATIVE edits! Who knew right! Ha! Really, they are creative with a bit of tonal shift and haze...but still SO CLEAN! They are light & thin and not over the top!

Now onto what I love the MOST about Pure Actions....

* their ability to give you the most clean edits WITHOUT adding too much contrast and making your images muddy, your shadows too dark or requiring too much adjustments or masking

* their ability to RETAIN DETAIL in your images!

* their ability to pop colors as they should be without making them go wonky & neon or spending tons of time masking on skin

*their ability to not be overly bright (which goes with retaining detail and not spending tons of time adjusting & masking)

* their ability to save me SO much time on clean edits

now onto what I don't like.... this is a review...so I have to be 100% open & honest! I assure, there is only ONE thing...

* having to flatten in between actions. I would love to see Pure Actions work as MK & FB and be able to run actions on top of each other. I have to take many snapshots when using Pure Actions and have to flatten after almost every action. That would be the ONLY thing I would like to see change. On the other hand, if in doing this, it changed their actions a bit...I'd rather have to flatten forever. Because THAT is how much I LOVE Pure Actions!

Wow...that was a lot. Now onto my examples. I'm not going to list what I ran for each image. This post is LONG enough! Lol! But you have a list of my most used up top and it will give you an idea of what I used. I will say however, that I still use TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses on a lot of my images (mostly on non people shots) and I do use MK See Things Clearer for my sharpening, MK Glisten & Eyecitment for my eyes. So I cannot say much for Pure sharpening actions or their eye actions. I know they are probably great. But I've been using the MK sharpening action and it's what I've stuck with because it's perfect for me!

So...I give Pure Actions TWO thumbs up! If you are wanting really good PURE clean edits, you will LOVE Pure Actions! And not to mention, Crystal & Rachel are two of the most kind hearted and talented women I know! I assure you, they will not be a waste of money and their actions are priced well. You'll get your money worth!

One last note...I've been having some issues with my Zenfolio not showing some of my images. Some say they are locked/private. I apologize for this issue and I'm am uncertain what is causing it as all of my blog albums are public and always have been. Some show and some don't. I started a new album for this blog and hope that it fixes the issues. My fingers are crossed that everyone will be able to see all of the images I posted!

I hope this review was helpful and please feel free to ask any questions you have in my comments section. I will answer to the best of my, mom with a camera, ability! Lol! Just make sure to come back and check for my response! HAPPY THURSDAY!

Editing in 8bit vs 16 bit...

2011-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of info on the web about editing in 8bit & 16bit. You can google until your eyeballs pop out! I do not claim to be a professional and know all the the techy info. But I know and understand the basics and what an average person needs to understand! So rather than try to explain what I know and why I edit in 16bit vs 8bit, I will link you to a great post and then show you a GREAT visual example between the two!

Damien Symonds ~ Bit Depth Explained by Cake

(photo by Shelley Shaffer edited by me with permission. Edited with Florabella's Classic BW from her new Workflow set, which is AMAZING and her best set to date)

This one was edited in 8bit. as you can see, there is a rainbow of banding on the backdrop! You could not give this to a client!

Exact same image, exact same action/edit! The only difference is this was edited in 16bit and not converted to 8bit until I was ready to save. Look at that beautiful smooth background! THIS you could give to a client!

And I always love a side by side together! Top edited in 8bit & bottom edited in 16bit! And what I also noticed is the color on the 8bit is off as well

I hope between Damien's post and my visual example, it will show you the benefits of editing in 16bit. It's more important on shots with solid large backgrounds such as backdrops or lots of sky in shots etc! Jump on the 16bit bandwagon...you won't regret it!

And coming up (not sure when since I've been really busy lately) I will have two new Action Review blog posts! I will be reviewing

Pure Actions (various different sets which I will go over in the post)

and

Florabella (her NEW Workflow set)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)

A FREE action share ~ MZ Golden Backlight...

2011-07-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

I know it's been SO long since I shared an action! Sorry, but I haven't made any to share! Lol! This one I actually started working on at the end of last Summer...September 2010! Yikes! I kind of forgot about it, then when I thought about it I was too lazy to finish the layers then record the action and do the examples.

But tonight I finally did it! This is of course FREE which I know makes many happy! It is only one action and not a whole set. This action is meant to be an all in one action for back lit photos. It has layers that are turned off so that you may personalize this action to suit your needs per photo. You can embrace the haze and keep it light & airy. Or you can turn on other layers and upping the layer opacity of others to remove some of the haze and get more contrast and depth. You can turn layers on, off, up or down and even go into the adjustment layers and fiddle with the settings to make it truly your own!

I love this little action and find it very easy to use and I love the ability to go more clean and subtle or really bump on the layers and get a creative look! You can also, as you will see below, use this action on front lit images as well, but you will need to do a bit more tweaking to get it right! And don't be afraid to mask. On one of my examples I didn't like the tones on Nugget's face, so I masked her out of one layer and then with the alt key, dragged that layer mask to the others where I did not want the tone on her face and was able to quickly remove the colors I didn't want on her. And for those who are just learning or want to get better at really learning your actions! Try this...

Download this action and open a back lit shot. Run the action and open the folder. Start at the very top layer. Click that eye on & off a few times while looking at your image. Do this for every.single.layer in this action. Then turn on & off the ones that are already off and watch to see what they are doing to your photo. Also as you do this, take the opacity slider and go from left to right to see how playing the opacity of that specific layer affects your photo. As I edit I will often turn the whole folder opacity on & off to see my before and after shot quickly! And if you love exactly how the action looks but feel it's just a bit too strong, just lower the opacity of the whole folder. I did that on the shot of Nugget holding the coffee cup in her black/gray outfit. The action was perfect but just a tad strong, so I lowered the folder opacity to 85% and that was it. And do this every.single.time you run this action, or any action, until you've gotten to know what that action does. This is how I am able to have such a large actions panel filled with wonderful actions from amazing makers and be able to get the most out of them. I know when to run which one and maker for that matter and when to combine to get a look special to only me! Don't be afraid to play around and experiment! If you don't like it, just hit delete! But you are not doing your checkbook or your actions panel, or your images for that matter, any justice if you have all these actions and don't know them well enough to really use them!

This action does NOT work in PSE!! Users with CS3 or lower may get an error at the end of the action, due to a Vibrancy layer that came out with CS4. I am hoping that you will still be able to use the action but I cannot make any promises. But since it's FREE, it doesn't hurt to download it and try it out right! This action will also work best on SOOC images that have only RAW editing done to them! Make sure your white balance and exposure are adjusted and where they need to be from your RAW processor before you run this action. If you shoot jpeg, this action will be pretty strong on your already edited {in camera} images and will require more tweaking and lowering of layers and possibly folder opacity!

I have 10 examples to show you of how I use this action! Again, there are several possibilities with this action that I could've gotten different looks per photo depending on what layers I use and don't and layer opacity. I won't be going into specific layer detail for each of my examples.

This was the photo that actually inspired the start of this action. First day of school. Can't believe the year is already over and we in the middle of summer break...

I went a little more extreme with this one and I could have gone light & airy if I'd wanted that look...

Here since there are not any large shadow or dark areas of the photo, I kept it light and airy...

This is one where I masked a bit of the tones off of her face and dragged that mask to the other colors that I wanted to remove off of just her face...

I also removed the haze and some of the tones off her only her in this shot too again using the alt key to drag the layer mask of the first mask I painted on so I wouldn't have to paint her out of each layer I didn't want on her...

This was a bad shot that ended up a favorite. I have it edited as a grainy low contrast bw. But I wanted to see what it would look like with this action on it and I loved it. I turned on the "Darken the Shadows" layer and lowered the opacity to 50%. I initially meant to lower the opacity of that layer to 15% as the action recorded but I totally forgot and was too tired to record the whole action over again. And the great thing about it being a FREE action, I don't have too! Ha! So when you turn that layer on, it will be strong and in most cases will need to be turned way down unless you have a tone of haze on your image...

And here are two examples of well lit, front lit images that this action worked great on. On this image I had to tweak a lot and turned off several layers, lowered layer opacity and turned on some of the other layers that come turned off. But it didn't take too long and I really like the color tone of the edit...

This is the one that I loved the second I ran it exactly as is. It was a bit strong so I lowered the whole folder opacity to 85% and didn't anything else! I also love depending on the tones and light in your photo, the different types of looks you can get with this action...

Perfect for the look I wanted here. I adjusted a few minor things and turned on the "Darken the shadows" layer and brought the opacity down to 30% I believe...

This one I turned off the edge burn, lowered the dollop of whip cream and I believe that was it...

And this one makes me really happy! I think this action would work GREAT on beach sunset pictures {with or without people} but I don't have any. So this sunset shot is as close as I can get for now! I apologize ahead of time for the power lines. On the image I'd already edited, I removed them. But didn't have it in me to do it again! But I'm in LOVE with the colors tones and overall image after the action. I made a few small adjustments but not many...

So if after seeing all my examples and babble..you want to download it for FREE, head on over

DOWNLOAD ME FOR FREE!!!!!

I hope you like it and don't have any problems with it. You can email me at momaziggy AT yahoo DOT com with any questions or if you'd like to share before & after images with me. I always LOVE to see people's before & after images. I'm not in business so I don't have a Facebook Fan page or anything, so emailing them is the only way I believe I can see them. I don't think you can attach them to the comments but if you load them somewhere, you can link me in the comments!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

4th of July fun...

2011-07-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

*****I posted this on the wrong blog...I meant to post it on my Ziggy blog! Oops..lol! Too tired to move it now but will soon! Sorry PS people! :) *****

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and fun 4th of July...well to my American friends that is! :) We had a great 4th of July. We stayed home, did crafts in the cool house during the day and headed out to BBQ with friends in the heat of the backyard later in the day.

I was sick all week so I wasn't prepared for the holiday this year. I wanted to have the girls do crafts and make some fun themed food. But since I was in bed all week, Eric had to go shopping the morning of the 4th and my supplies were limited. But the girls had fun with the crafts and food we did have to make, so that's all that matters.

All day time shots were edited with Lilyblue Simple Three and the night time shots were edited with Lilyblue Simple One, both from her Simple Set!

The flag fans they made for our guests. Haylee up top and Avyree on the bottom...

I made a demo the night before so they could see how to do them...

The paper lanterns were the big hit though. The girls loved making them...

I had found a really cute craft to do on these round cardboard cut outs that would've covered them up. But I didn't have the right supplies and it just didn't work out. So we wrote Happy 4th of July and the just stuck stickers on them...lol...

And here are all three of the crafts they made...

4th of July Strawberries! These were a big hit with everyone and they didn't last too long...

When Eric went shopping, all the 4th of July cookies were gone so he got his favorite, Peanut Butter cookies. These may not look festive but they were yummy...

And I made my very first red white & blue jello cake. I didn't take pictures of the final cake decorated because I forgot. Here it is as it was sitting. When we flipped it over we forgot to sit it in warm water for a few to help the red separate from the tin. So the red fell apart and the blueberries just rolled off the red jello...teehee! But the whip cream looked good for the white part..lol! I'll make it again next year and hopefully will do better and be feeling better as well. But all in all, it still tasted yummy and the girls loved it...

Here are the decorations hung up on our back patio. I still wasn't feeling good and it was so hot and humid I didn't take time to hang them up nicely. Just literally taped up the string. But hey, it's festive and it made the girls happy so it'll work...

And speaking of hot & humid. We had already gone through several bags of water balloons. But if felt like back East, it was so hot, muggy and humid. So the girls jumped into our buckets filled with water. Gotta do what you gotta do to keep cool right...

I didn't take any pictures of our BBQ or our guests. Now I wish I had of course. But between the heat, me not feeling good and getting all the food ready and on the table, it just didn't happen. But the ribs, tri tip, pasta salad, potatoes and beans were YUMMY! You'll just have to take my word for it! Lol!

Then our little backyard fireworks before the big ones from the local high school. These are the only firework pictures I shot. My friend even brought me her tripod so I could shoot the big ones. But I just wasn't feeling it...same story for the past few weeks. So I had drinks instead and just sat and watched them in the front yard. I shot fireworks 2 years ago and since we live in the same house, it's the same show from the same school, I figured they wouldn't look any different than those so why bother...lol. But here was our pre show...

And that was our 4th of July! Thanks for looking! :)

Creamy butter Bokeh...

2011-06-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

So I finally have something to talk about..lol! I've had several people ask me how I get such creamy buttery bokeh! I'm not a pro photographer nor a pro in PS. But this is how I approach the bokeh in my images.

First, it has to take place in camera! I shoot with a full frame and I shot only primes {unless I'm using my Tokina 16-28} and I always shoot with large apertures {unless I'm using my Tokina 16-28}. I use BBF and I toggle my AF points. I also keep in mind my distance to subject and the distance from my subject to the background. When I want more bokeh I get closer and do my best to have my subject as far from the background as possible. I also try my best to shoot in good light and all of these things play a part in the bokeh of my shots. So most of my shots almost always have good bokeh to begin with. But I usually want it a bit creamier and more smooth and more separation from subject to bokeh.

I do use actions that I've paid for. So I won't be able to go over all the steps by hand because then I would be sharing the details of the actions I'm using and that's not okay! :) Normally when I enhance the bokeh or pop the subject, I do it at the end when my edit, creative or clean, is done. So my before shots are my edits that I've already done. Normally I would not start with a flattened image, but for the purposes of this tutorial and discussing bokeh only and not the rest of the edits I did, I'm starting on a flattened file!

The actions I'll be using in this tutorial are...

TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses ~ this is my FAVORITE action of all time for detail shots and I use it on most of my detail shots unless I'm going for a true film feel to my images. I almost never use this action on people/faces.

Michelle Kane Bring on the Bokeh & See Things Clearer

*Masking tip... White reveals & black conceals. So where you see white on a layer mask, the effect of that layer is showing. Where you see black on a layer mask, the effect of that layer is not showing.

That's it...and it's all very easy and fast!

The first photo I'm sharing is how I usually approach editing detail shots that already have a lot of bokeh in them. On this image the bokeh is smooth enough and I don't want to touch it. But I do want the microphone to jump out of the bokeh a little more and be a little sharper.

Once I've edited my image and have it where I want it I run my TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses which will convert my 16bit image to 8bit {one of the reasons I run it at the end} and put it on it's own layer without a layer mask. This action will give a depth and a defog of sorts and when applied only to the subject and not the bokeh, it allows the subject to jump out while keeping the bokeh smooth. I rarely ever allow this action to touch my bokeh. Once it's ran I make sure I'm on that layer then hit q for auick mask and select my brush tool {b}, set my brush opacity at 100% and my foreground color to black. Then I paint where I want the BMG action applied. Where you see red is where the action will be applied. You'll notice the red arcross the image. On most images that I run BMG, I follow the focal plane as I've done here...

Then once I'm done painting where I want the action applied I hit q again to turn off the quick mask and I will now have my area that I painted selected with matching ants. Then I hold down my alt key and click on the layer mask icon and it will make my selection where I painted, white on the layer mask to show and where I did not paint will be black to hide...

Now all I want to do is sharpen. I obviously do not want to sharpen my bokeh. So I run Michelle Kane's See Things Clearer above the BMG layer. This action runs with a white layer mask so it shows on the entire image. But since I only want a the area that I ran BMG on sharpened, I'm going to click on the BMG layer mask, hold down my alt key and drag that layer mask on top of the MK layer mask and hit yes to replace. Now I have my sharpening applied to the exact same areas I ran BMG without having to paint the area again. Very fast and easy and now I've given the microphone more depth and sharpening all while leaving the bokeh nice & smooth...

And here is the before and after. This is my most used method when editing details that have good bokeh to begin with. It's fast, easy and just enhances that shallow DOF 3d feeling while still looking natural...

Now onto how I handle bokeh with my people shots. As I said above, I almost never run BMG on people shots. I do not like the defog type of contrast it adds to faces, skin, eyes etc as it turns the skin & face harsh unless used at very low opacity. So usually when editing people shots, I work on the background vs the subject to allow them to pop from the bokeh. Here is a shot of Avyree that I took on Monday. The bokeh is there, but I really want it smoother and creamier, which will help her pop a bit from it.

Again, once I have my edit done, I'm ready for the final touches. I run MK's Bring on the Bokeh. When this action runs a black layer mask is attached. So the bokeh is hidden and you paint with white where you want it. There are many times that I leave it black and only paint it in small areas. But on this one, the area is bigger and I find that I get a more natural look when painting larger areas by inverting the mask and painting the blur off of the subject. So I click on the black layer mask and hit ctrl i to invert it to a white mask and now the blur is over my entire image. I grab my brush with black as my foreground color and go around the of her hairline at 100% brush opacity. I stay on slightly on the inside of her hairline with a large soft brush so that it feathers nicely into the bokeh that is already there. As you can see below, I have removed the blur from the edges of her and now need to remove it from the rest of her.

I want to make sure I don't miss any because it would be really bad to have a small blurry spot on her face! :) So I hold down the alt key and click once on the layer mask. Now my layer mask is full screen and I can continue to paint the rest of her out of the blur with a black brush. Once I'm sure I've got all of her masked out I hold down the alt key & click on the mask again and VIOLA Avyree is back...

Last step is my normal last step, run MK's See Things Clearer. I can borrow the mask again from the Bring on the Bokeh layer like I did with the first image and the BMG layer. But I do not want the sharpen on her hair. So instead of borrowing that mask, then masking out off of her hair, I just invert the white mask to black, use a soft large brush with my foreground set to white & 100% brush opacity and do a few large clicks on her face & clothes making sure it doesn't feather out into her hair too much...

So now I've made the bokeh creamier and sharpened only her allowing her to pop from the bokeh just a bit more and make that bokeh buttery! Again, we want subtle and natural. Here is the before and after...

Now...lets say I have a shot where the bokeh is okay and the subject is sharp...but it's just not enough separation and I really want it the subject to stand out more! This usually happens when I shoot from a little further back, especially with my 35L.

Here is a macro shot I took. It's okay... but nothing exciting. So now I want to see what I can do to make it a bit more exciting or appealing and have the subject pop and the bokeh creamy butter. I've already decided that I want to keep it centered {which is of course a personal choice and depends on the shot itself}. I know too that for the most part, I'm going to keep my edit clean and a bit rich & deep. But for me the dandelion is just getting lost in the bokeh and the bokeh to me is harsh and has too much contrast. But I don't want to lose the color tones and richness in my edit. This method will allow me to keep it exactly as I edited it but to smooth out the bokeh and make the tip of the dandelion pop out.

Here is the before I'm working with {notice the right & bottom edge}...

So like I said, I do all three methods to get the look I want. Once my edit is done I run Bring on the bokeh {because I want to run this while still in 16bit} and I want it everywhere but the dandelion and a tiny bit of the top of the stem. So I invert the mask to white and start in the center with a smaller soft black brush at 100% brush opacity and start clicking. I want a nice smooth feather so by doing this and then making my brush a bit bigger and clicking a few times again and now going even a bit bigger and bring my brush opacity down to about 30% and a few more clicks over the dandelion, I've created a really smooth natural transition from the focus area to the bokeh. Now I want to pop that dandelion and give it some depth. So I run TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses and use my Quick Mask to mask it only on the dandelion {no stem} then once I'm out of quick mask, hold down my alt key and click on the layer mask. Now the BMG is only on the tip of the dandelion and has left the smooth butter bokeh alone. Final step is to sharpen only the dandelion. So I run MK's See Things Clearer and borrow the mask from the BMG layer which will only apply the sharpening to the area that the BMG was applied, again without having to do any more masking...

And here is the before & after. Again, pay attention to the right and bottom of the image. The plants that were coming up into the frame that were in focus, are no gone but the image as a whole still looks natural like it came from a marco lens!

So there you have it...this is how I approach bokeh in my editing workflow! I hope this was helpful and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. Again, I will not be able to answer any questions as to the specifics of the actions that I run. You'll have to head over to the maker and buy them if you want to try them..lol! And they do not know that I am writing this nor am I getting any perks by stating their actions & sites. I actually use these in my workflow and cannot share my steps without sharing what actions I used! :)

Action review ~ The Simple Set by Lilyblue...

2011-06-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hi all! I bet you thought I forgot I had this blog! Ha! I think that's my usual opener when posting! So I'm here with yet another action review. I'm thinking of changing the name of my blog to Momaziggy's Action Review Blog...lol!

As many of you know, I'm a HUGE Lilyblue fan! I have all of her actions. And I still use them all the time. Her sets just keep getting better. I love her Wallflowers set and use it a lot. The Lily action from that set is a big favorite of mine! But I think she's out done herself with her newest set...

The Simple Set! It's exactly what it says it is...but SO much more! I love this set and think it's her best set to date! Since I've gotten it I've used it on almost all of my pictures! It's simple and perfect! Here are a few posts on my Ziggy Blog that I used just her actions for the entire post...

Slave Labor ~ all images edited with Simple Three {some adjusted}

My Nugget at McDonald's ~ edited with various actions from the set all which are stated above the image

Lunch date with my girls ~ edited with various actions from the set all of which are stated above the image

The set hasn't been out long and as you can see, I'm using it a LOT! What I love about this set is that it's simple...but still fun and creative. I did wait a bit before buying these and had actually decided I probably wouldn't. As you all know, I have a TON of actions and need another set like I need to gain 10 more pounds! Lol! I worried that they would be too simple for me because I like creative actions. But I kept going back to them and looking through the examples. Then fate stepped in and I sold another set of my Ziggy Licious actions {which you can click in the nav bar to see} and decided that I'd use the sale of the set to buy the Simple Set.

And no joke, the second I ran them I was in LOVE! Sometimes that happens but most times I have to play with a set for a bit before I truly fall in love! But these from the get go made my heart swell with happiness. The look they give my images is so clean, simple yet creative and they do a great job of creating the "Film" look without looking too thick or fake. In fact, I posted the images from the first four examples that I will share below and one of the girls stated that if she didn't know I shot digital, she would've thought that I shot those with a film camera! So way to go LB! :)

I did one example for each action in the set! I don't normally do that but felt I really wanted to show each action. I do have my favorites in the set so far but have an open mind to the others. I think that where I shoot mostly just doesn't suit those couple of actions. But I know that when I shoot the right location, they'll be perfect! So I'll state my favorites quickly then post my examples. I also wanted to state that the other thing I love about these actions is that I almost always run them on my SOOC images and love the results right away. I used to do touch ups and editing before running my actions because they always needed that extra before running or they just weren't where I wanted them. Not with these. I do my ACR edits on my RAW files, open in PS and do any patch work, lighting of shadows under the eyes etc and things of that nature, but nothing else. I do not brighten, add contrast etc!

Simple 1 is GREAT and I LOVE it! It's great for a clean quick simple edit that looks yummy with a very slight film look. I rarely ever tweak this action! I use this one a LOT!

Simple 2 is AWESOME too on the right image and I use it a lot too but less than Simple 1 & 3!

Simple 3 is a bit more creative and that makes me HAPPY! I use this one a LOT too and usually run it as is but sometimes do minor tweaking!

Mulberry is great on the right image and I do use it. But do find this one, for me, needs some adjusting!

Bisque & Bisque Softer are great actions and I like them on a lot of images. Very little tweaking needed!

Now onto the BW actions which LB always ROCKS!

Just BW is probably my VERY favorite! I use it a LOT and LOVE the contrast and film look it gives! Every time I run this action my heart melts...really!!!!!

Soft BW is great for a really light soft airy filmy sort of BW. And on the right images it's so fun and artistic. I love it for shots where the lighting was really bad but I wanted to take the shot anyway because it's my kids!

Rich BW is just plain YUMMY and rates up there with Just BW! My heart melts when this action works on my photos!

I left out Olive, Earth, Basic BW & Darker BW. Only 4 actions out a set that I don't LOVE. I like them, but for my shooting editing style, they just haven't found their place...YET! Basic BW & Darker BW are great but the other 3 are just better to me! Olive & Earth are tough ones for me for some reason. They just don't fit the locations I've shot in yet. But again, it's just a matter of time! So really only 2 actions from the set don't fit me totally! Not bad for $60 if you ask me!

Now here are my examples...

Simple 1...

Simple 2...

Simple 3...

Mulberry...

Olive {lowered folder opacity to 70%}...

Earth {lowered folder opacity to 70%}...

Bisque {lowered contrast layer to 20%}...

Bisque Softer...

Basic BW {layers adjusted & masked some layers off of her eyes}...

Just BW...

Soft BW...

Darker BW...

Rich BW...

So...there you have it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LB's Simple Set. It fits me like a glove and I have a hard time using any other set in my panel now for my daily shots of our life! Not to mention since getting this set, I spend SO mush LESS time editing. Which actually kind of bums me out since I LOVE to edit. But what it does do is push me to shoot more so I have more to edit! LOL!

Now as I say that I use this set most and have a hard time using other sets I have! I am not knocking any of my other sets and still use my Red Leaf actions {workflow and Film Shift}, my Michelle Kane actions {both sets} and my MCP Fusion! These are my top actions in my panel that I use on a regular basis and love the variety I get with all of these actions makers including LB of course!

Hope this was helpful! Happy Wednesday! :)

Action review ~ MCP Fusion....

2011-04-14T18:33:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Remember me? I haven't forgotten about the blog. I just haven't really had much to share! But once again, I have an action review to share! I feel like my blog is starting to become a review blog! Ha! And I must remind ya'll that I'm just a MWAC who wanted this PS blog to be about all the fun stuff. I in NO way know it all nor am I really that good. But I have a lot of fun and that's what really matters!

If you DO actually want to learn the REAL stuff and the CLEAN editing stuff, head over to Damien's blog and read read read. Then....after you've read everything you can get your hands on, click on "Training" take his Raw class. Next will be his levels class then his skin class, as far as I know it! It's a new format done via Facbebook and I can say from personal experience...it ROCKS! He is my PS hero and I'm not getting anything from him by plugging his blog nor was I a tester. Just a crazy obsessed fan!

So now...onto Jodi's new Fusion set which you can get at MCP Actions. I'll be honest and say that I went back and forth on whether I would buy this set or not. I've recently purchased Michelle Kane's & more Red Leaf actions. So my desire to not spend any more money was strong. But after looking at the wonderful examples over and over I really felt that these actions were perfect for my personal style, which is more light/airy, muted and pastel creamy colors! So really, I never should have hesitated! I will say that I think this is Jodi's best creative set to date. I absolutely LOVE this set...more than I can say! So easy and fast to use. My favorite is the Mix & Match because I love to mix it up! I love that I can run the Mix & Match then click the folders on and off to get ANY look I want. The sky is the limit...literally. The only bad thing about this set is the time you will spend playing and mixing it up because it's just too fun! I have the hardest time choosing because they ALL look so darn good. Most of the actions fit most pictures...which is very rare! The B&W actions are fantastic and I have a couple favorites that I use a lot now. I also love her Perfect Size action. The sharpen layer with the set opacity is perfect for almost every photo. It's the only way I resize and sharpen for the web now. Her Sunflare actions are the best I've used to date. Just the right amount, easy to adjust or mask and very natural looking vs some that are so obvious that they are done in PS.

I will let my mediocre images show some of what can be done with this AMAZING set of actions... Sorry these first too are too big. I forgot to resize them after running the bar on the bottom. This was a shot I took at a wedding I was 2nd shooting! The shot isn't all that great as there was a mirror directly behind the flowers and I had to make sure *I* wasn't in the shot! Lol! But I wanted a nice soft creamy pastel color shift and the Fusion set gave me just the look I wanted for these while keeping the general colors close to what they were in real life... This was also taken at the wedding. I love this edit! The general colors are the same but was able to still get the pastel tonal shift I wanted while adding some drama to the shot... Also taken at the wedding. This shot I handled a bit differently because I wanted different tonal shifts on the top of the frame vs the bottom. So I added a screenshot of my layers panel so you can see how I masked to get the result I wanted. I added the masks to the actions that I wanted to apply in certain areas. Where you see black on a mask, the action is NOT effecting that area and where you see white, the action IS effecting that area. Remember, black hides & white shows... Another from the wedding. I loved this shot and it didn't need much but what I love is that I was able to use so many of the different actions in the mix & match and it isn't over the top or too much... Here is my sweet little Nugget playing on her homemade stage...

Same edits as the one above. I love this shot and the slight motion blur... Here is our sweet Lily... This is our friends son at the park... This was shot the same day as above. I loved the tonal range the Fusion set gave this flower while keeping the detail.... Same day. The kids running around free! I went in a different direction than I would normally go with this type of shot and really like how the urban feel made the image look.... This is one of my favorites! I love the dramatic b&w. It took a regular okay snapshot and made it something with feeling and drama... Nugget at the park. The sun was high in the sky and a bad time to shoot. But photography revolves around my life vs the opposite. Fusion to the rescue of bad light....

Haylee had to get in on the action too. Not really...I made her... Fundraiser chocolate that now looks even yummier. Look at all that detail in the in focus area of the chocolate. These actions do not muddy up your detail, even if you run a lot of them...

As you can see here, the general colors are the same but now have a soft pastel look... And this is my life! Give two girls two jump ropes and this is what you get... So as you can tell with my 17 examples...I LOVE this set and am SO glad I bought it! If you love to get creamy tones in your image and love pastel tones and mixing it up...this set is.for.you!

More Michelle Kane HeARTy action examples...

2011-02-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

I think this is the first time I've shown before/after shots of the same set more than once!!! To say it as simple as possible....these actions are THE.BEST I've ever purchased! And coming from me that's a big deal. I usually love my actions pretty evenly. I have my favorites of course. But not one set I could say is better than the rest. They all hold a certain place in my heart and get used pretty equally. But very quickly this set has raced to number ONE and I'm pretty certain will stay there! Next to Michelle Kane's HeARTy actions, my second favorite are Red Leaf Actions. Man are they amazing! Their Workflow set blows my mind! So now, for my workflow editing, these two are on the top of my actions panel and TRULY top notch high quality actions! I still use my own actions and my other creative actions regularly too, but these sets are worth their price tags!

So I wanted to share a few more examples now that I've had a bit more time to play with them. I also wanted to include my layers panel so that you could see which actions I used, opacity and the masking I did. Again, you NEED to mask with this set. BUT....it's not nearly as scary or hard as it may seem...promise! And the more you play with these sets, the faster you get and the more you see that larger, low opacity soft brush masking is all it takes and is actually pretty quick! See THIS post by Michelle that is very helpful with the masking of her actions!

Again I must say...she does not know me. I did not test these actions and am under NO obligation to sell them, push them or share examples. I'm doing it solely because THAT is how much I LOVE these two sets! And I simply could NOT pick between the two. To me, it's one big set and I couldn't live without either!

Okay onto the examples! All of the before edits have minor ACR adjustments such as WB & some brightness. Some I ran Red Leaf's workflow actions on to clean them up as a better starting off point.

This shot is from my friends wedding last year. A simple candid shot while the girls were getting ready. I loved it from the get go and my first initial edit was a light airy pastel type wash edit. I wanted to try again and go for a little more clean and direct this time. I also wanted to show that this set can be used on shots that don't have a lot of environment and deep rich colors...

And here is my layers panel for the above shot...

This shot I took while we were out playing in our Jeep in the mud last weekend! That's my husband checking out the sloppy ground and trying to figure out the best way to go back down since there wasn't enough traction to continue going up! Lol! The girls and I played in the snow below while he got the Jeep down safe and sound! The view was beautiful and there was so much hidden color to discover...

and my layers panel for the above shot...

Same day as the above shot! I had my Medium Jill E bag sitting on the ground and it was such a pretty shot that I had to take a picture. I love the deep rich colors in this edit and love that it's so different than my normal style. This is one of my favorite edits with her actions to date...

and my layers panel for the above shot...

Again same day! Nugget playing in the snow. Again I knew that I wanted to bring out the rich tones and colors that were there and I wanted the background darker to put all focus on her...

and my layers panel on the above shot...

Again same day! Can you tell I liked a lot of shots from this day! The environment of these shots were perfect for these actions! This is Haylee, my older daughter having fun in the snow! This is one of my favorite shots & edits of Haylee to date...

and my layers panel on the above shot...

Same day...AGAIN! Lol! It's rare that I take a lot of shots with a lot of pretty environment with colors and richness. So I went with it! Lol...

and my layers panel from the shot above...

And here is a shot from today for my 365. It's not a great shot and the before shot is really drab and flat! I knew I wanted to go rich, darker and warm! For the final shot I did end up adding two Florabella textures but the after here is without...

and my layers panel for the above shot...

I actually had to STOP doing so many before and after shots because I love every edit I do with these actions! Lol!

I do believe that it helps a great deal to have an idea of how you want to edit a shot and a visual of the end result. It helps you decide which actions to run and how to use them together! And the only way to get to know your actions is to play play play!

Some have asked me what my favorite actions are in these sets! I have a LOT but figured I'd post the ones I love the most and use the most. And I know there will be more, but these are the main ones I've been playing with so far! And just so you also know, these sets are BIG! Everything you could ever want are packed in both of these sets, from rich deep edits to soft light hazy edits! It's all there and worth every penny that they cost!!!

From the HeART & Soul set...

* Mellow out ~ This is great to take down some color of an area in a clean and natural way. I don't use it a lot, but when I do it works great! I used it in the top example in this post on the background where the Tungsten light was overwhelming from the lamp.

* Color Jolt ~ love this for a deep rich color pop. I often just invert the mask to white and mask it where I don't want it! This method works great on outside shots where you want the color on most things and masked off the skin. On indoor shots I leave it black and paint just where I want it! Sometimes if the color is just a tad too dark I'll go into the adjustment layer in the Master color and up the lightness a tad!

* Light/Shade ~ is for a quick and easy dodge/burn on the same layer. It's easy and very clean. This is how I used to dodge/burn and I'm SO glad it's in this set because I love the result. You use a black brush at low opacity to burn and a white brush at low opacity to dodge! I use it all the time!

* Hidden Meadow ~ is great to get deep rich greens on trees/leaves etc! It does go a bit dark, but the way I edit, I bring back in the detail. Key is a low brush opacity!

* White Neutralizer ~ is great to get your whites white! Low brush opacity again!

* Flawless Face ~ simply ROCKS! It uses a Surface Blur {among other things} and does take a bit of time to run but is VERY natural looking. Low brush opacity is a MUST to keep skin looking natural and soft vs plastic and air brushed! It also works WONDERFULLY for skies and backgrounds to help with noise and banding! Want a soft dreamy sky or background, this is your action!

* Sun Kissed Skin ~ is probably my favorite action in both sets! It's amazing and gives just the right amount of lightness & warmth to skin/faces! I use it on almost every shot! Low brush opacity again as are with most of these actions!

* Rosy Cheeks & Lips ~ is such a great little action to give a bit of pinkness to the lips and cheeks! Great to zap a little life back into the face. You really have to use a very low brush opacity on this to keep it natural looking. I use a brush opacity of 5% and if I'm doing the cheeks, usually one click of a soft round brush at 5% brush opacity does the trick!

*All the Anti skin actions are wonderful. The Anti Lobster Skin & Anti Pasty Skin are the only ones I've used sor far! But really and truly THE BEST skin actions I've ever used. So natural and effective! They are my go to actions to clean up issues with the skin colors!

* Blue Eyed Beauty & Gorgeous Green Eyes ~ I use lightly as with the Rose Cheeks & Lips actions. My girls have both colors, so I usually use both at 5% opacity and only one click on each iris!

*Eye-citment ~ is great but be careful not to go too far or the eyes will look overdone! I did this in the last two shots of my first example {my first review} on my little Nugget. I've gotten better at dialing it down for a more natural look. Gives great contrast to the eyes and what I love the most about it is it preserves the detail and darks of the eyes. So it doesn't just lighten and wash away all detail!

* Glisten ~ is AWESOME! It will slightly define/sharpen and brighten! Low brush opacity is a must! I usually do about 10% brush opacity and make the soft round brush large enough to fit over the eye brow and down below the under eye and do one or two clicks! I just shoot my girls and often shoot at awful times of day when we are out playing. I don't plan my life around photography, I plan my photography around my life. So often I get shadows under the eyes from mid day shooting. Using this action the way I do helps with the entire shadows that my girls have in my shots! Again tho, do not over use!

* Pearly Whites ~ does what it says. So natural and clean. If used right with a low brush opacity, looks completely natural and nobody will ever know it was used. It doesn't strip colors like some do so it won't make the teeth gray and drab or neon. Love that it's so quick and easy too! I used this on the bridal shot in my first example {my first review} of the close up of the bride with the groom behind her!

* Bring on the Bokeh ~ is another I use on most pictures. It's the most natural fake bokeh action or method I've ever used or tried myself! The action runs fast and when used on a shallow DOF shot, the results are smooth, gorgeous and natural. It is not meant to take a deep DOF shot and add fake bokeh. It's to enhance and smooth the bokeh that's already there! Great for banding/noise issues as well. I usually use at about 20-30% brush opacity. Most times I control my brush opacity and leave the layer at the opacity in which it ran. Sometimes I get a bit carried away and brush too strong and then I will lower the layer opacity. But most times it's best to control your strength with your brush opacity!

* Opulent Light ~ is wonderful for a little glowy light! It's dreamy and best on backgrounds. If your background goes a bit too dark or you want a more dreamy glow feel run this and lightly brush it on the backgrounds. It will make them come to life. And when I say dreamy and glow, it's not exactly what you might be thinking! It's not strong nor fake looking! You have to try it to really understand. I usually mask it on at about 20-30% brush opacity!

* Velvet Vignette ~ is so pretty and rich and dreamy. You paint with a white brush at low brush opacity {10-20%} along the edges for a customized creamy rich vignette!

* Sparkle ~ is a wonderful sharpening action that you apply by brushing with a white brush where you want it! Great for selective sharpening of the eyes and often I'll use it at low brush opacity with one or two clicks over the entire face. I don't like to sharpen hair, so this is a nice clean sharpen that will not add contrast like a high pass will and won't muddy up your shadows but a give a nice clean sharpen. That's why I like it on the face and I'll often do it on the clothes too if they are in focus in the shot to get a bit more detail out of them!

That's it for my favorites of the HeART & Soul set. There are MANY more actions in this set and I'm sure the more I play with the other actions, the more I'll add to my favorites list.

Now onto the Creative HeART set...

* Bland to Brilliant & Dull to Dazzling ~ are both great actions and I can't way which I use more. It just depends on the photo, the look I want and if I run it right away or later in the editing process and what I've already done to the image. These are great for a starting off point or as a topper for the final touch. Both of these will add contrast, mild defog & bump the mid-tones. Bland to Brilliant is more subtle and basic, so is probably better as a topper. Dull to Dazzling is a bit stronger with more adjustable layers and probably best run as a workflow type action in the beginning of your editing process. That is not set in stone though because I've run it toward the end and lowered the folder opacity! So try them both and play around with when you use them!

* Posh ~ I use a LOT! This action is SO different from my normal style and probably why I love it so! This action will give you a very rich deep dreamy look to your photos. MUST be masked off the skin, at least a little depending on what edits you've already done! This is the action that gave my snow shots above that dreamy rich soft look to the backgrounds. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this action! But masking is a must. Not a run and go action.

* Euphoria ~ is dreamy, creamy, light and wonderful. This is a creative action for sure and I love it as a topper at lower folder opacity! It will give you a peachy warm type of feel that is light and airy!

* B&W's that are my favorite are Timeless. Great clean standard b&w and always gives great results. Ice is a rare one for me to like. I don't normally like Blue b&w's. But this action on the right photo totally makes me happy. Silverscreen is also one I love on the right image. It's a very moody hazy type of b&w. Reminds me a bit of Red Leaf's Old Hollywood b&w!

* Now to the tones!!! So many to choose from, so many I LOVE and so many I haven't played with enough yet! These are the icing on the cake, the cherry on the top of the sundae! All are one layer actions that give you a different tonal range and feel. Some are light and airy and some are darker/deeper. You can run more than one at different layer opacity and masking! So far my favorite and most used are...

*Autumn Sunrise ~ the tones make my heART smile! Get it...ha! :} Don't judge...I've been laid up all week & stuck indoors after my little dirt bike crash and I haven't had enough coffee yet...or too much! Whatever... :}

* Bloom ~ oh how I LOVE this one. Probably the one I use the most in the Tones section. I get giddy just thinking about it!

* Brown Sugar ~ is DELICIOUS! I usually have to lower the opacity of the layer and mask off of skin/clothes but it's wonderful for the backgrounds!

* Cosmic Ray ~ I don't use too often but on the right shot/edit, it's awesome. I think I prefer it for detail/still/macro type shots vs people. But that could change!

* Kiwi & Lilac Haze ~ are nice and have their place in my heart! Not used as much as some, but on the right shot/edit I really like them!

And so far those are my favorite and most used of the Creative HeART set! Again I know the more I play, the more I'll add to my favorites list!

So as you can see, even if I never use any other actions in both sets {which I know I will} I've already gotten my money and then some. I also bought the bundle while it was on sale, so that makes me smile a bit more! Lol! I will admit that I was hesitant when I saw the price! I did stop and consider if this would be another expensive waste of my money and that they would sit like so many other pricey actions I've purchased. But I'll also say I've gotten a lot smarter in the last two and a half years. Oh yeah, my three year photography anniversary is coming up, June 31 this year! YAY! So I really thought about this set, read her blog and all the examples. I read what testers were saying...but more LOOKING at what they were doing. I don't think a tester is going to say a bad word about a set they are testing. That is saved as feedback for the maker. So I paid attention to their edits also keeping in mind that their examples show how THEY use them along with THEIR shooting style! In the end I felt confident that I would truly love these sets and most important...USE them! And I was right! For me, I was in a place where I really wanted to start upping my editing. Taking my images to where I saw them in my head. To take them from okay creative edit of a MWAC to looking more professional. And for me, I think for your edits to look more professional, masking is THE.KEY!!!! You truly need to work on different sections of the photo for specific targeted editing and this set allows you to do that! If you are the type of editor that wants to run, barely tweak and go...this set is NOT for you! But if you really want to push yourself, get more out of your edits and personalize them directly to you and your style, and are willing to mask to achieve that professional look, then *I* think these sets are a MUST.HAVE! Whether you edit clean, deep & rich or light & airy. These two sets have it all!

So that's my review, examples and thoughts on these two sets! I hope it was helpful, IF you actually got through the whole thing. I know many will just look at the examples and skip my novel, which is perfectly fine. But if you really want to know how I use them and a little detailed information on the sets before you fork over the money for them, then read away!

Okay....my fingers are cramping and I NEED MORE COFFEE! Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend! Best wishes.... momaziggy! :)

Michelle Kane HeARTy actions before/after examples....

2011-02-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

So I said I wasn't going to buy anymore actions. And I meant it. But when these came out I simply couldn't resist them! They aren't my normal style, which is why I got them! I know...I'm crazy! I do love my light/hazy edits, but I do also love some rich deep colors too! So I wanted this set so that I can have the variety between the two! I'm still learning and have a long way to go to get the most out of these actions. But I will say they really were worth every penny and things that I couldn't do as cleanly on my own! I can light airy edit *fairly* cleaning, but not the deeper richer type edits...yet! This set will also help me learn...you should ALWAYS LEARN from your actions!

Anywho....I thought I'd share some before/afters for anyone who might be considering buying them! I will say that although these two sets really are amazing, they are not for beginners. This set is meant to be adjusted and lots of masking! Which as we all know is the key to getting the best final image. Working specifically on separate areas of your photo to pull it all together is what takes an image to an okay average edit to a WOW edit! So if you are new to PS, this set is probably going to need to wait until you have a good grasp on masking and adjusting layers, folders set! The other thing that I LOVE LOVE LOVE about her set...you NEVER have to flatten. Every action in both sets can run on top of each other. I sadly flatten a lot in editing, especially since I use so many recipes. But hers are good to go, even over other actions from different makers. All you have to do is collapse any folders that are open in your layers panel and run run run!

I just got them less than a week ago, so again I need to continue to play with them and learn how to use them better. But truly, I could not be happier with this set!

The first 2 were right after I got them {literally unzipped loaded & played}, the next 3 were the day after and the last 2 were from today! I went a bit too far with the Anti Lobster Skin on Avyree's {2nd example} and should have dialed back the opacity a bit and I think the eyes are a bit too much on today's. But I'm getting there...

Take a peak at Michelle Kane's blog and I'm sure you'll fall in love like I did! The actions are only on sale until Saturday {2/20} so if you want them at the discounted price {saves you $89} then rush over and buy them. And just so you know, Michelle Kane has NO idea I'm writing this review {as with any reviews I do} so I'm not making any money or gaining anything by writing this! Lol!

Have a great weekend!

MCP Actions is about to lanch her new Fusion set....

2011-02-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

and it looks GREAT! You can download a free mini action of the Fusion set by going to Jodi's MCP Actions Blog!

Here are two samples I did quickly with the Mini Fusion set...

Head on over and download the trail & enter to win the set then watch for March 1st when the set will be released!

Action review ~ Miabella Summer Skies...

2010-12-21T15:50:00.001-08:00

I literally JUST bought this set. I looked through all of her sets, and this set seemed to fit my style the best! I've always heard wonderful things about Miabella Actions and the rave reviews are true! I truly LOVE this set and all I've done is test them on a couple images! I can't wait to really put this set to use and get to know them better. But I thought I'd share some examples. I ran them on the same image, with the exception of the Backlit Magic...which ROCKS by the way!

This is just a snap of my two girls {left & middle} with one of their friends while we were going 4'wheelin in the mountains!

I really love Summer Pop. It's a great addition to my workflow for the final touch! I love it so much that I ran each action in the set over the Summer Pop. So every image below this is Summer Pop + the creative action...

Kite Flying Skies is one of my favorites from the set...

Bright Blue Skies is a great quick action to give a strong or subtle pop to your beautiful blue skies...

Basic Vignette but fast & very natural...

I'm just entering the world of backlighting. I'm not very good yet. It's still intimidates me. But I grabbed this shot at my friends wedding and loved it! But the backlight was really strong. Actually, that's what I loved about it so much. But because I'm new to backlighting, I'm not always 100% certain on how I want to edit them. This is the perfect action to quickly edit your backlit photos then you can add tones etc if you choose...

I rarely purchase actions that I'm not happy with anymore. Buying actions can be frustrating because you never know if you'll really like them or get use out of them. But I think once you know your style, you know which makers to buy from or which sets will work for you. I think it's safe to say this set will work for me & my style of shooting and editing! I also think that her sets are priced well and worth the money if you find a set that fits your style!

Happy Holidays! :)

Tantalizing Tips... Center light & Crisp~a~licious...

2010-09-17T14:18:00.000-07:00

I have several tip posts ready! So I thought I'd post two today! These will just be quick small tips that will hopefully help you!

First one today is center light! I learned this from Florabella. I also included this in my Ziggy Licious Action set for Full PS & PSE called "Dollop of Whip Cream"! It's one I use a lot and wanted to share how it's done!

This will give you a strong or subtle light in the center of your image, hence the name! Lol! I used it on a macro shot but it works wonders on people too!

First set your foreground color to white. Then go to the half black/white circle and select "Gradient" not to be confused with gradient map!

When the dialog box comes up change it to radial. If you want to make the top of your image look sunny & hazy you can also choose a yellow ish color and leave it on Linear and select reverse! :) So back to the center light! Then play with the angle and scale! You can hit reverse if you want the light on the edges of your image! Sky is the limit with PS! :) Then hit enter and you'll have your gradient in your layers panel!

Now change the blend mode to Overlay and play with the opacity! You can use a higher opacity for a stronger effect or a low opacity like I usually use for a nice subtle pop in the center of your image. Sometimes if the face is just a tad dark and the subject is in the center of the frame, I'll run this at about 10% and it gives the face just that little bit of lift that it needs to bring it to life!

Here is the before and after. I realize now I probably should've used a person so you can see it more. But give it a try, I think you'll LOVE it!

Another thing I use in my base ingredients actions in the Ziggy Licious set is this great high pass filter option that I call Crisp~a~licious. I probably shouldn't give too many of my secrets away or nobody will buy my actions...ha!

This is great at low opacity and will give your images that little bit of deminsion and depth and will appear to sharpen it, although it doesn't actually! Just be careful not to use too high layer opacity with this or it will add to much contrast and make your subject and their skin look very harsh! Now I use it at about 15-30% and if it's macro, stills, details etc I MAY go up to 50%!

First thing you do is create a new layer and name it if you want...

Then you need to "Stamp Visiable" by hitting ctrl alt shift e.

Now you want to run a high pass filter on the top photo layer. I assigned a short cut key of ctrl shift . but you can find it under Filter>Other>High Pass! I use 10 but play around with larger or smaller numbers. Your image will look really funky but no worries! Well fix that! Now desaturatre the layer by hitting ctrl shift u or going to Image>Adjustments>Desaturate!

Now change the blend mode to Soft Light {you can also try Overlay but I like Soft Light} and lower the opacity to taste! When done with the proper strength, this method can really enhance your images!

And here is the before/after. If you look at the fine details like her eyes, freckles and the tape you can see the nice subtle but effective difference!

And to comment on the picture of Haylee....it was a joke and she was not hurt, injured, treated badly! Too see the post on my Ziggy Blog click HERE!

So that's it for today! I have several other Tantalizing Tips that I'll be posting in the next couple weeks along with a few action reviews. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Action review ~ MCP Bag of Tricks...

2010-09-08T08:41:00.000-07:00

Things have settled down a bit now and I have some time to post! Sorry for the absence! I have several posts already lined up and ready to post! I've actually had this specific action review in my to post folder for a couple months! *blushing*

When Jodi at MCP Actions first created this new set "Bag of Tricks", she did a giveaway on her blog! I actually WON! It was the first time I'd really ever won anything. I was very excited to win and win this particular set. It looked very promising to me and I couldn't wait to play!

Needless to say this set, I believe, is her best set yet!!! This is my go to action set when I need to correct problems and issues with my photos. This set is interactive and you can fine tune each one to your specific photo! That I love! I'm so impressed with this set that I will say that it is my favorite and most used set in my actions panel for cleaning up and correcting issues and problems in my photos. Here are a few examples of the actions I use from the set.

All wedding shots in this post were taken by me last year when I was 2nd shooting my very first wedding with my dear friend and awesome photographer, Amanda Ward...

Here is a shot Amanda was shooting and I shoot at another angle. These were taken with my Canon XSi {that I have since sold}. So there are some issues in the photos that needed to be fixed. I did shoot all of these in RAW and adjusted WB, expsoure etc in ACR then brought them into PS. So of course my MAJOR issue with this image in the color casts in her dress. One of my biggest pet peeves is color casts in whites! So that is the first thing I will address...

So I ran "Color Safe Bleach"! This is one of my FAVORITES in this set! It's SO easy to run. It will prompt you to click on three areas on the photo {or little black box} where you want the whites white! And this is what the result was...

Not bad huh for for clicking a couple spots on the image huh? It also removed the color cast in her white flower in her hair, in his white shirt & the chairs. If you have very light areas in the skin the color can be pulled them as well and that area of the skin can go grey. So on higher key images you may need to mask the skin back in...

My other issue was that I felt her dress had lost some detail that I wanted to retain! It wasn't badly blown but I did want to try to get a little more detail. So I ran "Magic Recovery" and lowered the opacity to I think about 30%.

Here is the before and after. As you can see I was able to get a little bit more detail in her dress without making the whites gray, dull and dark...

Here is a group shot that Amanda was taking & I shot from a different angle as she was shooting! Everything is fine in the image in the aspect of WB, expsoure, color etc! But it needs a pick me up, a little pop to make it stand out and show the excitement of the wedding party...

And here is the after. Below the photo I stated which of the actions from the set that I ran. Masking was of course a factor in editing this image to a clean color image...

And here is a side by side. You can see that the edit is clean, not over done but just enough to give the image some life!

This was the building where the wedding was held. This shot was more just for me. The building was backlit, so the sky is completely blown. Which normally doesn't bother me in the slightest and I would take this shot to a fun, funky creative edit. But for the purpose of the possibilty of a wedding album etc, I decided to see what this set could do to transform this image into something the bride might possibly want!

I will be honest and say that I did forget to write down every single action run. Sad considering i did this with the thoughts of the action review! But I have a pretty good memory of what I did run although I may possibly leave something out!

I started with "Magic Dynamic Range" which balanced out the the bright and dark areas of the building! Then I ran "Magic Midtone Lifter" & "Magical Color Finder Vivid". I tweaked and did any masking required! Then I ran "Fake Blue Sky Illusion" and tweaked the color and opacity slightly! Then I ran "Magical Contrast" & "Magical Clarity"! And I do believe that is all I ran on this image!

And the side by side for comparision...

And on of my VERY.FAVORITE actions in this set that is a LIFESAVER and completes me heart is..."Reflected Color Cast Vanisher"! This one action is worth $99 all on it's own! I took this shot last year on a photography gathering with the awesome girls from 2Peas! As you can see, this beautiful model is leaning up against a great cyan wall! The drawback is that she has a reflected color cast on the left side of her face from the wall. MCP to the rescue! I will usually paint with a brush opacity of about 30% to get a cleaner result!

And here it is after I ran the action, did some tweaking on the color of the skintone in the action and masked the areas of the color cast!

Here in the side by side you can really see the difference and how clean the result is! This action gets 10 thumbs up from me!

So those are the basic actions I use in this set when I need to correct issues in my photos! Here is the list of my most used from the set...

*Magic Recovery ~ at lower opacity and sometimes masking of the skin is necessary

*Magic Dynamic Range ~ for a clean bump in your dynamic range use a low opacity and for a fun artistic look use a higher opacity

*Magical Color Finder Brush Vivid ~ I rarely ever push color. It's just not my style. I prefer a much more muted softer tonal range. But when I need to push some color in specific areas of my photos, this action works great. Paint with a low brush opacity and I usually lower the opacity of the folder as well!

*Reflected Color Cast Vanisher ~ my FAV of the set hands down! It's UTTER.PERFECTION and worth the cost of the entire set!

*Color Safe Bleach ~ This is my second FAV of the set! It's clean, easy to use and REALLY.GOOD!

*Bleach Pen ~ a great little tool when you need to just whiten a small area of an image without needing to customize it to your photo. It runs with a black layer mask, paint white with a VERY low brush opacity and VIOLA...you have your own personal bleach pen

*Shiny Skin Vanisher ~ I have only used a couple times because I rarely need it. But when I have used it I've been very happy with it!

Actions in the set that I think are GREAT but I don't personally use are...

*Studio White Bright & Studio Black drop ~ I don't shoot backdrop at all! But I did play with a couple images from other photographers and I can tell you that these two actions are AMAZING for white & black back drops!

*Magic See Saw ~ I shoot RAW so I adjust my WB in in ACR. But for jpeg shooters or for a tweak in WB once already in PS, this is a great action! You do need to have knowledge of the color wheel and color correcting. But all the layers are there for you to turn on and adjust opacity and mask where needed!

*Magic Color Finder Brush Intense ~ for those who love to push rich darker colors. This will make you happy! Just keep your brush opacity low when painting and watch for neon OOG colors!

*Orange & Blue Skin Vanisher ~ I don't ever need and use but have tried and are a great tool to have in your panel

*Sunburn Vanisher ~ I've only tried once and thought it worked great. I do think however that you need to watch your opacity with this action and allow a little sunburn to show through to keep it natual looking!

So all in all I LOVE this set! I have many of Jodi's actions. To me, this is her VERY.BEST set for correcting problem areas or enhancing areas of your images! It is my go to action for this reason and gives wonderful results! The price point on this set is right on the money and now that I have it, I'd pay more for it if I had to!

I hope you enjoyed the review and it helped you understand the set more and answer any questions you may have had in regards to it!

The Ziggy Licious Set for PSE is READY...

2010-08-01T19:29:00.001-07:00

Hi all! Thank you for being so patient! They are finally ready for purchase and I'm very excited! They are so similar to the full PS set that I wanted to link the Sneak Peek & the Examples for the full set so you can see the variety that is capable with the set!

This set is available for PSE6, 7 & 8! They WILL work in PSE5 but I had a problem with the icons that I could not resolve. When loaded in PSE5 with the atn. file and the psd. file, there are two icons in the panel. The icon I created does not run the action, but the gray blank square before said icon runs the action. So they DO work, but with that issue. So if you have PSE5 and would like to purchase, you can at that risk. But I didn't want to completely advertise PSE5 because of this issue. Also included with the action set will be a pdf with details about the set and how to get the most out of them!

The set is $55 via paypal at momaziggy AT yahoo DOT com. Please indicate PSE and I will email you the zipped file that contains all the actions, png & psd files within 24 hours. But I will say I pride myself in getting them to you right away. I think my longest turn around time with the full set was 1 hour! Again...PLEASE specify PSE as I'm still getting orders for the full set!

Now for a few more examples. ALL images in this post were taken by my dear friend and fellow amazing photographer, Amanda Ward of AMWphotograhy

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask! I hope you love them as much as I do! :O)

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

2010-07-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-07-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

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***

Before and after with new stuff I'm trying...

2010-05-20T20:34:00.001-07:00

Wow..can you believe I'm actually posting! Lol! The more I learn the more I find out what I DON'T know. Which is the main reason why I haven't posted much. I haven't felt I've had anything to share and when you realize you don't know nearly as much as you thought you did..it makes you leery of teaching others! Lol! One reason why this blog is called "for FUN" tho. It truly was never a place to teach, but to share fun things I've learned! But I started posting some more serious color correcting tuts etc before I even got a great grasp on it. Not to say that those methods aren't good methods. Just that I probably shouldn't be teaching that important stuff and need to keep it more about the "FUN" stuff!

I've learned some things from Anne on 2Peas and have been playing around. And it's made a big impact on my editing. I was having a bad time with muddy colors and skin tones. Just blah and lifeless! So here is just a little peak at what a difference her methods {that I'll share a bit below and link you to her tut on 2Peas} have made! Much better than before and I'm learning that the true next step to stepping up my game and images is starting to mask more and working on specific parts of the image with different layers rather than just a couple all over adjustments. I think that's part of what separates those really rockin edits and mine. Well that and the fact that the images rock and mine are mostly snaps of my girls! I bet you missed how long winded I am..NOT! Ha! Okay...here they are...

I'm also trying a new method of doing most of the typing on the actual screenshot. For two reasons. One..it's just easier and more time efficient. It takes forever to do all the instructions in between the screenshots, two you can right click and save and will have the majority of the instructions right there and an extra...three...I can't talk quite as much on that little screenshot! Ha!

So here is a snap of Avyree at a place where you can paint your own ceramics and they fire them for you. It's for my mom for her bday! I'm in the process of editing the folder {my last of mine and I'm finally caught up..yay} and this one jumped out at me! The light was nice, focus was good and I was happy with the edit. So I thought I'd do a before/after with it!

So here is the zero'd out ACR SOOC. Just so you know and something I never thought about. When you load a RAW file into ACR, it's instantly no longer a SOOC image. ACR applies a medium contrast S curve, 50 brightness, 25 contrast and 5 blacks. That's the default. So it's already been slightly edited for you. Then bring it into PS and do your normal editing and you could end up with clipped shadows, blown highlights and an image that overall just has too much contrast which looks wonky, throws off your colors and enhances any color issues including reflected color casts! And not to mention that each image {even in the same lighting but different angles} may need different things. And if you changed your settings while shooting, that will also require different settings per shot! Soooooo....I now have my RAW saved to zero out everything on import! Sure it's ugly and gray BUT it allows me to see the image for what it really is...naked! Then I can really analyze what it REALLY needs and do my ACR adjustments for each image then go into PS! So when you see my SOOC example, you'll know it's a TRUE sooc image and as I've also learned, is pretty right on with a good SOOC RAW image! So that makes me happy!

Here is the before/after...

I'm also trying this new method from Anne about Noiseware. The theory is removing the noise without making the image too soft and silky also making the skin looked too smooth and plastic! To see the full tut about her clean post processing with some fun great extras to help you really pop your photos head over to 2Peas PhotoClassroom ~ Post Processing!

And here I went over each layer in my new action! So there are lots of screenshots but I know when you are beginning and just learning screenshots with specific settings are so important and give you a starting off point! :O)

Go check out Eye Candy Actions if you are interested in them!

Another tip for the cream layer, at 10-15% over a b/w can make a nice soft creamy b/w and it helps lift the shadows of a b/w too! :O) My b/w cream actions that I shared here use this layer on top at low opacity!

Check out Child's Play Actions if you are interested!

Check out Ashely McNamara's Tut for this method! Check out her blog! She's great and has a great photographers section, actions and tuts! :O) Oh...and I went a bit lighter on the eyes here than I normally would or did with my original edit. I was rushing since this was a re edit for the tut! Normally I'd lower the eye curves a bit more but I'm really freaking about over popped eyes! So even Avyree's in this after are a bit much for me!

Florabella is my HERO and I LOVE her! I have everything she's sold and will buy everything she sells in the future! Lol! I have all 5 of her action sets and both of her texture sets and her textures are the only ones I use now! So you have to go check out her GOODS!

Then after I ran this and flattened I ran my Luminosity USM that I still use at the end of EVERY edit unless it's like crazy underexposed 3200 ISO! Lol! I lowered the opacity to 75%. I have a tut here on the blog on how to do the LUSM but am way too tired to search and still have to finish the editing I stopped to do this tut that took like 3 hours! Lol!

And after all of that...here is the after! :O) Isn't she a cutie!

And I actually have another post idea. It will be more random but with some fun tricks that I've learned for fun creative stuff! So hopefully in the next week or two I'll get it up!

Hope everyone is great and thanks for being so patient with me. Now that my 700 Idaho pics are done, 600 small wedding pics are done and 500 event pics are done and I'm on my last folder of personal files, maybe I'll be able to start posting again! Lol! I don't know how you girls do the biz thing, daily life and still get your own pics done, blog posts up etc etc! I bow down to you!

And a special THANK YOU to Anne on 2Peas. The amount of time she gives to us on the board is truly amazing. She's so gifted and generous with her knowledge. She truly wants to give back and help others learn how to get what they want out of their images. The amount that I've learned from her posts out number any classes I could ever take! And she does it simply for the goodness of her heart! So if you don't know about 2Peas...get your butt over there because it ROCKS and tell em Momaziggy sent you! Lol! Cause I rock like that! Teehee! Oh geeze...I need sleep!

Have a GREAT Friday and weekend!

Organzing your actions panel and button mode...

2010-03-19T10:48:00.001-07:00

So I am finally getting around to doing this tut! It'll actually be a quick and easy tut! Once I finally did this, it made a world of difference in how efficient I am in PS!

So the first thing is to clean out any actions you do not use. We all know that we accumlate a LOT of actions...many wonderful free shares and some we've bought and just didn't care for! So the first thing I did was delete ALL sets and single actions I NEVER use. When I say delete, I mean just from my panel. They are still in a folder on my hard drive and backed up on disk! ALWAYS back up your actions, plugins, textures etc on disk!!! I have a few I only use once in a while, so I did leave those but moved them to the bottom of my panel. Then once you have your actions panel cleaned up, it's time to put it in order! Very easy and simple. Simply collapse the action folder then drag it where you want it. The ones you use the most should be at the top of your actions panel, then go in order of how often they are used! So all my Florabella actions are first, well actually Damien's hightlight/shadow action is first. Then after FB I have all of my actions. Then Lily Blue cause I use these A LOT...and so on! So far so easy! Here is a screenshot of what my actions panel looks like once I have them all on order.

Now comes the NOT so fun time consuming part! We are going to assign colors to each action set. The only thing that bugs me is that you cannot assign a color to the whole folder...you have to assign it to each and every action in the set! So it's takes a long time, especially if you have a lot of actions. But the time it takes is SO worth it! It took me almost a full afternoon to do it and I was really grumpy and annoyed at the process, but once it was done I was happy as a clam...if clams are actually happy! Lol! And while we are assinging colors to our actions, we can also assign short cut keys to our most used actions. I have just about every short cut key used for my actions that I use a LOT. It's a BIG time saver! :O)

The reason it is important to assign colors to your actions is so that you can quickly tell them apart by maker! I wish PS had more colors for this!

So for Damien's awesome action and FB's FAB actions, I left them at the default gray because I ran out of colors! Lol! Then I started with my actions. My favorite color is purple, so I assigned purple to ALL of my actions.

Here's how...

First start by opening the folder so that you can see all the actions. Then I click once on the first action in the set to highlight it. Then I click on the little arrow thingy and it gives me the following options. You want to click on "Action Options".

This is what you'll see...

So now you just click on the arrow for the drop down menu and select your color. The important part is that you use the same color for all the actions from the same maker. So ALL of my action sets are purple! The PITB now is that you HAVE to do this step for EACH individual action! So once you select your color for your first action, click ok then select the next action in that set and do the same steps assinging the color you chose for that maker! Rinse, lather and repeat...a thousand times! Lol! Then when you get to the next action maker, chose a different color. If you run out of colors like I did you can use default gray in between other colors to make the different makers stand out. Again the key is to be able to tell color wise each action set from each maker! Or it'll take you more time to browse through your actions in button mode defeating the purpose of button mode!

So now lets say you want to assign a short cut key to an action you use all the time or on every pic. I have a very basic all in one action I use now! I use it on EVERY photo!!! It's a high pass filter, strong S curve at low opacity {blend mode set to Luminosity} and a levels adjustment layer for the middtones. Since I use it on every photo I don't want to have to click on my actions panel every time. So I assinged a short cut key to it. Here's a screenshot of it...

So you go back into "Action Options" the exact same place you assigned your color. Now you use the Function Key drop down menu to choose what F key you want assigned to this action. They also give you the option to choose Shift and/or Ctrl. This helps if you run out of short cut keys. So for my action that I use on all my photos I assigned Ctrl-F9 since I have SO many already assigned! Then you click ok and that's it. Now while you are assigning your colors, if you come across an action you use all the time, then you can assign the color AND the short key at the same time. Another time saver. So now the 1st thing I do after I run an image through ACR and bring into PS is hit Ctrl-F9 and it runs that action for me. I never have to touch the actions panel to run this action...another time saver! And as you can see in my actions panel, I've assigned many short cut keys! I wrote them all down and have them on a piece of paper to remember them. I've got almost all of the memorized now but there are a few I don't use as often, so I sometimes have to refer to my little cheat sheet. So I HIGHLY suggest writing them down on a paper next to you until you have them memorized!

And that's the hard time consuming part. Now we are almost done. You noticed that when you clicked on the little arrow thinging the first option is Button Mode! So go back and select it! Now you are in button mode! Here is what my actions panel looks like now that I've got them all done...

Like I said I have a LOT of actions so it's a really long actions panel! Lol! So I did a few screenshots while scrolling down.

This is the top of my actions panel. 1st action is Damien's which really ROCKS! Then Florabella in gray then mine in purple...

After mine I have Lily Blue's in blue and Red Leaf in red! Lol!

TRA in green...

Eye Candy in yellow, Ashley's McNarma's in orange and MCP in gray again...

And so on. And to show you the color differences and why it's so important I made my actions panel take up my whole workspace so you can see most of it! Sadly it still wouldn't all fit in my screen...lol...

And one other quick thing I wanted to show you that is a huge time saver as well is setting up and saving your own workspace! We all process different and all have different workflows. I find myself using certain things for my workflow and some things I never used. My screen is only 15 in, so I need all the workspace I can get! So I started moving things around, using the Window tab up top to select the things I use and have them all tabbed up where the adjustment panel is. CS4 has an adjustment tab. Older versions do not. But you can still set it up to your liking. Here is my workspace...

Once you have it set up the way you like it go to Window>Workspace and select Save Workspace. It will give you a pop up menu and allow you to name it. You can see where mine is and it also puts the name you assign at the top right!

So now if I accidently move something {which happens if I'm working fast or the girls are running a muck all round me} or PS goes all wonky, all I have to do is go to Window>Workspace and click on the workspace I saved it's instantly back to MY workspace!

PS is such a powerful tool with so many different options. Some will be used and some won't. So to use it to it's fullest and get the most out of it without it ruling your life, it's important to learn all the little time saving things you can do and get it set up for you so that editing is faster, easier and more efficient. Every one's workspace will be different depending on what you use! This is just what works for me. Find your own way and then customize it so PS is working for YOU instead of you working for IT! Lol!

I hope this was helpful and as you can see, it's REALLY easy to do, just time consuming. Oh...one last tip for the day! Once you've made your changes, CLOSE PS then reopen. Because if you spend most of the day doing this and PS crashes on you, NONE of your changes will be saved and you'll have to start over!!!! Trust me...I KNOW! Lol! After it crashed and I lost all my work {luckily I was still doing it not completely done} I started closing PS down a couple times to save my progress! The first time I was about half way done. So I was NOT going to start over again! Lol! So close it down and reopen as you go to save yourself the headache of wasting half a day just to start over! :O)

So you may be wondering why would you want to use button mode?! Really it's just a time saver. I'm an organized person and it allows me to be more efficent and work faster. With your regular actions panel, you have to open each folder, then select the action you want to run then hit play! A few steps. With button mode ALL you have to do is scroll down and find the action you want to run and hit it! That's IT! Once you use it for a day or two you'll wonder how you lived without it! I will say that if you aren't familar with your actions, button mode can be harder to use. It took me a while to switch because I didn't know my actions well enough. Now that I know and have them in order, it's a BREEZE! So try it for a few days and you'll be IN LOVE!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to help! I am by NO means a PS pro. One of the reasons I haven't been posting much. I realize there is just too much I don't know yet to be teaching others! Lol! Reading Damien's posts have shown me that. So for now I'm sticking to posts like this and creative editing post, but nothing on clean processing or skin tones until *I* get better!

Happy Friday and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :O)

Action recipes...

2010-02-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

So...if you are like me you have an actions panel full of wonderful and fun actions. The fun part is getting to know your actions and what each one does. And learning each layer in each action is so important. Then what happens when you know your actions inside and out and you have fun using them but then your images start looking similar because you are running the same actions over and over? It's time to start mixing actions from different makers to get special recipes that are unique and fit your style. I've got my actions panel all cleaned up and I only have the ones I use all the time loaded. The ones I love and cannot live without. I have a few that I only use once in a while at the bottom of my panel. But I have MANY that I never use and I finally cleaned those out. If you have too many actions it can be overwhelming. So I took the time to get to know my actions so I could decide which fit my style. Then the best thing I did was organize and switch to button mode!

So today I'd like to just quickly show a couple examples of actions recipes and how you can take an image from nice to creative, fun and unique. They will be creative edits of course! Lol! And how fun and unique it can be to mix it up and think OUT OF THE BOX! It's a little hard to do this if you don't really know your actions. So I do highly suggest that you take the time to get to know your actions and what they can do for you and what you can do with them. Especially if you've paid for them. Get your money's worth! I know what each actions {for the most part} does and what look it will give me. So I can visualize how different actions will look together on an image. And no image is the same, so some will look good on one image but not the other.

The first one I'll start with today is a snap I took of my girls while camping in the desert. Since I'm only talking actions today I won't be sharing SOOC and screenshots as to how I got to my Before. This image has been ran through ACR with the sliders etc to where I like them. Then I ran my new all in one {yes ever newer than the last one I posted} with the layers adjusted. I'm doing more in ACR now so what I need in CS4 is much less. It's basically just 3 layers...a high pass filter {like in PW's Boost & TRA Oh Snap}. I keep the opacity at about 50%. Sometimes higher for non people or non face shots. Then a strong S curve {also like PW & TRA} that I keep at about 20-40% opacity with a blend mode of Luminosity {keeps the skin from going too yellow}. Then the last layer is just a basic levels adjustment layer which now I really only use for a mid tone bump if needed. Between ACR and the strong S curve I don't really have the need to touch the shadows or highlights.

So this is the image I started with after ACR & my basic action...

And here is the final edit...

The first thing I did was run Lily Blue "Rose Water". I knew I wanted warmth. I love this action and I left it run as is and full strength...

Then I knew I wanted a little pastel tint to it so I ran my MZ XP Soft. I left the layers as is but lowered the folder opacity to 50%...

Then I used one of my FAV and FREE actions from 2Peas Indie Jane called Grunge. I knew in order to run this action I'd have to flatten first. Then I grabbed all the layer and grouped them in a folder and named it. Sometimes I will adjust the individual layers other times I just adjust the opacity of the entire folder. Here since there are no faces in the shot I just lowered the whole folder to 50%. I LOVE the feel of this action...

Now I really wanted to go creative and have a fun artistic feel to this shot. So I turned to my FAV textures and the ONLY ones I use now...Florabella Textures. I now apply textures the EASY way. File>Place...find the texture and it brings it in as a Smart Object, brings the name of the action on the layer with it and adds the Transform tool so all you have to do is stretch it and hit enter! Wish I'd tried this method so much sooner. So first I added Ethereal b/w and lowered the opacity to 30%. I use this opacity for textures a lot! Then I played with each blend mode til I found the one I liked which was Overlay. Then I added Mai Tai b/w and lowered the opacity down to 30% and blend mode Soft Light. Then finally I added French Canvas at 30% blend mode Multiply because this texture is pretty light and I didn't want to wash out the feel of the photo. I like to group my textures in a folder too so I can turn it on/off and see how they are all effecting the photo. Sometimes if I know my opacity for each texture will be the same then I'll just change blend modes on each layer then lower the opacity of the entire folder to about 30%. It will put each texture at 30% opacity...

Then I flattened and ran my L USM at 70%. So here is the before and after side by side...

Here is another example. This is my little Avyree aka Nugget. I love this photo. She seems to peaceful and sweet. So to fit the mood of the photo I knew I wanted a soft light sweet pastel type edit.

Here is the before...

And here is the final edit...

I only did one screenshot for this one. I ran Lily Blue "Sweet Water" which is one of my fav actions. I love her actions so much rarely do I mess with the actual layers, just the folder opacity. I brought it down to 30%. Then I ran my much used MZ XP Soft and lowered the folder opacity to 75%. This is one of my actions that I actually use on a regular basis. I love this action and it's one of my favs. I shared this action here on the blog. Then I used a one layer action to top it off that I use a LOT too and LOVE. Child's Play "Pastel Wash". I LOVE this action so much that I run it on top of so many different actions and recipes. I almost always lower the opacity. But I love the tones of this action. And then I flattened and ran my L USM at 60%. That's it...3 actions from 3 different makers to get a unique look that fits my style and the mood of the shot.

Here's the screenshot and what my folders looked like...

And the before after. Probably should've made this a bit smaller...

Now finally my last example is my sweet Haylee. I thought I'd show you how you can use action recipes for b/w's too.

Here is the before which I printed in color. This is one of my all time FAV shots of her that I took at sunset with my EF 100mm 2.8 Macro. I wanted to have a play with it in b/w...

I didn't do any screenshots for this one because I flattened a lot in the process. But for this shot my main concern was keeping detail. I knew that I didn't want to go too light and washy because I'd start to loose detail. Her freckles were especially important to me in this shot. So I knew it would be a darker richer b/w but I really wanted a fun tonal range as well.

So here is the after and below it I'll go over the actions I used...

The first thing I did was run my "Quick & Easy B/w". Which is basically just a gradient map, dodge/burn layer, and a lighten layer. This action does duplicate the photo layer, change the blend mode to Soft Light 30%, flatten and run the layers that you can see. So with the Soft Light blend mode already there, it gave it the perfect contrast it needed. I turned off the Dodge/Burn layer as well. So basically dup layer, soft light 30% and a gradient map over the before. Then I use Florabella B/W Espresso Tint and put the layer opacity at 30%. Now onto Lily Blue Cherry Tone and put the layer opacity at 35%. I was happy with where it was going but I wanted a slight pastel type lift. So I ran my trusty MZ XP Soft. Told you I use it a lot. I started off by turning off the b/w layer or it would cover the 2 tints I already added. I then lowered the opacity of the XP Soft layer to 20%, turned the Blue Soft layer off and changed the opacity of the Cream layer to 20% as well. I then ran MCP Touch of Light/Dark and lightened the eyes just a tad with a very low brush opacity. I don't like to go too light on eyes because the lighter you go the more detail you loose. And for me, the details in the eyes are what it's all about. My girls have crazy detailed eyes so the last thing I want to do is over process them and lose that. Then I used the Dark to lightly go over her freckles with a very low opacity brush {10% brush opacity} to darken the freckles a bit. Then flattened and ran my L USM at 50%. I always run my L USM lighter on b/w's because they tend to look over sharp quicker than a color edit.

So here is the before and after side by side...

So..these edits may not be for you. But it shows you how you can really change it up and make each image you shoot ONE OF A KIND by using that actions panel and the different sets to their fullest. And you also see why it's so important to KNOW your actions inside and out and look at each image as an individual. Look at the image, find what's important to you to convey with that image then go to those actions in your panel that will give you the look/mood you want to display. Some images and the mood of the image calls for dramatic, urban, darker and others may call for a softer, washy pastel type etc etc. The more you know your actions panel, the better and faster you can create recipes to fit your style! That's the great thing with having a variety of actions! I'm ALL about variety in shooting and PP'ing! :O) It will help you better use them together in fun different ways. I hope this post gets you thinking and gets you combining actions and thinking outside the box. Cause let's be honest..it's MUCH MORE FUN outside the box. At least it is for me! Ha!

If you are interested in any of the actions I used I've linked where to buy each...with the exception of my freebies...

Lily Blue Actions ~ These actions are one of my FAVS. I use them all the time! I LOVE LB! I have her Color One Actions & her Waterplay Actions and they are SO YUMMY! I don't use her presets because I prefer to go creative with layers than in ACR. Her b/w actions are great too! But basically anything she makes/sells I will buy!

Florabella ~ I love FB as much as LB. Lol! I've had her 1st set of textures for a long time and after buying them quickly deleted all my free textures. Then I bought all 3 sets of her actions and LOVE them and have also now bought her 2nd set of textures which is just as good as the first, but slightly different. I LOVE FB and will buy all her stuff too!

Child's Play Actions ~ I don't use this set much with the exception of the Pastel Wash. I use it so much that I have a short key assigned to it! :O)

MCP Actions ~ Her Touch of Light/Dark FREE and a great quick way to dodge/burn. I also have this assigned to a short key. I have lots of Jodi's actions and you can't go wrong with any. My FAVs are Bag of Tricks and Blog it Boards.

My actions are here on the board on previous pages. So if you haven't downloaded them for free look back and you'll see several different free action shares.

Happy Thursday and I hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend! :O)

Action review....Florabella Actions...

2010-01-05T13:55:00.001-08:00

I first have to say that I am a HUGE Florabella fan! I have her textures and they are the only ones I use now! They are gorgeous and can be used thick or light and airy! She is an amazing photographer with a great eye for art! So I knew once she'd announced her actions that I would buy all three as soon as I could. Well that was this morning and I could not be happier with them! Not surprising tho! I LOVE creative edits and really love the light airy hazy look. So Florabella is right up my alley! But what I love the most about these is you really have full control to make them thick and heavy or just a slight light adjustment! I bought all three & I LOVE these actions and will use them a LOT. The B&W's are amazing too! Worth every penny!

So here are some examples that I played with this morning! The images weren't great to start with. They are just snaps of my girls at the park. We went at the time of day where the sun was harsh and due to the tree coverage, the lighting was awful! Florabella to the rescue! :O)

I ran all the images through ACR with basic adjustments. I read that these actions run very warm, so I didn't warm them up too much in ACR knowing this in advance. Most of the actions run on the warm sunny side for sure! On any that have her Vignette, I masked at 100% in the center of the image. Then after I was done I ran TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses between 30-40% then my Luminosity USM between 70-85%.

So as you can see, you can run them lightly for a nice subtle edit. And then once you get the hang of them, you can start running more than one action for a fun unique receipe! You can either play with the opacity of the whole folder or you can open it up and adjust the individual layers! So if you are on the fence and you think these actions would suit you style, don't hesitate any longer! I don't think you'll regret this purchase!

If you would like to see any of your images with any specific actions run on them, feel free to email me the full size image and tell me what action you'd like to see run on your image and I'd be happy to run it for you so you can see for yourself. Just email me at momaziggy AT yahoo DOT com! It may take me a couple days but I'll email it back to you!

Happy New Year! :O)

Found some GREAT FREE actions....

2009-12-17T20:48:00.000-08:00

I admit to being an action snob! I have a lot of really good pay actions that cover all my needs. So it's rare that I find a set of free actions that I actually USE! But I was really happy with these actions and wanted to pass them along. They sadly will not work with PSE...sorry!

Here is an example of "Portrait Snap, Crackle & Pop". I LOVE the Portrait Snap layer. I rarely push colors because I like soft muted tones and washy type edits. But this is perfect for slightly popping colors in portraits without making the skin go neon and masking like crazy. It's soft, subtle and most important...a CLEAN color pop.

A snap of my little Nugget with her Gummy Vitamins stuck on her face. She told me it's her mole! Ha!

As you can see, it's very soft and subtle. Look at the pink in her PJ's and the mole {lol} and you'll see a very nice clean subtle NON neon pop and her skin still looks great. I ran the action as is and didn't touch a layer, opacity and no masking!

So if you want to download them and try them for yourself, just go to Catching Sand Photography Blog and download them. Make sure to say Thanks on your way out and I hope you enjoy them! :O)

Happy Holidays and thanks for being patient with me and my lack of posting!

I'm sorry....

2009-12-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

that I've neglected this blog! It was never my intention. I'm in an editing rut the size of Texas with a spork to dig my way out! Ha! So I've had nothing new and exiciting to share! I keep thinking of things to post but I'm just so blah about editing right now! So please allow me to apologize for not posting in a while! As soon as I have some inspiration again I'll post! Happy Holidays!

Canon XSi & accessories for sale...

2009-11-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

****SOLD****

I've upgraded to the 50D thanks to my dear husband. So I'm ready to sell my XSi and accessories.

I'm selling everything for $675.00 and if you don't want the 18-55mm kit lens, I will sell it for $600. I have all boxes and everything that came with all items. I have the date written on each box when I purchased it. I bought the XSi June 30, 2008. Everything is in PERFECT condition. Always stored in my camera bag in a cabinet.

Items included are...

XSi and Canon battery grip including 2 Canon batteries
EF-s 18-55mm lens {optional}
Canon RC-1 wireless remote
2 8GB Kingstons SDHC cards
1 4GB PNY SDHC card
1 4GB Kodak SDHC card
1 2GB Kodak SD card
XSi field guide book by David Busch

I won't be parting anything out with the exception if you don't want the kit lens. Everything else will be sold together. Price firm.

Here are some pictures I snapped quickly this morning. I did not take pictures of the 5 memory cards, but they will be included.

If you are interested please leave me a comment or email me at momaziggy @ yahoo . com. If you are in So Cal we could meet. I will also be putting it up on CL Monday. Everything I've put on CL has sold in the first couple days, so hurry if you are interested. If you email me I can give you my phone number so we can talk over the phone if you'd like.

PSE & full PS B&W Cream action...

2009-10-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Are you tired of dull gray b&w conversions or conversions that are too blue? Well this action may help you. I personally do not care for gray b&w's most of the time & I truly dislike blue b&w conversions. This action is a simple action with only 3 layers. This action will give you a clean, bright white b&w. Yet it will keep the details in your darks without washing them out. It will lift the darks yet keep them rich. This works great on darker images, or subjects with darker hair. It will lift the highlights in the darker hair giving nice detail while still keeping the richness in the hair. This is now my go to b&w conversion.

Since I recorded this with PSE in mind, it is not a set but a single action and it will not group the layers in a folder since PSE does not have folders. If you are using full PS and really want the folder, start recording a new action, then hit play on this action in your layers panel (you will have to keep the original in your panel for this to work) then once my action runs, select all the layers from my action, hit ctrl/g to group the layers into the folder and stop recording. Now you'll have an action that does my steps but groups them into a folder. I'm a folder freak, so it may be worth the time to do if you are an odd ball like me! Lol!

Here are some examples.

Nugget after eating strawberries this morning. Yes, I leave the food on the faces of my girls. I like to keep it real! Lol!

And here is after the conversion and tweaking the layers...

Here is another example. Obviously this is not SOOC. But it also shows you that you can run this on an already edited image and still get a great result...

I did mask the lighten layer at 50% opacity out of the image on the left because it was already pretty bright....

Some detail shots that I edited... {oops, forgot to resize}

the action with the layers tweaked just a little...

A few options that are fun to try with this actions is...

*For a nice creamy bright color edit, run the action and turn off the b&w layer

**Lower the b&w layer for a creamy fadded look

***For a deeper rich more urban creamy look, change the blend mode of the b&w layer to soft layer and play with layer opacity....lowering it to around 30% or lower usually

**** For a brighter more washed out creamy look, change the blend mode of the b&w layer to screen and lower the opacity also to around 30% or so.

*****And of course with any action, play with all the layers until you have the desired look. Make sure to play with the Lighten layer if it's too bright, or raise it if it's still too dark and if the cream is too much, lower the opacity!

So give it a try and tell me what you think! Download the zipped file HERE! I included the atn, png & psd so that it can be used in all PSE versions. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Looking ahead...next couple of posts...

2009-10-16T11:21:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! I just wanted to check in and let you know the next 2 posts I have lined up. I'm working on the RAW Part 3, the final of my little RAW series and I also was the LUCKY winner of MCP's new action set...Magic bag of tricks. So I will of course be doing a review on her new set. It truly is amazing and a MUST HAVE! Her best set yet! So that is what is in the works. I'm second shooting a wedding with a friend this weekend, so I HOPE to have a new post next week...not sure which of the 2 it will be yet! So please stay tuned! Hope everyone has a great weekend! And since no post is complete without a pic...here are some I took in Vegas last weekend...

Winner of my PSP9 editing software is...

2009-10-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

***Sharon aka SGiles***

There were 7 entries and I had Haylee choose a number between 1 & 7 and she picked 5! So Sharon you win! Email me your address to momaziggy @ yahoo . com and I will get the program out to you before Friday! Congrats and I hope it helps you get started the way it helped me!

Sorry it took me so long to post this. I've been editing all day and the time got away from me!

CONGRATS! :O)

Why I shoot RAW ~ Part 2...

2009-10-05T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back with Part 2 on why I shoot RAW. Today I'm just going to go over the basic tab in ACR. I grabbed Haylee right after school and took three shots. The first will be basic good exposure which means good skin tones! :O) The second I purposely under exposed a bit. The third I took in my bathroom which has almost no natural light and had both of my overhead lights on. And I show you the steps for each in ACR and include a final edit.

***my normal disclaimer...I'm not a pro! Just a MWAC who loves taking snaps and loves editing. I will also say that I am still not great at color correcting. I'm still learning. I still do it by eye and not numbers, but I am learning little bits. My goal is to know how to edit by numbers so I have a good foundation and starting off point and then be able to adjust to taste after. My last example is not the best and does still need some work. But I have to find some balance and if I go through everything and pick it apart, I'll never hit the power button on my laptop! Ha! I'm also due to re calibrate, so my colors are a bit off right now. Also know that I'm not a super picky person. I'm okay with some things that others are not. I don't over analyze my shots and pick them apart. Okay I do, but then I get over myself and just edit to what *I* like. Okay...end of excuses...I mean disclaimer***

I still prefer to do the bulk of my editing in CS4. I like the control of layers. I use ACR for a few very important things. WB, Exposure & recovery. For me, it's a way to get my image as clean and correct as possible so I can go into CS4 to enhance. When I have a good SOOC shot, I do less in ACR. When I have a mess of a shot, I do a lot more in ACR. But I always do the good stuff in CS4. So there is much much more that ACR can do for you if you want to. I will go over some of the more advanced and extra tools that ACR has in post three. That is probably about 2 weeks away.

So here is number 1. Not the best but the overall exposure is good. The only blown section is a reflection on the mirror behind her. So I'm not too worried about that. And taking the time to set up the shot and reposition could've completely removed that element in the image. But I'm not keeping any of these images. Just for the blog...lol.

So I opened my RAW file into ACR. Here is the screenshot...

As you will see, the little circle is the Basic tab.

*The first thing I did was adjust the WB to get her skin tone a bit more close. The top slider is your temperature. If you slide to the left it will add blue (cool) and if you slide to the right it will add yellow (warm). This is for overall WB which is global and not to be confused with selective color casts. This is pretty close to what she looks like IRL. When shooting in natural light (no indoor lights on) your WB will be much more accurate. Shooting in the shade can be a bit cool and need some warming up. Shooting at sunset may be too warm and need some cooling. But overall, AWB in good clean natural light is pretty accurate.

*Then I held down my alt key and clicked on the recovery slider to check where I'm blowing any highlights. As you can see in the screenshot below, anywhere you see color you are blown but not completely. Where you see white you are completely blown. You can usually recover the color areas very nicely but will have less luck with the white sections. You also have to gauge what is important in the shot. The recovery slider attempts to bring down the brightness in your highlights, in return giving you back some detail in your highlights. If it's completely blown, there are no pixels to bring back. If you slide too far to the right the image will start to go gray. So don't go too far. And since there are no blown areas on her skin, I go far enough to the right to get some detail back in the blown section, but not too far that I make the image muddy. Here is the screenshot of the recovery slider while holding down the alt key. I should also say (hate when I forget things in the screenshots) that if you look at the histogram on the top right of the screen, there are two arrows at each top corner. The top left is for shadows and the top right is for highlights. If you click on either, they will warn you when you are clipping either. It will show up directly on your image. Try it. Click on both to see how it looks. I personally prefer to alt click on the slider itself because I find the clipping warning on the image to be a bit annoying. If you like it, leave it on. If you don't, just click each again and it will turn the warning off.

*Then (I will be saying then a LOT) I go to the blacks slider. Since her shirt is black, I don't want to go too dark and lose all detail there! So I only bumped it from 5 to 7.

*Now I use the clarity slider. I use this on most images. I never go over 30 on people shots. Many might say that's even too much. Basically the clarity slider acts as a defog. It makes your images appear more sharp without actually sharpening the pixels. It will add contrast and if done with a heavy hand will leave you with a harsh over contrastY image. I like typing contrastY! :O)

After looking at the shot I decided to bring down the exposure just a tad. Knowing that when I pull it into CS4 to finish it up, I don't want to have to mask a bunch of layers preventing blown skin. But I make sure not to bring down the exposure so much that I undo the WB work by going too dark. Under exposed images will appear muddy as well. Here is the exposure slider after bringing it down a tad...

I also used the spot removal brush to remove the feather from her pillow off her shirt. But I forgot to add that screenshot. Oops. It's also easily done in PS with the patch tool...my personal favorite! But I'll also go over the spot removal tool in post three, so I'm not too worried about it now. Lol! For this image, that was all I did in ACR. And here is the SOOC & ACR only edit side by side...

I'm pretty happy with this edit so far. My main goal is to make sure her skin tone looks balanced and real. I want to make sure I'm not blowing sections of the image. Then the blacks & clarity give it a bit of pop. I will from time to time use the Vibrancy slider if it's an outside shot with lots of color and scenery. I never use the saturation slider. It can go neon and unnatural very quickly. The Vibrancy slider takes colors that are dull in the image and brings them to life while leaving the properly saturated colors alone. I use it a lot of macro/still/landscape type shots. And I will go higher on the clarity slider for those type of shots as well.

And here is the image after having a quick run through CS4 for a standard edit...

Here is the shot I purposely under exposed. I didn't go too far because with everything in life, ACR has it's limits. But with that said, it can really clean up a shot worse than this...trust me!

You can see what under exposure does to skin tones. Not pretty. And it adds more noise. These were shot at ISO 800 which on my camera is bad enough. But now with the under exposure, the noise is even worse. One of the many reasons it's so important to get it as close to correct/perfect in camera.

Here is my ACR screenshot and it's not too different than the first. I do the same basic steps with just about every image...

Still in the basic tab the first thing I do is up the exposure. Watching that I don't wash out the image or blow any highlights. Then I start working on the WB. I use the temp & tint slider to get it where I want it. You can also try the drop down menu and select a preset. Most times tho, you will still need to slide a bit with the presets. I used the recovery slider again to lessen some of the blowouts in the background. But again it's not on her skin, so I'm not going too far to the right. I brought the blacks slider back to keep some detail in her shirt. On normal shots, I usually up the blacks slider to about 10, a bit more if it's a very flat image or has a lot of background and colors I want to be richer. Then I upped the clarity slider a bit! I rarely play with any of the other sliders. Once in a while I'll bump up the fill light slider, but most times I do it in CS4 with a curves layer and black mask, then paint where I want it. What can I say...I LOVE layers!

And here is the SOOC & ACR only...

As you can see, there is a big improvement over the SOOC shot. The exposure and WB look much better now.

And after a quick standard edit in CS4...

Now for the NOT so fun example. I will say in advance, I'm not happy with my final edit and think it's needs some color work. But I need to go to bed to get up at 5am and exercise for 2 hours, so I'm leaving it as is! Ha!

Here is the shot taken in my icky bathroom with 2 overhead lights on...

And because I shoot in RAW, I shoot with a AWB. Can you say BLECH! So the first thing I did was take a shot of my gray card, then took the shot of Haylee. I will use this to get my WB to a more accurate color.

So I open both shots in ACR. The first shot as you'll see is Haylee looking quite annoyed while holding my gray card! Oh kids! Right below that you will see the actual shot. Here is the screenshot and below I'll go over what I did step by step...

The first thing I did was select the WB picker tool on the top bar. Then I clicked on the gray card. There is an instant difference. It's not perfect, but much closer to what I want. Then I use the temp & tint slider to get it where I want it. Also knowing that I will be working in layers to polish it in CS4. So I am mainly looking at her overall skin tone, whites of her eyes etc and the wall behind her. I also know that because I have tungsten lights on, the wall won't be perfect and I'll clean it up in CS4 with layer masks. Then once I have the WB where I want it I hit Select All, then Synchronize. A pop up menu comes up allowing me to choose what options to sync. Right now I'm only worried about WB. So I click that and ok. Instantly the WB is copied onto the actual shot of her. Now I click on the shot of her and go to work. Here is the screenshot...

I brought the exposure up a bit and didn't need the recovery slider. I brought the blacks slider down a bit to keep some detail in her black shirt and upped the clarity slider a bit. And now I have a much cleaner more accurate image to bring into CS4. Not perfect mind you, but it's MUCH better. See for yourself...

Now her skin isn't glowing, the whites of her eyes are white and the wall, with the exception of the blue/cyan color cast (that I always have ugh) look like they do IRL. I did however make this image too cool. I will have my hand at this image again tomorrow because now it is the thorn in my side. I think I'll be trying my NEW MCP Bag of tricks action set! Teeehee! If anyone can fix this shot...Jodi's actions can! Have I told you just how ECSTATIC and GRATEFUL I am to have won them! THANKS AGAIN JODI! Okay...back to regular scheduled programing...

Now after my crappy edit in CS4...

And remember that although WB is VERY important, there is also room for personal preference. Some people like their skin tones warmer, some cooler. As long as you don't have a lemon or lobster there is some room for personal taste. Know HOW to correct it, then make it your own. And please do not do what I've done and still do on occasion and did with the bathroom shot and try to over correct skin tones. When you are first learning, you tend to try to find casts where they may not exist and try so hard to correct one issue that you create 10 more...like I did above. Lol!

So that's it for today. Those are the basic steps I personally do in ACR and why I love RAW so much. As you can see in the last shot, editing that mess in PS directly would've been a disaster and the final image would not be NEARLY as nice and clean if shot in JPEG. And you aren't masking for hours on tons of different layers. I actually attempted to edit the converted SOOC jpeg and gave up after about 2 layers. Also remember that you CAN open a jpeg in ACR. You won't have nearly the amount of control had you shot in RAW nor the cleaner final image. But it's still MUCH MUCH MUCH better than if you bring the jpeg straight into PS. If you are too scared to jump into RAW, then start opening your jpegs in ACR to get a feel for it. Then once you've got your feet wet you can switch that dial on your camera!

If you have any questions, PLEASE don't hesitate to ask. And please excuse the color of the screenshots. They are always a bit wonky when loaded! I'll do my best to answer any questions this week. But I'm going to Vegas for the US Open this weekend to watch my Stewart! WAHOO! So I'll be a bit busy this week getting the girls & I packed...laundry etc!

Hope everyone is having a GREAT week!

I won MCP's NEW "Bag of tricks" action set...

2009-10-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

and I could not be more thrilled! I LOVE Jodi and her actions. She's an extremly talented photographer and editor and a wonderful person! I have several of her action sets and LOVE them! So when I saw this morning that I was one of the LUCKY winners of her new set, I was over the moon with excitement. With my recent loss of income this came at a GREAT time! THANK YOU JODI of MCP Actions!

So as always, once I've had a couple weeks to really play with them and learn to use them to the best of their and my ability, I will post about them! I cannot wait to start playing. I hope I can do them justice!

I also will start working on the Why I shoot Raw Part 2 this week! I apologize for the delay. I'm taking a step back from the computer and spending more time with my family! So I haven't forgotten, but need to find more balance in general! And my husband just bought the family the Wii game, so we are having so much fun playing it and spending time together!

I hope everyone is doing great and I will post the Raw Part 2 this week! Hope you had a good weekend and have a FAB week! :O)

A silly giveaway...

2009-09-29T14:11:00.001-07:00

So I wish I could be like all the big wig blogs and have giveaways. But it's a small gig here for me so no big giveaways unless I have something to give of my own!

This giveaway is for someone who does NOT have an editing program and needs somewhere to start! When I first started, I started with Paint Shop Pro 9 (PSP9)! Yes...OLD but better than nothing right? I almost feel silly even doing a giveaway for this, but I have it and feel weird throwing it in the trash! It also comes with PSP Photo Album Deluxe Edition 5.

So...if you are just starting out and need an editing program and like FREE...leave me a comment that says..."Enter me" and your name & email addy! I'm sure this will be a small entry amount if any as many have their own programs already and most use Adobe. I'll leave it open for 1 week and IF ANYONE enters I'll have Haylee draw a name out of a bowl. If one person enters, it's yours! Ha! If nobody enters it's going to the thrift shop I guess! Ha! I am assuming this is for PC only!

Okay...lets see if I get ONE person to enter! :O)

Happy Tuesday! :O)

New action set...Cross Process...

2009-09-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I call it "MZ's XP" for "Momaziggy's Cross Process". I will say that this set is NOT for the faint of heart! If you do not like creative edits, just skip over today's post. But if you like creative action sets and are a fan of Cross Processing...scroll down.

I'm a real fan of this look lately. I will admit that I like it soft. I have many expensive pay sets that have XP actions in them and I really do not care for them. They are too strong and I don't like the color shifts. So I made mine a little softer, subtle and not so extreme. More for family portraiture I guess you could say. But I know some people like regular XP. So for that reason, I tried to go from soft to heavy and a little in between. I use the XP Soft A LOT! I personally LOVE it for shots of my girls. I think the XP Soft would be great for newborns as well. I think the whole set would be a blast for running toddlers outside, E sessions, weddings and seniors. I think that about covers the field. Ha! Again, these are not for everyone. You won't hurt my feelings if you don't like them. I also included 3 one layer quick XP actions that you can run on top of other actions or on their own.

Don't be afraid to play with these actions. Turn the layers on & off, play with the opacity of the layers and even play with blend modes. The sky, or your creativity, is the limit!

In the set...

MZ XP Soft ~ XP with softness. My personal FAV!
MZ XP Haze ~ light and airy with the XP feel.
MZ XP Xtreme ~ I think it speaks for itself. This action is heavy and thick.
MZ XP ColorFUL ~ A spin off of the Xtreme but less thick with more color.
MZ XP Decaf overlay ~ very subtle XP 1 layer overlay.
MZ XP Caffeine overlay ~ it's a bit strong & thick! 1 layer overlay.
MZ XP JOLT overlay ~ XP with a POP!

Here are the examples for the set...

But wait...there's more.

I included an optional b&w layer that is turned off. When turned on, it gives you a very unique thick, almost vintage XP b&w. I LOVE them! You may not! Ha! And remember, you can go heavier than I did or much more subtle.

So here is the main set with the b&w layer turned on and the layers tweaked a bit...

Now you could even take a step further. No examples but here are some fun things to try. Turn on the b&w layer and lower the opacity for a Vintage XP look. Change the blend mode of the b&w layer and play with the layer opacity for a totally different XP look. Again, these actions are all that YOU make them. So have fun and PLEASE do not be scared to experiment. You don't have to hit the SAVE button! Go ahead...it's fun!

Now if you like what you've seen then click HERE to get them and please tell me what you think. Remember that not all images are created equal so what looks good for some images/people will not work on others. And don't be afraid to mix other actions from me or other people together for a look that's ALL YOU! Happy action running! :O)

Why I shoot RAW ~ Part 1...

2009-09-18T15:29:00.000-07:00

There is so much to say about RAW (good stuff not scary stuff) that I’ve decided to do them in a 3 part series.

*Part 1 is just basics and talk, no screen shots or steps. Okay, I lied. There are two screen shots. I will also post some examples! I will go over in today’s post the reasons to try RAW. The benefits and the drawbacks. Although for me they are not drawbacks. And a visual to spark your interest even more! :O)

*Part 2 will be the steps I do in RAW on a single image. I will go over the tools/sliders I use. I will post examples with a good SOOC shot, an over exposed SOOC shot, an under exposed SOOC shot and a SOOC shot that has decent exposure but bad WB. Then I will show you how I correct them in ACR. Notice I keep saying * I *? Ha! My way isn’t the highway, just what works for me! :O)

*Part 3 will be more advanced options that are available to you. Batch processing, using a gray card to set your WB, the adjustment brush & spot removal tool, using presets, saving as jpegs straight from ACR, etc. There are still many advanced things I haven’t learned about ACR, so I won’t be going over ALL of the advanced stuff. Just what I know and use now!

If you already shoot in RAW, this first post probably isn’t for you and be on the lookout for Part 2 & 3. But if you’ve never shot in RAW and want to learn about it and hear why you should, read on! :O)

As any post I do, I’m not a professional, just a MWAC. And my opinions are just that…mine and what I’ve learned along the way. Some may agree and others may not. Some may do it completely different and that’s okay! Photography and editing is a personal preference, so I believe that with anything you read, take what applies to you and leave the rest! ***And a quick disclaimer...all the shots I took for this example (with the exception of the last) I took took on purpose! To highlight how you can go from bad to better. My daily shots aren't this bad! Ha! And if lighting conditions are this bad, I just don't shoot! End of disclaimer lol*** So here goes…

First…many that are new to photography think RAW is only for the professionals or those who have been shooting for a long time. I 100% disagree and this is why! RAW gives you flexibility in the learning process. Once you are a seasoned pro and nail your exposure and WB, you don’t NEED RAW. Many still shoot in RAW because it’s that awesome! But the NEED is less. When you are first starting out, you NEED to have some flexibility to adjust your exposure, try to recover blown highlights and adjust your WB. So don’t be afraid, it’s not as scary as it seems. I know I was VERY intimidated with RAW and it took me a while to try it! But I saw that it wasn’t this big scary thing and I’ve never looked back. I shoot in RAW 100% of the time, even for snaps of my girls. Well not “even”, because that’s all I really shoot! Ha!

I’ll go over the drawbacks first…if they can even be considered drawbacks! File size. They are large and will take up a lot of storage! On my little XSi (12 MP), my Lfine JPEGSs are about 4MG per image. In RAW they are about 18MG per image! So you will need a large hard drive or an external hard drive (EHD). Another thing is that RAW images are flatter than JPEGS! So they NEED to be edited. If you shoot RAW+JPEG, you will notice the SOOC images look different. You’ll even notice that the JPEG looks better! Now you are thinking…RAW sucks! Why on earth would I want to shoot in RAW if they look worse? I want the best SOOC shot I can get! I’ll get to that in the benefits section! :O) For me, those are the only drawbacks I’ve come across and again, to me they aren’t drawbacks. But some would consider them to be, so I had to put it out there! If you hate large files, and don’t want to edit every image, then RAW may not be for you! I will say though that even if you shoot JPEG most of the time RAW can be a lifesaver in mixed bad lighting and I do suggest learning it so that you CAN shoot it when needed!

Now for the benefits. There are MANY so I’m sure I’ll miss some stuff here. But here is the biggest benefit to shooting in RAW…CONTROL! Lol! WB, Exposure, Recovery. The WEB reasons of shooting in RAW! Teehee! Okay, corny I know! But those are the number ONE reasons to shoot in RAW! When you shoot in JPEG, the camera is making little edits in contrast, saturation, sharpening etc in the compression process. When you shoot in RAW it’s basically a SOOC shot! So when you shoot in RAW, YOU have control on your final image. You aren’t letting the camera make decisions for you. And isn’t that the biggest thing we photographers want…control? That’s why we want to get out of Auto! Well to a CERTAIN extent and please do not flame me for saying this, shooting in JPEG is adding a little Auto to your images! Am I ducking rocks? Ha! Try this for fun! Set your camera to RAW, then set your camera to shoot in B&W. Now look at the LCD, it’s B&W. Load it into ACR and guess what, it’s in COLOR! Freaked me out the first time I did that many moons ago! Ha! So RAW is just that…RAW!

The ability to adjust/change your WB is reason enough to shoot in RAW and what brings most people in! And then to be able to adjust your exposure and use the recovery slider to even out your photo seals the deal for me! I no longer set a CWB. I shoot in AWB and when shooting in tough light, I use a gray card! I snap a picture of the gray card in that specific lighting and use that to set my WB in ACR! Pretty easy! I’ll go over that in Part 3!

So to shoot in RAW, what do you need? Well for one, a camera with the ability to shoot in RAW! Lol! ALL DSLR’s have RAW. I believe a lot of Bridge cameras have RAW and I THINK even some P&Ss have RAW capabilities! Then you need an editing software that can open RAW. The software that came with your camera will allow you to open/edit your RAW files. LR (Lightroom) & PS (Photoshop) of course will allow you to edit in RAW. But one thing to take into account is what model camera you have and what version of LR & PS that you have. If you have an old version of LR or PS and a newer camera, chances are you won’t be able to edit your RAW images there. You will ALWAYS be able to edit your RAW images with your camera software though! For instance, I had PSCS3. When I upgrade to the 5D Mark II, I would not be able to edit the RAW files from that camera with CS3. I would either need to use the DNG converter, which I’ve never used, use my Canon software (dare I say BLECH) or upgrade to CS4. So before taking the jump, make sure your version of LR & PS will support your camera. If not, look into the free DNG converter on Adobe’s site, use your cameras software or upgrade your program!

Now the other thing that confuses people is what the heck is ACR? I know I was one of them! I couldn’t grasp the concept until I tried it! So I wanted to briefly go over what ACR is and show you what it looks like, but will save the details for Post 2!

ACR is Adobe Camera Raw. It is a Plugin for PS created by Adobe. ACR comes standard with PS (not sure which versions in the past that don’t have it). Sometimes you will need to go to Adobe and download/install the most recent ACR plugin. When I used PSCS3, I had to do this to open the RAW files from my XSi. Basically ACR is a program within a program. Seriously, it’s crazy what you can do in ACR! It’s similar to LR in the aspect that you use sliders. So to open your RAW files (I use Bridge) it will open PS if it’s not already open, then a large pop up screen will open over PS and that is ACR! Not so scary huh? :O) Then you are free to slide til your hearts content. You can then save as a JPEG if you don’t want to do any further edits. Or you can click open and it will now be opened in your PS workspace or you can even just hit Done. Which will keep your ACR edits and allow you to go back and edit more or open in PS to finish up!
And here is a screen shot of what ACR looks like with just one image open, then one that shows what it looks like with several images open for batch ACR processing!

And just to give you a glimpse into what RAW can do I took a few different snaps to show you! And the edits I’ve done were ONLY in ACR, nothing done in PS besides resizing and sharpen for the web!
*RAW example #1…as you’ll see in the SOOC shot, the WB is off. Exposure isn’t great either and I shot at 1600 ISO, so it’s a bit fuzzy and with my aperture wide open at 2.8, my SS was only 1/50. But hey, it’s just an example! :O) I also cropped it because my little one thinks clothes are optional! Ha! I took this in our bathroom (like you couldn’t tell…teehee) and had both of my overhead lights on! For this shot I used my gray card to set the WB in ACR and did some other stuff!

Now here is after ACR edits only. First thing to notice of course is the WB. Look at the TP (blushing). It’s yellow in the SOOC and now it’s actually white! This image still needs some work, which I would do in PS. But the clean up was done in ACR so that I have the best possible starting image in PS! If I had shot this in JPEG, cleaning it up in PS would have been a PAIN, taken a lot of layers and just wouldn’t be as clean!

And here they are side by side…

*RAW example #2…as you can see in this shot, it’s very cool from my AWB and not a lot of natural warm light and is slightly underexposed. I shot this at ISO 1600, 2.8 and only 1/25 of a SS. Note…I normally do not shoot with light this bad! Lol! You can see why good light is SO important! But again, these are just examples! :O) I warmed it up, gave it a boost in exposure and did some other stuff!

And here is after the ACR edits. Again, not perfect. We aren’t going for perfection in ACR, although I’m sure there are many who can achieve it! We are going for improving the SOOC and getting it very close before opening in PS for the finishing touches!

And here they are side by side!

*RAW example 3. In this shot you can see it’s very underexposed. I did all these shots on PURPOSE by the way! Ha! So it will take a bit more work in ACR to clean it up! And even though these were shot in RAW, the final image will just not yield the same quality as a shot that started better off IN camera. But I wanted you to see what RAW/ACR can do for you if you do mess up or are still learning! I bumped exposure quite a bit (and will further lighten., remove noise etc in CS4), fiddled with the WB and some other stuff!

And here it is after ACR edits! It’s not great, but it’s sure a heck of a lot better than it was SOOC and if shot in JPEG…UGH…don’t even want to think about it! Lol!

Side by side!

And for good measure, I pulled this one out of the archives! I shot this last year at Haylee's school for the yearbook! It was a fast paced morning & I just wasn't fast enough yet! So this was the SOOC shot. As you can see, it's badly over exposed and has some blow outs. but not all is lost because the entire picture isn't blown.

So with some tweaks in ACR (exposure slider down, blacks slider up, recovery slider, a little vibrancy slider) and some other ACR stuff, then brough into PS and finished up, this is what I came up with!

And I love side by sides...so here they are...

And remember that when you under expose an image, it will have more noise, even shot at a low ISO. And worse (like my examples), shoot at a high ISO and under expose it will not be pretty! Lol!

One last word. You ALWAYS want to strive for the best possible SOOC shot! But it’s not always possible with the light, skill level and sometimes we plain just forget things! So do not use RAW, ACR/PS as a crutch, but let it help you through your learning process. Then by the time you know what you are doing in camera, you’ll be a pro in PS and take a great shot and make it WOW! And also know that although RAW can really help you, it does have it’s limitations too! An almost black underexposed shot is well, just that! Ha! And a shot that is pretty much blown all over is well, just that! RAW can help you save/clean up and enhance your photos, but it’s not magic. So do your best to get it right in camera so you can have FUN in editing. I think we all agree that cleaning up photos is NOT what we want to be doing! :O)

So do I have your attention? Are you more curious about RAW? Did I at least make you consider TRYING it? I hope so!

And that’s it for today! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. But remember that this is just the first post of three. So if you have questions about actual steps or sliders etc, please hold them until after Post 3 or 4 to see if I’ve answered them!
See you in Post 2! :O)

I haven't forgotten about you guys...promise! Ha!

2009-09-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a bit! I've been swamped with Avyree turning 3, Haylee starting 3rd grade, taking care of my friends cats while she was in Greece, a bridal shower I shot this last weekend! And now the yearbook will be starting up soon with school already back in the full swing of things!

But I promise I'll get going again. My next post is either going to be an action review because I've purchased a few that I really really LOVE and have finally had time to play with, or a tut about RAW. I'm sure the RAW tut would be the preferred! Lol! It's a little more in depth tho!

And I still have 7 folders of events over the summer sitting on my EHD that I haven't been able to touch! Yikes! Lol!

So stick with me and I'll get to posting more again! And since a post is worthless without pics, here are a few of the detail shots from the bridal shower I shot this last weekend...

NEW Workflow Action set share....not PSE compatible....

2009-09-02T12:47:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Well our area is much better now in regards to the fire...FINALLY! The air is still pretty bad outside, but the fires are no longer dangering our area! The weather is MUCH cooler and the humidity has gone up a lot too, all of which are helping the AMAZING fire fighters gain some control! What a reflief finally! So I took some much needed time in CS4 to create my NEW workflow action set.

As I get more comfortable in PS and more confident with my knowledge and ability, my workflow changes. I find that I am doing the same steps to my images. I had some actions recorded already, but found I was tweaking them more than I'd like. So I created a NEW set with the steps I currently do! And as we are always evolving, I'm sure there will be more in the future. But for now, I'm content with this set! And the GREAT thing is that I am no longer using pay actions that I cannot share! I've learned from these great pay actions and tuts online, and have come up with a formula that fits MY needs! And I just have to say because I can, I have not copied these pay actions! Lol! I have taken some of the things I've liked about them, tweaked to my taste and added a lot of my own flare in them! So now I can finally share them with you FAB people!

These actions aren't perfect and I am NOT a pro by ANY means or even close! But this is just what works for me and what I use all the time!

So I'm sure you are wondering WHAT is in the NEW set! :O) If you don't care, scroll down to the link at the bottom. But if you are just starting out, it might be a good idea to read on!

The NEW set includes the following actions...

*MZ's All in ONE...this is the action that I run on 98% of my images. I run this first right after I tweak in ACR and open in CS4. If I know for sure I'm going for a creative edit from the beginning, I may not run this and go to my creative action sets. But many times, I still run the All in ONE action, then run my creative actions.

Layers in the All in ONE are...

Duplicate photo layer for noise reduction or patch work
High pass sharpen...set to 75%
Strong S Curve...set to 30%
Slight S Curve...set to 30%. I know I know...why 2, it's just my thing! :O)
Basic Levels...may need to lower highlight slider and adjust midtone slider.
Dodge/Burn layers...Black mask, paint white where you want to reveal, brush opacity 10-20%.
Mask out Blue cast...I've mentioned my issue with blue casts in my shadows/whites/blacks. Black mask, paint white where you want to remove Blue casts, brush opacity 100%.

*MZ's Selective Color Cast Correction...this action uses the technique of a Selective Color layer (did a tut on this on the blog) and works in the neutrals (which is the key to looking natural) of each color that it removes...or actually replaces! ALL layers have a black mask attached. So you have two choices, invert the mask to white (ctrl/I while the layer mask is active) to have effect on the entire image, then play with layer opacity OR you can paint where you want the color removed for selective color casts. Select brush tool, foreground color set to WHITE (opposite mask color) and paint with a brush opacity between 10-20% where you want to remove the offending color. Low brush opacity is KEY to keeping a natural color correction process! You can then still play with layer opacity. Any colors you do not need to correct should be turned off or deleted to keep file size down!

The layers in this action are...

Remove Yellow...which adds blue!
Remove Blue...which adds yellow!
Remove Magenta...which adds green!
Remove Green...which adds magenta!
Remove Cyan...which adds red!
Remove Red...which adds cyan!

Gotta love the color wheel. Once you get it, it's awesome! :O)

*MZ's Warmer/Cooler...this is just a basic curves layer to add warmth or to cool down an image. There are only 2 layers in the set and both are turned off. To activate, just click on the eye to turn in on. Then you can mask if needed or play with layer opacity!

Layers in the action are...

Warmer...Curves Adjustment layer adding yellow and a hit of red.
Cooler...Curves Adjustment layer adding blue and a hint of cyan.

*MZ'S Sparkly Eye POP...This action duplicates your photo layer, so run on a flattened image. I've already shared this action on the blog, but added it to this set since I find I use it a bit more. ALL layers in this set have a black layer mask. You need to paint on each layer you want to use to have the effect show. I HIGHLY advise going LIGHT with this action and PLEASE do not give your subject crazy wonky eyes, it DOES NOT enhance your photos! Ha! When I use this action, I usually keep my brush opacity between 10-20%. On the sharpen layer, I do usually paint at 100% brush opacity and lower the layer opacity to 50% or less! But you can use a lower brush opacity and just paint more! Whateva floats your boat!

I won't go over all the layers in this set since I already did a post on the blog and it's pretty self explanitory what each layer does! :O)

*MZ's LAB Color POP Action...This action will duplicate your photo layer, so run on a flattened image. I usually color pop toward the end of an edit once I've got my exposure contrast etc where I want it and any color issues corrected (please color correct if needed first or your color pop will be wonky). It will duplicate your photo layer, go into LAB mode (does not flatten the layers), pop colors in LAB curves channels a&b, then convert back to RGB (does not flatten the layers), will set layer opacity to 30% and add a white layer mask. You WILL NEED to mask out skin!

*MZ's B&W Gradient Map...this is a simple and quick 1 layer action that gives you a b&w gradient map. SO easy to do on your own, but I thought I'd add it just in case. If you use this, I HIGHLY suggest running the All in ONE first, then this. Then you can tweak the layers of the All in ONE and see how it's effecting your b&w. For fun, try lowering the opacity of this layer for a fadded look or play with blend modes. MIX IT UP! :O)

*MZ's Luminosity USM (unsharp mask)...I use this on EVERY SINGLE IMAGE I edit! I always do ALL of my editing first and do not run this action until right before saving as a jpeg. This action will duplicate your photo layer (so run on a flattened image), will apply the USM, then will go into the Edit>Fade USM menu and change the blend mode to Luminosity. You'll see tho that they layer blend mode is still set to normal, don't worry! What I love about this technique is that it only sharpens the Luminosity of your shots and not the colors. So it won't make your colors wonky or give you over sharpening halos. It works WONDERS on eyes, but can be a bit harsh on the hair. So sometimes I'll mask out the hair at 30% brush opacity!

*MZ's Resize for Blog 800 wide...Since my blog width is 800 pixels wide, I just created a quick and simple resize. This action just goes into your image size dialog box and resizes to 800 pixels on the wide side! I HIGHLY suggest to duplicate your photo first so that you do not accidentally save a smaller size over your full size image!

*MZ's Resize for Blog 400 wide...I use this action when I am doing vertical shots and I want to put two vertical side by side in a new 800px wide canvas. I will resize both to 400 pixels wide, then copy/paste them into a new canvas! I HIGHLY suggest to duplicate your photo first so that you do not accidentally save a smaller size over your full size image!

MZ's Sharpen for the web...Run this after you've resized your image. This action will duplicate your photo layer, sharpen for the web and attach a white layer mask. If any areas are too sharp, mask them out and be sure to play with layer opacity!

NOTE...on the 2 sharpening actions, larger photos can use a higher opacity and smaller photos will need a lower opacity!

And that is everything that is included in this set!

ALL actions are fully adjustable and are grouped in a folder for your convenience! Remember, actions are ONLY a starting off point. YOU NEED to adjust the layers to suit your taste and image. No image is the same and each needs their own recipe! Play with layer opacity, masking if needed, and blend modes! You can toggle layers on/off to see how they are effecting your image and don't be afraid to turn off/delete some layers. Be creative and make it your OWN! Actions should also be a learning tool. So dissect them. Know what each layer's blend mode and opacity are set to. Go into the settings and color channels (if applicable) and learn what this action is doing to your image. It's the ONLY way to really make it your own and eventually be able to come up with your own workflow that is tailored to you!

I am also working on 2 more action sets. An Overlay set that will give you lots of fun easy to use overlays for many different creative effects. Some will be lighter wash feels, and some will be deeper richer feels. And I'm also really loving the SOFT Cross Process look and am learning how to do it on my own from various different sources. So I'm really excited to get this set going too!

And now for my MZ's Workflow Action set download!

***All actions on the blog from me...MZ (MomaZiggy) are FREE (and always will be) and you may use them for personal or business. But please do NOT share them with others, send them here to the blog to download them. The ONLY reason for this is NOT for traffic (I don't even have a counter lol) but so that anyone needing help or tuts etc, can see the blog and look around. I'm not into fame and fortune (lol) just want to help others that may need it! And please do NOT sell these actions or claim them as your own! I work hard to help others, so please play by the rules! :O)***

Please don't hesitate to post any questions and I'll be happy to help. I hope you enjoy the set and get a lot of use out of them!

And because a post is better with a pics, here are a few from the Santa Monica Pier...

How I did it #2...

2009-08-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

So while I was editing my Santa Monica Pier pics, I came across something fun and thought I'd share. It was by pure accident and yet I was so happy with the outcome. And it goes to show you what can happen when you have too much time on your hands and are click happy in PS! Ha!

Here is the before shot that I'll be using today. Not a bad shot, but definately needs something to make it unique and stand out from the other 500 beach shots online! And as always, I HAD to find a way to make it my OWN! Something different, something that spoke to me!

And this is what I came up with using an action I'd never have thought to use to get this effect...

What I LOVE about this edit is what it did to the water. Sure, there are some blown parts on the caps of the waves...but I'm just not a perfectionist! Lol! I love the colors and drama and detail in the water now. And it was SO easy.

I started with my ContrastY B&W Action from my B&W conversion set! Yes, you heard correctly! Ha!

After I ran the action, I turned off the dodge/burn layer because I was feeling lazy. But feel free to dodge/burn your lil heart out! Then I turned the b&w gradient map off. I lowered the opacity of the Contrast layer to 85%, the curves layer off because it was bright enough and lowered the opacity of the Linear Dodge layer to 40%.

Here is my layers panel so far...

Now I wasn't thrilled with what it did to the sky. It looked wonky and over saturated and neon to me! So I flattened my layers, duplicated the layer and removed noise with my Noiseware filter to smooth out the sky. Then I flattened and duplicated again. Sorry...I do that a LOT! I then took my Rectangle Marque tool and made a selection in the bottom half of the sky. Making sure I have a decent selection of gradient from light blue to the lower white part near the water. Here's what my selection looked like...

Now I hit ctrl/t for my transform tool. What I want to do is stretch the top anchor all the way to the top of the image to hide the crazy wonky sky. Here is a screenshot of it half way up...but don't worry...I went all the way up and didn't leave it there!

Once I have it pulled up all the way I can leave it as is. But lets say I do want a little bit of the darker blue sky to show through? Easy peasy...lower the opacity of the top photo layer. For the screen shot below, I lowered it to 50% to see what it looked like...

For me, it's still a little too much. I want more focus on the water and less on the sky. So I settled at a layer opacity of 75%. If you want more, lower the opacity, less, raise the opacity!

And here is the before after side by side...

I did try this action on other shots from this day, but wasn't nearly as happy with the end results. So this was the only image to get this treatment.

So this goes to show you that actions are really versatile and you can click and combine and turn off layers etc to make them your OWN! I encourage you to PLAY with your own techniques and actions that you may have recorded yourself and downloaded online! There is NO LIMIT to creativity!

How to give the skin a soft "Glow"...

2009-08-21T11:53:00.001-07:00

First and foremost I want to thank Rachel on Clickinmoms for introducing me to the FAB little trick to give the skin just a slight pretty glow! She posted a tut on CM and I asked her if it would be okay for me to share this tut on my blog and she gave me the go ahead. I wrote the tut and used my own examples! If you aren't a memeber of CM yet, I HIGHLY suggest trying it out! It's really inexpensive and you can join with a monthly account or pay in advance. I bought a year membership and it's already paid for itself 100 times over with the help I've gotten and the tuts on the board! All of the girls are very knowledgeable and so very helpful! So please try it for at least one month...you won't regret it!

So, do you want to give your skintones just a little pop...a little healthy glow? Well this is the trick for you! It's VERY subtle which on skin, we want. But with that said, you can use higher settings to make it more intense. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so make it your own!

This method is meant to be done at the very end of editing. So do all your stuff, including any patching to the skin that needs to be done and sharpening etc. Then you want to flatten your image so all you have is one layer open!

Then duplicate your photo layer (ctrl/j) and you can name it if you want! I call this Skin Glow. Now change the blend mode to Screen and lower the opacity to about 10%. We don't want to blow any highlights or have white skin. So low opacity is important!

Now we want to add some blur for a touch of smooth skin. So go to Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur. The numbers will vary depending on the look you want and the size of your photo. The smaller the photo, the smaller number. You can use a higher number if it's a high res pic. The lower the number the more subtle the overall effect will be and the higher number the more intense it will be. Rachel suggested in her tut between 4-6 but I used 10 for a little more. Test out different numbers so you can make it your own...

Oops..forgot to crop that screen shot above! Ha! Okay...so now obviously we don't want blur everywhere. We only want to have the blur where we choose. Easy fix. Hold down the alt key and press the mask icon (little camera looking icon at the bottom of the layers panel) and now you will have a black layer mask which is HIDING the screen blend mode and blur!

Now comes the creative part where you get to control how much and where! Take your brush tool, foreground color set to white (opposite the mask) and set your opacity to about 30%. For a more subtle look, use a lower brush opacity and for a more intense look, use a higher brush opacity. I prefer to do most of my masking at about 30% and go over some areas more than others! Make sure the black layer mask is active by clicking on it once. You'll see a little frame around it and that is how you know you have it active. Now just start painting where you want the soft glow! Here is what my layer mask looked like when I was done...

And here is the before and after. As you can see it's VERY subtle. To really see how it effected your pic, zoom in to get a good view of the skin where you painted and toggle the layer on and off. You'll see a nice soft, clean and subtle pop and glow to the skin!

Hope you enjoyed this and thanks again Rachel! Lemme know if you have any questions!

Photobucket went DELETE HAPPY on me....

2009-08-17T22:21:00.000-07:00

WARNING...this will be long and VERY negative! Ha! just warnin ya!

I've been having issues with photobucket deleting certain pics of mine! Some are of Avyree in her panties or just without a shirt on! This violates their TOS apparently! A 2 year old in just her diaper or panties! Ummm...okay! Then they deleted photos that were NOT of her nakey just with no top on! Yet, leaving some of her in JUST her panties! So I emailed them about the issue. They said they do not allow CHILD NUDITY on their site EVEN IF YOUR ACCOUNT IS SET TO PRIVATE! And they WILL delete them as THEY see fit! So I wrote back expressing my frustration and the INCONSISTENT way in which they delete photos from my account. Deleting some that are NOT against their TOS, deleting others that are just MY 2 year old with no shirt on yet leaving ones of her in just her panties and felt that their selection process was not very professional nor consistent! And that I did not appreciate no warning and just having the pics of MY children disappear that THEIR discretion! I told them I would no longer be using photobucket to host my images but unfortunately would not be able to delete my account due to MANY tuts on different boards/blogs over the past 2 years!

So for kicks about an hour or so later I went back into my account and...THIS is what I saw...

Nice huh? Basically they went through my account with a FINE TOOTH COMB and deleted pretty much EVERY pic that has Avyree with no shirt on! It's hard to keep clothes on the kid! Haha! Even pics of her in her highchair covered in chocolate ice cream. I took some while we were camping in the desert in our 5th wheel and Avyree was in the BACKGROUND with no shirt on and THEY DELETED it! So since I was an UNhappy customer and talked to customer service about why I was unhappy, they did a photo raid on me! VERY VERY PROFESSIONAL PHOTOBUCKET! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND FINE FINE CUSTOMER SERVICE! I COMMEND YOU FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO YOUR CUSTOMERS! TOP NOTCH SERVICE!

So needless to say I AM DONE WITH PHOTOBUCKET & will NEVER EVER use them!

Last time I checked...I was 33 with 2 kids! Not only are they MY images, and MY kids, I guess I was under the SAD impression that business' worked for the good of people...NOT revenge! So glad to be set straight! Point taken...on photobucket your images are NOT REALLY YOURS and you will be treated like a child and have your toys taken away without warning or care if your teeny tiny pinky toe touches that chalk line!!! Nothing like being parented from a hosting website! I also know of a bikini model photographer who photographs ADULTS with PROOF they are adults and photobucket deletes his photos too! They say that on some the front of the bikini is too small, yet will leave shots from the back of a girl wearing a g string bikini! Sound consistent to YOU? NOT to me! I feel like my images are being stolen or being held for ransom! It does NOT feel good to feel like you have no control over YOUR images and they can take them from you! YES...OF COURSE I have the full size images tucked away safely on my EHD. But there was a LOT of time taken to resize, WM etc and would take FOR-freakin-EVER to reload them all and replace the codes in my posts on my blogs!

And I am not that person that goes around complaining and bashing companies! So this is true frustration from my heart!

Why do I share my story here? Two reasons...if any screen shots are missing...THIS is why! And...be VERY careful with Photobucket. If you PISS THEM OFF, they may raid your account and go delete happy on you too!

I am in the process of trying different hosting places at the moment and have gotten lots of great help and advice on who to use! For now I'm using Flickr. But I am not finding it very convenient so I'm still researching other options!

So the tuts will still be coming and I WILL make sure that I can find a hosting site that will not PARENT the images I choose to post of MY OWN KIDS!

Phew...vent over! Ha!

Selective color casts on SKIN...

2009-08-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Today I'd like to talk about selective color casts on skin! Not to be confused with WB (global color cast) issues. By selective color casts I mean, reflections from a wall or shirt etc. that casts on your subjects skin. I already went over how I remove selective color casts in shadows etc by using the hue/sat slider to remove color. Which I still use & love. I still have blue/cyans in my shadows and on my whites & blacks. So this is still my go to method. But I don't think it's the best method on skin!

There are MANY ways to remove selective color casts on skin. Some are more complex than others. This one is pretty darn easy and quick. So that's the one I will go over today!

So while on a fun photographer gathering with my So Cal 2Peas I took a shot of a beautiful senior. She was leaning on a bright cyan wall, which reflected a color cast onto sections of her face. Don't mind that I said blue in the screen shot. I meant cyan...lol! At first glance, it's not horribly noticeable. But when brought into CS4, I could really see it.

I've outlined where the color cast is here...

The first thing I did was grab my lasso tool and made a very loose selection around the top portion. I prefer to do it in sections for more control. The cast me be stronger in some areas, so I want to be able to go strong on some sections and lighter in others. Then I did a feather of 10px. You can either right click and choose feather or in CS4, use the Refine Edges and choose 10px in your feather section.

Here is what it looks like now. Don't pay attention to the layers panel in this screen shot. And note where the Selective Color Adjustment Layer is in CS4. That's the layer we'll use to correct this...

Now click the Selective Color Adjustment Layer either in the adjustments panel or in the little half black/white circle below the layers panel. The key here is to work in the Neutrals! So select Neutrals in the drop down menu.

Now I know my color cast is cyan off the bat. So I go to the cyan slider and slide it to the left which adds red. Remember... Cyan/Red ~ Green/Magenta ~ Blue/Yellow. And to show you how it works, for example purposes, I slid the cyan slider all the way over, which is adding red. Because of your selection, it is only going to effect that area. You can also see it feather out, which will help you get a more natural look.

How the Selective Color Adjustment Layer works is you slide it to the right to add THAT color or slide it to the left to add it's OPPOSITE color!

I slid the cyan slider to the left a little watching my photo. I have the screen shot for 10, but I went back in and changed it to 18, as I felt 10 wasn't enough.

In hind sight, I also should have slid the yellow slider to the right a bit adding a little yellow to blend a little more with her skin tone.

Now I'm pretty happy with that section, it's time to move onto the rest of the cast. So I did another selection and feathered it and clicked a new Selective Color layer. Now in my layers panel you see two Selective Color layers. In the actual photo I edited, I did it in more sections than just two. But you get the idea!

And here is the side by side...

So the key with this method is first trying to assign a color to the cast! Then making your loose selection, giving a decent feather so it looks natural, and working in the Neutral tones in the drop down menu. Just open a Selective Color layer, go to Neutral and start sliding around watching how it effects your photos. This is probably the best way to get comfy with it. And remember the color wheel and which color is opposite the other... Blue/Yellow ~ Green/Magenta ~ Cyan/Red. Write it down and keep it next to your computer so you can reference it until you remember. And make sure not to go too far with any of the sliders so you don't introduce a new cast. And there will be times that you need to correct/slide more than one color. Don't be afraid to slide them around because you can also delete the layer or set them all back to zero!

And to really clean it up a step further you can use the method I posted in the link above by adding a new layer and painting over the area with the subjects skin tone to even it out nicely! I've also used this method by itself to fix some selective color casts from reflections. Combine them both and you are on your way! :O)

Let me know if you have any questions!

PSE actions FINALLY ready!

2009-08-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

Boy was that a journey! Thanks for sticking this out with me. I now understand how it works, so next time will be a breeze. And I wanted to give a shout out to Kim for holding my hand through the learning process. She is the reason I'm able to share this set and I can't thank her enough. If you click on her name it will take you to her website and she also sells great actions for PSE as well as overlays and textures. So be sure to check out her stuff...she's AWESOME. Another quick shout out for the PSE girls is Rita at The Coffee Shop! Rita is a wonderful caring and VERY talented woman who gives and gives. ALL of the actions & tuts on her site are FREE! Her site helped me get this done as well. So jump over there if you haven't been there yet and leave her some love on her blog if you download anything. So thank you Kim & Rita. You helped me more than you'll ever know!!

Okay, onto the actions! I'm really excited about this set. It's very similar to the Jewel Tone Washes that I shared for full PS users. I basically took the same look, but made it PSE friendly. And I have loaded and tested them all in PSE7 and they work perfectly! YAY! :O)

For the Jewel Tone Washes there are 4 levels adjustment layers all doing something different to your photos, 1 optional b&w gradient map that is turned off (just turn the eye on to use it) and 1 solid color fill. None of these actions flatten, so once you run them you can adjust each and every layer to your taste. You can up the opacity of the layers for an extreme look, lower the opacity of the layers to make it more subtle, you can turn layers off or turn the b&w on! The possibilities are endless!

This set will work on images with good exposure and color. So if your shot is under/over exposed or has any color issues, clean it up first. Because it's a Wash set, if your shot is over exposed, this will bleach it out. Will work fairly well with darker images...within reason. But I do not suggest running this on a SOOC shot as you'll want to add some contrast before the actions. If you don't add some contrast and pop your image a bit, the end result will probably be too washed out!

So here is the original edited image I used for the examples. This photo was taken by my DEAR friend & fellow photographer Amanda. Thank you for giving me such lovely images to play with!

Here are the examples of the Jewel Tone Washes...

All examples above were adjusted after the action ran. Most actions do not look good run as is because every photo needs something different and not all actions look good on all photos.

And here are examples when turning on the b&w gradient map for some b&w tones...

Again, layers adjusted for the examples and you can bring down the tones much more than I did. And you can take it a step further and lower the opacity of the b&w layer for a faded vintage feel or even spice it up and change the blend mode of the b&w layer to soft light (hard light or overlay) and then play with layer opacity. And another thing you can do to change the look of an action that I don't think people think about, is changing the layer order. Switch them around and see what it does to your photos. Actions are ALL about learning! :O)

I also included some extras in the set too! The only one I couldn't get to work was the warmer/cooler because I either use curves adjustment layers or color balance, neither of which PSE uses. I tried to do it in levels but I couldn't get it to look right. Now if you haven't see the Smart Curve yet, GO GET IT! It's a plugin for PSE (it'll be in your Filter menu) and allows you full control with curves and working in the R G B channels. I've tried it and it works GREAT! The only thing is that you can't double click on it to adjust it later like you do with adjustment layers. So make sure to duplicate your photo layer, name it curves and run your Smart Curve on that so you can lower opacity, erase or mask any areas you aren't happy with.

Now comes the not so fun part. How I recorded and saved these. For those of you who know how they come and how to install them, you don't need to read this part. But if you are new to PSE, you might want to know! Full PS is very different. You can have 1 atn file and have as many actions in it as possible. Then you just double click on the atn file and it's loaded in your actions panel in a nice pretty folder with all of your actions in the folder. Well you PSE girls know that it's very different for you.

So what I did is saved a separate folder for EVERY action I ran. Each folder will be named with what action set is inside. In each folder there will be 3 files...the atn file (the action) a png (for PSE 6 & 7) and a psd (for PSE 3,4,5).

Here is what all the folders will look like after you unzip the file...

And here is the inside of one of the actions folder...

Sorry the icon is so ugly. Hopefully they'll get better over time, but I'm not good with that kinda stuff...so maybe not! Ha! You CAN make your own if you'd like to toss mine out! All you have to do is make it 64x64 and get creative. When you are done creating, merge visible (DO NOT flatten) and save as a png with the EXACT same name as my atn file. And if you use PSE 5 or lower, you need to save it as a psd instead of png. But if you can stand looking at my ugly icon, more power to ya! :O)

Now onto installing the actions. Of course you'll have to unzip the file first. Most just double click or right click and choose your unzip program and the rest will be done for you!

I was going to explain it all, but figured I'd leave that to the pros! So if you need help on how to install them go HERE on Rita's site and all the info is there!

Once you've got them all installed (you'll have to go into each folder and copy/paste for each action), just open PSE and click on Photo Effects, then select the one you want to run and either double click it or hit apply.

Momaziggy's PSE Jewel Tone Wash action set!

And after all that boring stuff is done...HAVE FUN!

Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to help. Now that I know what I'm doing, I will from time to time share PSE actions that I think you'll like or will be helpful!

I'd love to see plays with the actions, so you can link me in the comments section and I'll go check them out!

Happy editing! :O)

PSE girls...it's YOUR turn for an action share...

2009-08-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Okay...PSE girls...bare with me! I tried to give you girls an action BEFORE I'd ever even tried running one. I figured all you needed was the ATN file! But now I get it! So I'm going to delete everything out of this post and once I'm all set, I'll post with the correct action set! And I will acutally TEST it before posting. Hopefully by the end of the night!

I'm so sorry for the confusion and next time will be better since I actually KNOW what I'm doing!

NEW action set as promised...Jewel Tone Washes...

2009-08-04T15:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Thank you for being so patient with me. And I wanted to say quickly that I know I don't post on this blog as often as most tutorial type blogs. But when I started this blog I told myself I would only post when I had something I wanted to share. Something that I thought would be helpful. I wouldn't post mindless things just to post regularly. Plus I'm a mom to two kids. Ha! I often feel guilty I don't post more, but this is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I want to enjoy keeping up this blog and do it when I feel like I can help, but not feel that I have to post a certain amount. So thank you for still coming back although I don't post regularly. My only goal with this blog is to share and help, so I hope I've achieved that.

Now onto my new set! I have to say that I am REALLY excited about this set. I think it has so many possibles and hope that you explore them all. I think I'll be using this set a lot and hope you will too. These are not compatible with PSE...I'm sorry! :O(

This set will give you a creative tonal wash to your images. It is *similar* to my Day at the Beach set. But I worked more in the color channels in curves and levels this time around giving what I think is a cleaner look and a little bit different tonal range. This set isn't for everyone tho. For those of you who like the faded wash look, this set is for you. For those of you who only like clean color poppin edits, this isn't for you.

And to help you get the most out of this set I have to remind everyone that not all actions look good on all images. So you have to know what actions to run on what images. The way I run and explore a new action set is to run each one. I start at the bottom and turn each layer on and off, watching what it does to the image. I go up every layer this way. Then I start adjusting layer opacity for the layers that I think are too strong. Then if I want to really change it up I'll turn certain layers off for different types of looks and play with blend modes on different layers. I'll do some making if necessary and sometimes I'll even go in and change settings. It's just a matter of getting to know the action so you know how to get the most out of it and make it your own!

Instead of adding any stops into the actions themselves, I recorded some action tips in the top of the folder. Read them, then if you don't like them in your actions panel, you can delete the instructions/tips. All you have to do is select the ones you want to delete and hit the trash can. And don't worry if you accidentally delete the wrong one. These changes are only in your actions panel...unless you save over the action. So if you mess up, delete the action set from your panel and load it back in! Easy peasy!

Here is a quick run down of the actions...
Gold Glory
Ruby Red
Sapphire Shine
Emerald Empress
Diamond Dazzle
Amethyst Anyone?
then I added some extras...
Lighten/Darken
Warmer/Cooler
Fix Blue/Cyan color cast (went over this in a previous post...use on whites/blacks/shadows)
Luminosity USM Sharpen (for full size images)
Resize to 480px wide (for my IV girls)
Resize to 600px wide (for my 2Peas girls)
Resize to 800px High (for blog vertical images)
Resize to 800px Wide (for blog horizontal images)
Sharpen for the web.

Each action comes with an optional b&w gradient map that is turned off. If you want to play with b&w washed tones, just turn it on. You can play with the opacity for a washed faded vintage look, leave it full force for a old time faded tonal b&w or even play with blend modes and layer opacity! ALL actions/layers in this set come with a layer mask and are grouped in a folder that also includes a layer mask. So you have 100% control to make this action set YOUR OWN! MOST actions do NOT look good run as is! So really get in there and play with the layers! This is not a run as is set by far! Ha! Most likely when you run it, you will think I'm a HORRIBLE PS crazy lady and vow to never come back to my blog and try any of my actions! :O) So for that reason, I did 3 different example sets to show you some of the things this set is capable of. You may still hate it, but give it a try. If you don't like them...DELETE! Ha! You never know until you TRY!

So in this 1st example, I ran the actions on an edited image from my dear friend Amanda. Thank you so much for donating your BEAUTIFUL images for my blog! I LOVE YOU GIRL!

Here is the original edited image I started with...

And here is each wash that I ran and adjusted the layers. I do think that the Sapphire Shine is *similar* and I use similar LOOSELY (ha) to LB's Honey. NOT nearly as good, but fairly similar...

And here are the exact same actions run on another photo Amanda sent me with the b&w gradient map turned on and the layers adjusted. Here is the image I started with. This is Amanda's beautiful daughter...

Oops...forgot to delete the black fill under the above examples..HA!

And here is another example of how you can use these actions. For a Vintage tonal feel. All I did was turn on the b&w layer, change the blend mode to Soft Light and lower the opacity to about 75% then adjusted the other layers. You can go onto dodge/burn and clean them up a bit. But I just wanted to show you another option this set holds for you...

Here is the HORRIBLE image I took of Haylee in our front yard at 2pm....YIKES! I know...but I needed a quick example shot and I wanted a distance scenery type shot for this example. Don't run away PLEASE! Ha!

So if you got this far and are still interested in trying out the my Jewel Tone Wash action set...click HERE

I hope you like the set and gets lots of use out of them. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'd love to see some examples of the actions in play. Just gimme a link and I'll run over to check them out!

My next post that I've been working on this week will be another touch on color correcting and a little more in depth...working in color channels with curves & levels.

Hope everyone is having a GREAT week! :O)

How to FIX my b&w action set...

2009-07-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for the way I recorded the b&w action set and have learned my lesson! The more I play with actions that I've bought, the more I learn about how I like them to run! And I will no longer record future actions this way.

But there is hope! Do you hate the intro/closing? Hate that each action duplicates and renames your photo? I would too! It's VERY easy to fix and will only take a few seconds!

So first, open your actions panel F/9. Now open the b&w folder. Start at the top and open the first action in the set by clicking on the little arrow next to the name. You can see all the steps. The first one is Stop, the second is Duplicate first document. Then the very last step is Stop again. Simply click on the first stop once, then go down to the bottom of the actions panel and hit the trash can. Now the intro will not play. Then go to Duplicate first document, click on it once and hit the trash can. Now the action will no longer duplicate your photo in return, you will retain your file name. Then click on the last Stop (if you want) and delete that. Now you can an action that will just run. Then you can go to town adjusting all the layers...even turning some off.

Here is a screenshot of which ones to delete...

Now you can go onto to save this action, so that if PS ever dumps it for some crazy reason, you won't have to redo all the delete. Just click on the folder and follow the screenshot below. You have two choices as how to save it. You can save it with the same name and save over my original ATN file, or you can save with a different name or name extension so that you always have my original ATN file...

And it's that easy. Again, future actions will be recorded in a much more efficient way! I hope this helps and makes you want to use the set more often!

***I'm also working on a NEW action set as I type this. It will be a creative set with 6 different tonal washes with the option of a b&w layer! I'm really excited about this set, but still have some testing to do before I post it. So hopefully next week! :O)

HAPPY FRIDAY and I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

What do YOU want to see here?

2009-07-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

I haven't forgotten about the blog. Just not feeling very inspired at the moment. I get an idea to post, but it's not great so I don't. I'm feeling very indesicive right now.

So I thought I'd take requests, ideas etc. Any specific tuts or techniques you want to see that I haven't posted yet? Any actions you want me to TRY to create....notice the TRY...ha! And action reviews...if so which ones and I'll see if I have it!

So gimme the push I need to get going again. I can't promise ALL ideas will be done, but I have LOTS of pics to play with right now.

Thank in advance! :O)

And since a post is boring without a picture....

How I did it #1...

2009-07-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Hi all and happy Monday! I will start by saying I am yet AGAIN having issues with my calibrator and I'm about over it! I have a ticket into Spyder and hopefully they will sending out a new calibrator because this is getting OLD! My computer says the device has malfunctioned. I've already un installed and re installed, downloaded the updates yada yada yada! Still not working. Everything else I plug into my USB ports are working perfectly. So instead of not posting on the blog, I figured I'd post anyway but warn you I am working on an UN calibrated laptop...which is a BIG NO NO! My colors are off BADLY and my laptop monitor runs VERY COOL, so these may be WAY too yellow. So take the post/pics with a grain of salt! Ha! Although with that said, my goal was to create a very warm sun kissed edit. On my cool screen it looks good, but it may be overload on yours, especially if you are calibrated. So when I say I edited it to be a warm sun kissed photo, I did not edit it to be an orange kissed photo! Ha! :O) Anything I do in PS right now is just because I need my fix. None will be saved and printed! :O)

So I love how MCP does her blueprint posts and I've always wanted to do something similar. Obviously mine won't be nearly as good and will have various different techniques and actions from different places, whereas she uses all her own actions that she sells. But it may turn you onto an action, texture or technique you didn't know of before!

So I pulled up a pretty boring snap I took of Avyree. And yes, please excuse the fact that she has no shirt on....MOST of the shots I have of her are this way. I know some people think it's wrong to post topless pics of babies, or in their panties (which I've done). But she's 2 and if it were a boy shot it wouldn't be so bad. So this is my choice and I am okay with it! :O)

I am always trying new things in PS. I love getting creative and breaking the rules. I like clean edits, but my heart has ALWAYS been drawn to creative edits...and I think it's there to stay. I especially like to take a very boring/dull snapshot and trying to make it fun! I like to try to make them fun creative works of art...something different. Some turn out good, others NOT! Ha! So you can be the judge if you think this is good or not! To each is own in this awesome world of photography and PS!

Here is the before after and I'll go over what I did...

Now normally when I go for a creative edit, I always do my own standard PP'ing first. This was shot at ISO 1600 (on my XSi is AWFUL) but because I want to try different things, I didn't use my Noiseware plugin nor did I run my All in One action. I did some minor tweaks in ACR (since my colors are off I didn't work too hard on the WB) and then just started playing! I really like to try different actions/textures/overlays etc from different makers on the same photos to get so many different looks. The possibilities are ENDLESS!

The first thing I did was run "Colour me in" from Child's Play and reduced the opacity to 30%. Sometimes I'll add a layer mask to do any masking I want, but again with no calibration, I'm not working real hard right now! Ha!

Then I ran "Felix" from the new Twirl set (can be found at the Child's Play link above) and lowered the opacity of the whole folder to 30%. I just got this set and haven't had much time to play, so I can't wait to play more once I'm calibrated again!

Now comes the REALLY fun part! Then I used 2 AMAZING Overlays that I just bought this am! I LOVE MCP, but she's making me go BROKE! Ha! I bought the 2 textures packs from Kaleidoscope. Head over to MCP and check out her MUCH BETTER examples and get the discount code and run out and get them! She has a texture pack and a VERY unique Overlay pack. I want to do a full review of Kaleidoscope, so I won't say much more. But head over to MCP quick because the discount code ends Aug 2nd then head over to Kaleidoscope and check out her AMAZING examples and hit that BUY button...you won't regret it.

So the first texture I used is called "Red Hot Dream" from her "Dream" texture collection. This is what it looks like before applying it to my image...

So just as with any texture, ctrl/a to select all. Ctrl/c to copy. Then go back to photo, ctrl/v to paste. Then ctrl/t (free transform tool) and stretch it over your image then hit enter. And as you'll see, your picture is completely covered. So I lowered the opacity of the texture layer down to 15%. Then with a low opacity brush, I went over Avyree a bit to lessen the effect of the texture on her.

Now it gets even more fun! Here Overlays are AWESOME! She has bokeh and sunray Overlays and so much more. These will get a LOT of use!

So I used "Sunlight Left" from her "Layer's of Light" collection. Here is what it looks like before I copy/paste it over my image! All the Overlays are .png

Once I get it on my photo and stretched properly, I lowered the opacity of the layer to 30%. Again, you can add a mask and do any masking that you want.

So I decide I'm going to stop here. I could add more but I won't! Ha! These textures and overlays are PERFECT for outside shots! So now I flatten my image and run a Luminosity USM (instructions can be found on a past post here on the blog).

And that's it! It was a really quick play and I had SO much fun with my new toys. I've invested so much in stuff for PS that I need to start playing with it more. When I get my calibrator situation all fixed up, I will do a full review of these WONDERFUL Kaleidoscope textures & overlays with lots of fun examples.

So I hope you enjoyed my very first How I did it! Happy Monday!

Color casts, color correcting & CS4 TAT tool...

2009-07-14T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today I’d like to talk about color casts. What are they you ask? They are the biggest THORN in my side at the moment! And the reason they are the biggest thorn in my side right now is because I can finally SEE them! Ha! And I’d also like to talk about an AWESOME new feature in CS4 called the TAT tool (Targeted Adjustment Tool), which is what helped me start to SEE color casts. Thank you Adobe…what would I do without you in my life! :O) I’ll also being going over color correcting with curves, very briefly because I still have a lot to learn in that department.

Color casts can come in many different forms. Improper white balance, shadows, shade or a reflection of something!

CS4 has this amazing new tool called the TAT. There are many uses for this tool depending on which adjustment layer you are using them for.

Now I know this has nothing to do with color casts or color correcting. But since I’m talking about the TAT tool, I thought I’d go over some of the other ways you can use it. My wonderful friend and photog Amanda Ward has sent me some of her shots to play with. So the next few examples are of a beautiful shot she took and I edited! Thank you Amanda…I HEART you SO!
You can use the TAT tool in a curves adjustment layer. The TAT tool looks like a little hand with the index finger pointing up that will show up in the adjustment dialog box or adjustment panel if you have CS4. How it works is you click on the TAT tool. You will see the eye drop tool. You click on where you want to lighten/darken (highlights/midtones/shadows), hold your mouse down and slide it up or down. So if your midtones are too dark, click and hold on a midtone section of your photo (usually a skin tone) and slide your mouse up a bit watching the photo. If you want your shadows deeper, click on a dark/shadow section of your image, hold down the mouse and slide it down. Watch the dialog box as you click and slide. You will see how the TAT tool reads the tone that you clicked and puts a node in the section and depending on if you slide up or down, your curve line will be up or down. Pretty cool huh?! Here I clicked the side of her neck that was in the shadows. It will then put a node on your curves dialog box where that tone is. Here is an example…

Now I love the side lighting Amanda got with this shot, so I would leave it if I were editing. But for the purpose of this tut, it’s just an example. Here is what it looks like before the TAT tool adjustment in curves and after side by side…

You can also use the TAT tool in a Black and White adjustment layer. I will tell that up until right now, I’ve never done it! Ha! But since I’m always about learning and sharing, I tried it. As soon as you click the Black & White adjustment layer, your image will instantly be converted to a b&w. With my 5 seconds of playing with it, you click on the TAT tool then click on an area of your shot and slide it forward or back. It will read the color of your shot (under the b&w) and adjust the tone of your b&w. I’ve never played with color mixing in b&w’s, so that’s my limited understanding so far. I still prefer a b&w gradient map for my b&w conversions. But the BEST way to learn is to just play around on a practice image. Slide the stuff around and see how it’s affecting your image. Here is a screenshot from me just clicking randomly all over the image and just sliding them around…

And the before and after side by side…

So now back to color casts…the thorn in my side! The first and best way to clean up and prevent color casts is your WB. A proper WB in camera is very important. It can mean the difference of easy editing to full blown color correcting. If you shoot in jpeg, I highly suggest learning about WB and how to set a CWB (custom white balance). For me, I shoot in RAW, so I do my WB in ACR (Adobe Camera RAW). I have a white balance card that I use in extreme bad lighting. Mostly indoor shots with lights on…like in my bathroom. All I have to do is take a pic of my card and then in ACR, use my WB picker, click on the light gray card and then make any adjustments to the sliders to taste. Then I select all, sync and choose WB in the drop down menu. No screenshots for this because this tut is more on fixing it in PS and not ACR. But it’s really important to have the best WB when bringing your images into PS, as you’ll have an easier time and the best end results.

Now even when doing everything right in camera and/or ACR, you can still have color casts. Some cameras just shoot with certain color casts in camera regardless of your WB setting. I’ve learned that my XSi shoots with a blue & cyan color cast on EVERY image…even after making proper adjustments in ACR and playing with different shooting mode and adjusting the settings of my shooting modes. If you are shooting with a lot of greenery around your subject, the skin can have a green or cyan color cast. Or yellow/red color casts in the shadows. Almost always, there are color casts in shadows. And when you shoot in shade which is a cooler color temperature, you can have a lot of blue & cyan color casts. And whites are almost always affected by color casts. My white are ALWAYS blue and/or Cyan even with proper exposure. If my shot is underexposed, then it’s really bad. And my blacks often have the same color cast, especially if shooting in shade or am overexposed. That’s also why it’s SO important to have proper exposure. You can still have color casts with proper exposure, but MUCH less. When your exposure is off, your colors will be off too. Making editing that much harder and time consuming. So always try to achieve proper WB and exposure IN camera! And really look at your photos. Look at the whites…are they true white? Look at the blacks…are they true black. Look at the shadows in your shots. Okay…enough lecturing. :O)

During Memorial weekend this year we went camping in the desert. This is where I really started to see the color casts. My husband and his friends had their riding gear on and where ready to go for a ride. So I took a few snaps of them before taking off and holy color casts batman! Ha! Especially for the guys wearing white gear. The reflection from their dirt bikes in the shadows on their white gear was insane. Adding my normal blue & cyan color casts…it was UGLY! THIS is where my obsession for color casts started.

So I’ll be using a shot from that weekend to demonstrate the color casts from the SOOC shots, the after and how I removed them with the AWESOME TAT tool in CS4. I am sorry for PS users that do not have CS4. This is a new tool and is not present in any other version of PS. But you can still use this tut to help you if you don’t have CS4. You will just have to select your colors manually. More on that later in this post.

Here is the before and after shot of my husband’s friend Trevor, side by side…

As you look at the before/after, look at the shadows of his gear & the whites on the bike that are in the shade! It’s AWFUL. I’m sure I could’ve done a better job in camera to make it a little better. But I’m just not that good yet. And I also didn’t want to blow any highlights. I did miss a few areas in the blacks, but I just did this quickly for the tut.
So what I did was pull up a Hue/Sat layer and clicked on the TAT tool. Then I clicked on the shirt in the shadows and it shows me Blue. So I pull the Blue all the way to the left removing it entirely.

Now as you’ll see, it took the blue out of the entire shot…which I don’t want. I only want to remove the blue color cast from the shadows and in the blacks etc. So I hit ctrl/I to invert the white layer mask to black. Make sure you are ON the white layer mask first. Now the Blue shows everywhere. Now I can paint where I want to remove the blue. So I take my brush tool, soft round brush, foreground color set to white (opposite color of mask) and set my opacity to 100% because I want it GONE! Ha! Then I simply start painting on my image where I want to remove the Blue color cast.
Now I do have to be careful not to paint out blue where I want it. So I have to be careful not to remove Blue from his bike, or the drink spout hanging over his shoulder etc. What if I accidentally remove it where I don’t want it? Easy…I just switch my foreground color back to black, paint where I want the Blue back, then switch my foreground color back to white and continue removing Blue. Play with the brush opacity depending on how much of the color you want to remove. Here is what my layer looks like after painting OUT the Blue in the shadows.

After I’m done removing the Blue, I still see other color casts in the shadows. YES, there can be more than one…UGH! Are you starting to see why this is such a thorn in my side? I almost think life was more peaceful when I had horrible color casts and didn’t know it! Ha!

So what I’m going to do now, since my eye isn’t great at seeing all the colors yet, is pull up a new hue/sat layer. I like to name each layer for the color I remove. So on the Blue, I would name it –Blue. Now I select that TAT tool again and to start, just start clicking around in the shadows watching what color the TAT tool picks up. The next color I see is Magenta. Now because I don’t have a lot of Magenta in my image, I don’t mind pulling it all out. So on this layer I leave the mask white so that ALL the Magentas are pulled out of the entire image. I name this layer –Magenta. The best way to see where the colors are of the layer you just pulled down is to leave the mask white and toggle the layer on and off. You’ll be able to see where it’s pulling it from and that will determine if you leave the mask white and remove it from the entire image or if you will invert the mask and only remove it from certain sections.
I know I’m not done yet because I KNOW my camera will have a Cyan color cast in there too. I could just open a new hue/sat layer, select Cyan from the drop down menu and pull it all the way out and toggle the eye on and off to see where the Cyan is. But…I want to see just how smart and accurate this TAT tool is. Which of course it IS! And yes, I eventually find Cyan and pull it all the way out. But with the sky, mountains and the bike in this shot, I don’t want to pull it out everywhere. So just like the Blue hue/sat layer, I will invert the mask, and paint where I want to remove the Cyan. And I personally like to do a separate hue/sat layer for every color I work on so that I can play with layer opacity separately. Again, toggle that eye on and off with the white layer mask so you can SEE where it’s pulling from. Here is my screenshot after removing all Magenta and masking out Cyan…

Now once I’m done removing all the color casts in my shadows with the TAT tool in various hue/sat layers, I like to create a folder and move all the color correcting layers into it. Well actually, I usually do create a folder BEFORE starting my color correction layers, but forgot for the tut. So either before you start your layers or after, hit the create a folder icon. If you do it before, all layers opened will go in this folder. If you do it after, you will have to slide each layer you want in your folder. Here’s a screenshot of mine…

Now the fun part…collapse the folder and turn it on and off! What a difference! :O)

Since I know my camera shoots with a Blue & Cyan color cast and I am becoming more aware of other color casts. I recorded a Color Correcting action and assigned a keyboard shortcut of Shift F/9. I created a folder, named it Color Correcting. Then I did a separate hue/sat layer for each color in the drop down menu. I pulled each color all the way down to zero, named the layer but then inverted the mask to black. The only color I did differently was Red. I only removed –10 and left the layer mask to white. So now when I hit Shift F/9, I have a black layer mask for every color except red. Sometimes I’ll change the red to –5 and sometimes I’ll just turn that layer off. Then I invert the Blue and Cyan because I know I need them, and I mask back in things that should be Blue/Cyan. If I see other color casts I’ll switch the mask white and toggle it on and off to check for that color. If a color layer isn’t needed, I just turn off the eye. This has saved me a LOT of time and I highly suggest recording your own action.

If you don’t have CS4, you can still use this method to train your eyes to see color casts and remove them. It’s just a few more steps. Just open a hue/sat layer and use the drop down menu. Pick any color you want to start with. Then pull the Saturation slider all the way to the left. Now turn the eye on and off for that layer. Did it help your photo? If not, slide the Saturation slider back to zero, or just type in zero. Try the next color. If it helped, name that layer. Turn it on and off and determine if you want the color removed from the whole image. If so, leave the mask white. If you only want it removed from a small section, invert the mask, and paint with white to remove it from where you want. To start until you get a better eye, try every color. After a week or two, you’ll really start to SEE the general color casts and the color cast in the shadows, whites and blacks.

This method also works great for removing yellow from teeth. Pull up a hue/sat layer, pull the yellows all the way down or half way down depending on how much you want to remove. Then invert the mask and paint with white where you want to remove the yellow. Also great for the whites of eyes. This method also helps remove some red from the eyes. But whenever you are removing red…be VERY careful. In skin tones it can go scary gray QUICK. But it can also go funky in the whites of the eyes and you have to be very careful when painting the whites of the eyes making sure not to paint on the eye lids at all. So always be aware when pulling reds!

Now let’s say you want to lighten the shadows on your skin tones a bit after you color correct them. This WILL NOT remove the shadows, but will lighten them a little bit, making them less harsh! And the great thing is you are using your subjects skin tones, so it’s completely natural.

First thing you need to do is create a new blank layer. Name it whatever you’d like. I name it shadow fix. Now take your eye dropper tool and select a section of skin that is near the shadow. The goal is to select a neutral skin tone that is a bit brighter than the shadows. But not 10 shades lighter. Ha! Then once you have a skin tone sample, you will see that color is now your foreground color. Take your brush tool, soft round brush and set your opacity to about 10%. Maybe 20%. But for this method, the key is light brush strokes and going over and area several times. Rather than blasting it with a high opacity and lowering the layer opacity. It won’t blend as naturally this way.
Now start painting where you want the shadows lightened on the skin. As you paint, toggle the shadow fix layer on and off to see how it’s affecting your image. Here is what my layers panel looks like…probably pointless since you can’t see the paint on the blank layer…

And here is the before & after side by side provided by Amanda again. Look at her neck area, chest near hair line and her right eye near her hair. It’s subtle, but the shadows are less harsh but still look natural. This also works great for shining/oily spots on skin, or evening a newborns skin tones!

Now you can also color correct with Curves. THIS is the preferred method of the pros. But since I’m not a pro, I haven’t ventured too much into it. For now, where I am with my skill level, I prefer to work with the hue/sat layers and masking. But I will go over the BASICS of using a Curves Adjustment layer for color correcting universal color casts, from the little I’ve learned. By universal color casts, I mean the one your camera shoots with. Or an overall color cast that is effecting your whole image.
Let’s start with the GORGEOUS shot of Amanda’s daughter that she took. The first thing I see is that it’s warm and red. So I want to remove some yellow first. When color correcting with curves, you are adding a color to balance out the opposite color (hope I explained that properly) vs removing it the way I do with hue/sat layers. So knowing that I want to remove some yellow, I know to do that I have to add Blue. So in the drop down menu that is default RBG, I select Blue. Now I take the middle of the line and pull it up and out a bit watching my photo until the yellow is more subtle, but not so far the colors go too cold….

Now I also see that this shot is a bit red for my taste. So while I still have my curves adjustment open, I will now select Red from the drop down menu. The great thing is you can color correct all the colors in one layer as long as it’s a universal color cast and not a color cast in a specific area, which will require masking. I will say this is probably the best method for fixing red skin tones as it doesn’t go gray as fast like with a hue/sat layer. Just don’t go too far or you will introduce a green color cast. So I select Red in the drop down menu and pull it down & out a bit until I’m happy with it…

Now as I look at this shot, I’m seeing some green color cast in her hair. And when you remove Green in the curves drop down menu, it adds Magenta. Please don’t shoot me if any of this is a little off…I’m still learning color balance. But I’m pretty sure it’s Magenta and not Red that counter acts Green. Gosh…how embarrassing! Ha! So, I don’t want to enhance Magenta (or Red lol) in this shot. So in order to color correct her hair, I will do this in a separate curves adjustment layer so that I can do some masking. I open another curves adjustment layer and select green. I pull it down and out watching JUST her hair or wherever else I see a green color cast. Here is what I have now…

As you can see, her hair is looking less green, but YUCK on the rest of it. So just like above, I will invert the mask to black, and paint with white where I want the green color cast removed. In this case, just her hair. If I’d wanted it removed from a large section and only wanted a small section to stay, I would’ve left the mask white and painted it out of where I didn’t want it. But again, since I only want the green color correct on the hair, I want the black layer mask. Here is what it looks like after I’m done painting the hair back in. Here you have two options. Paint her hair back in at 100% opacity and lower the layer opacity, or paint with a low opacity brush until it looks good to you and leave the layer opacity. That’s a personal choice…

And here is my NEWBIE real first attempt at color correcting using Curves Adjustment layers…

As I’m sure you can see, I still have a long way to go with this method. It just takes practice…sometimes a LOT of practice. But that’s what I love about this blog. I learn with you. It was fun doing the color corrections with curves because I don’t try it enough. So I was teaching myself a little as I was writing this and doing the screenshots.

So that’s it for today. I know…you are thinking…that’s it???? This is like 20 pages long! Ha! If you’ve been here since the beginning, you know that about me. And if you haven’t, you’ll learn that about me! :O)

So I hope this helps you to start to see the color casts in your images and gives you a starting point in HOW to see them and how to start correcting them. As with anything in PS, there are a million and one ways to do everything. So these are just two ways. And always…practice over and over and over until you get more comfortable with it. And I’ll say one last thing…WB and colors are subjective. What one person likes, another may not. I tend to prefer warmer shots & skin tones. A correct WB isn’t always the best WB. You have to discover what you like and edit to that goal! :O) Photography and editing is ALL personal preference!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer your questions and if I don’t know the answer…I NEED to. So I’ll do my best to find the answer…for both of us! :O)
HAPPY color correcting!

Product review....Auto Loader....

2009-07-10T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today I would like to talk about a product I just recently purchased and am THRILLED with. This product will help speed up your workflow and allow PS to work on one image at a time. No more having several images open and slowing down PS or having it crash on you!

What this WONDERFUL product does is load each image for you one at a time in PS, automatically runs an action that you assign to it and then once you've edited and flattened the layers, closes and saves your image for you in the location you choose. Then it opens the very next file in the folder runs the action and so on.

It's SO very simple to install and easy to and use! I've only used it for a couple days and I already can't live without it. When you purchase and download the program it will come with instructions on how to install and how to assign an F key in PS. I used F5.

It works with jpegs, tiffs and psds. If you shoot in RAW, you will need to do your RAW edits in ACR and save as jpegs then load the jpegs with the Auto Loader. I shoot in RAW and don't find this simple extra step to be a problem. So I open my RAW files via Bridge which opens them in ACR. After my ACR edits are complete I select the images I want or if I will use all, I hit Select all then hit Save Image...

Then this dialog box comes up. All you need to do is assign a folder for the jpegs to be saved in. I made a folder titled jpegs IN the folder that the RAW files exist. Then you can name them and add the date etc and choose your format (I chose jpeg) and the quality you'd like the file saved as. I chose quality 10. Once I've hit saved, I click Done in ACR.

If you do not shoot in RAW, the above steps are not necessary. So now we open PS. You need to SET the Auto Loader for each new set of images you'll be working on. It VERY quick and easy. You've already set the shortcut key right after you installed it. So go to File>Automate>Auto Loader 3 SET!

Here is where you tell the Auto Loader where to pull the images from (in this case the RAW files that I converted to jpegs in their own folder). You can see the extension in the Source Folder section. I just leave all three extensions checked even though I only have jpegs. Next click on the Run an action immedately after the image is loaded. Then use the first drop down menu to select the folder, then the action that you want applied to all your images in that folder. I have an All in Once action that is set up pretty well and has the layers already adjusted. Then you need to tell the Auto Loader where to save the edits. I made another folder title PP for post processed in the same place I made my jpeg folder. However you want to do it is fine. Then finally you assign the format in which you want your edits saved and the quality. As you can see I chose jpeg quality 10. And now the Auto Loader is set to the folders you want to edit and save in. Pretty easy huh? :) Now click Save and close!

You are now ready to start editing. ALL you have to do now is hit the F key that you assigned for the Auto Loader. As I said, I chose F5. So now I just hit F5 and it will open the first image in the folder I told it to draw from. It will automatically run my All in One action so I just sit and watch and drink some coffee. It only takes a second tho! Ha! Then what I LOVE the most is all my layers are there for me to adjust. So I make any adjustments, maksing etc, then I can even run more actions which I do. After my edits on my All in One action are done, I flatten and run my Color Corrections action if needed and flatten, then run my Luminosity USM sharpen and flatten. I may eventually add these to my All in One action but for now this works for me. Then once I'm completely done with my edit I flatten and just hit F5. The Auto Loader then saves my image as a jpeg 10 and opens the next image in my folder, runs my All in One action and leaves it open for me to edit, flatten and hit F5 again. I do this until I am done with my folder. The great thing also is that if you don't finish your folder and need to leave/take a break whatever, the Auto Loader remembers what image you are on. So if you shut down PS in the middle of a folder, just open it when you are ready to finish and hit F5 again and it will start where you left off.

The time cut down by not having several images open in PS and slowing it down and not having to open and save is AMAZING! I wish I'd found out about this much sooner. My editing time is now cut down in atleast half. You don't realize how much time it takes to open and save every file. And now my CS4 is running so much faster because I only have 1 image open at a time.

So if you find that you edit a lot of photos, wheter in business or not (I am not) this product can help your GREATLY. And THE BEST PART...it's AFFORDABLE! So run out and get it right away...I PROMISE you won't regret it!!!!

And one last thing I will say is that Mike ROCKS and customer service is AWESOME! If you have any questions, I will do my best to help. I'm still very new to the product so if I'm not able to answer any questions, you can check out the website for help! :O)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

The Creative Mama...a MUST see..

2009-07-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

A dear photog friend of mine, Angie Warren has a wonderful blog called The Creative Mama! It's a wonderful and beautiful blog that you should check out right away. She is also doing a 2 week photography series with inverviews with AMAZING photgraphers. Today she interviewed the AMAZING Marta Locklear. Please go to her site, you will not regret it! Her images are BREATHTAKING, full of emotion and beauty. On top of that, The Creative Mama is giving away PSCS4! So stop by, read the WONDERFUL article, check out Marta's site and Angies site and enter to win CS4! :O)

Let's POP the eyes...

2009-07-01T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't get this posted last night. Went to dinner with the family! :O)

So first I want to share how I pop eyes by hand, then I'll talk about the action. When popping eyes, you need to be very careful. There is a fine line between eyes that sparkle and pop, and eyes that look over worked and scary. Always use a light hand when popping eyes. And something that is very important to me when working on the eyes is to keep detail. Sure, you can lighten them so they stand out, but if not done right, they lose detail. And when eyes lose detail, they look vacant, which can ruin a really great shot. The eyes are the soul of the shot, so it's important to keep detail to keep emotion.

So here is my SOOC shot (tweaks in ACR & sharpened for the web) that I'll be using for the Tut & the action set.

This is my cousin. She is beautiful and has gorgeous eyes. My SOOC shot (taken a year ago) does NOT do them justice. So my goal is to get them looking like they look IRL (in real life).

So the first thing I do (which I didn't show in the tut..sorry) is create a new folder and name it Eyes. This way all of the layers I use are in one folder. I can turn the folder on/off to see my results.

Now since we are just working on the eyes, we need to select them. For the selection here, we are only selecting the iris of the eye. So take whatever method you use to make a selection and select both eyes. I like to use the Quick Wand. Make sure that whatever selection tool you use, have it set to ADD to selection so you can select both eyes at the same time. **Quick note...if your eyes don't have the same light in each (one in shadows) you might want to work on them seperately). One you have your eyes selected, right click and choose Feather. I use 2px feather. Here's a screenshot...

Now with your selection in place, open a curves adjustment layer. We are going to use the Curves to do a basic lighten. So take the midtones section of the curves line (middle) and pull it up & out watching the eyes as you pull it. As you'll notice, the highlights section will also go up a bit! You'll see it lighten, but you'll also see you lose some detail. So now, take the shadows section of the curves line (bottom) and pull it down a tad. When you look in your layers panel, you will see a black layer mask with white where the eyes are. Basically this means the curves you just did are on the eyes (white...showing) and where you see black, the curves are hidden. I like to change the blend mode to Luminosity for my curves layers so there is no yellowing. But if you want some yellow in your eyes, leave it as is. Sorry I forgot to change the blend mode for the screenshot. Too many kids here this morning! Ha!

Now you'll see your selction is gone. But we need it back. Don't worry, you don't have to reselect the eyes. Just hold down the ctrl button and click on the black layer mask and VIOLA...your selection is back. And you don't have to re feather, because the first layer already has the feather in the selection. Now open a levels adjustment layer. This is my FAV layer for the eye pop. This is where I get a LOT of detail and depth back in the eyes. I usually only worry about the shadows & highlights for this layer. We already worked on the midtones with the curves adjustment layer. So I take the shadows slider in more than I normally would till the darks of the eyes are deep. Then I take the highlights slider in until the lights of the eyes really POP. You can leave the blend mode to Normal here. Here's my screenshot...

Now IF you want to do some sharpening to the eyes, here's how I do it WHEN I do it. Go down to the photo and and duplicate the layer and name it what you like. I named mine USM. I also slide it up into the Eyes folder. I like to sharpen the whole eye area vs just the iris. This way it looks a bit more natural rather than really sparkly sharp iris' and dull lashes. Plus it makes the whole eye area POP more this way. So take your lasso tool and loosely select the whole eye area like this. You don't have to be perfect because you can play with layer opacity and add a white layer mask to lighten/remove the sharpening where you don't want it. And right click, feather, I again use a 2px feather. Here's my selection...

Now run a USM. I like to edit hot and play with layer opacity. So I go pretty strong here. Amount 150, Radious 1.5, Threshold 3. After you hit click DON'T do anything else yet!!!!

I prefer to do Luminosity sharpen whenever I run a USM (Unsharp Mask). So RIGHT AFTER you hit okay on the USM dialog box, go to Edit>Fade Unsharp Mask and change the MODE to Luminosity. You can change the opacity here, but I prefer to do that in the layers panel.

If the sharpening went over where you didn't want it, add a white layer mask, brush tool, round soft brush, opacity at about 10%, flow 15%, foreground color set to black and paint where you want to lesson or remove the sharpening. Now play with the opacity of the layers if you'd like. I like to toggle the folder on/off to see how much it changed the eyes.

I personally rarely ever POP eye color. But if I do decide to do it, I use the Lab Color POP, add a black layer mask and paint over just the eyes at 100% brush opacity and lower the layer down to about 10-30%. The LAB color pop is in the action set! :O)

And here is my after. I went pretty light on the eyes here, but you can use stronger settings and lower opacity or mask out with a low opacity brush...

And here is the before/after side by side. A nice subtle POP.

Now let's talk about the Eye POP action set I recorded. Sadly I rarely use it, but I do think it's a pretty good action and will give you a LOT of control over all aspects of your eyes in your images. Every layer has a black layer mask attached...which means the effect of every layer is hidden. You have to paint the effect of each layer back IN. To paint in on each layer mask, first make sure you are ON the black layer mask. Just click it once and when you paint on your image, it will paint on the black layer mask. Then choose your brush tool...soft round brush, layer opacity pretty low as well with flow rate. Make sure your foreground color is set to white, and start painting. The action is recorded in a folder, so you can minimize it to do further edits, turn it on/off to see the results etc.

There are 6 actions in this set. The first is the Eye POP. Then there are color pops for different eye colors (I will admit these are just OKAY) and then one general eye pop that is the Lab Color POP. You can play with all of them to see which you prefer, or none. Ha! And again, please excuse the breaks. I recorded this a while ago and have since learned my lesson! :O)

In the Eye POP action there are 8 layers. The top photo layer is the dodge/burn layer. Probably not needed because the other layers give you full control, but I just threw it in there. The next layer from the top going down is "No Bloodshot". Basically this layer is just to remove red. Use it only on the whites of the eyes or if you have red reflections in the eyes. The next layer is "Lushes Lashes". Use this on the lashes to deepen/darken them and can also be used on makeup or eye liner. The next layer is "White whites" which you know what to do. Use a low opacity brush here!!! You don't want freaky white whites!!!!! The next layer is "Catch Lights" which will give them a bit of shine and enchance the lights of the eyes. The next layer is "Give em depth" and my FAV layer. This will pop the highlights and deepen the darks of the eyes, giving them depth and detail. The next layer is "Give em light". As you can tell, it will lighten the eyes. Don't go too far or you'll loose detail. And the last layer of this action is "Sharp eyes". For this layer (like the tut) I like to sharpen the iris and the surrounding eye area including the eye lashes. For this layer, I like to use a brush opacity of 100% then lower the opacity of the layer. But that's a personal preference.

I think the key to popping eyes with this action is to use a lower brush opacity when painting so as to not make a major change with just one layer. A light hand on all layers will combine a nice eye pop.

So looking back at the original image...here is my after using the eye pop action. I went a bit strong to show you what it's capable of. You can go even stronger (although I don't recommend it lol) or even lighter than I did...

And here is the side by side. Normally I would do more cleanup to the eyes, removing makeup spots etc. But I just did the basics for this post.

So if you'd like to download and try my Eye POP Action set, please let me know how you like it. I can't wait to hear what you think. I hope this post finds you well and I hope you and your family has a WONDERFUL & SAFE 4th of July! :O)

Random tips for a random day...

2009-06-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty random today. My thoughts are everywhere and no where. But I just felt the urge to post today. So I thought of some random things I do in CS4 fairly regularly. I wanted to share them with you hoping they might help you as well. And at the bottom I'll show you my FAVORITE thing for editing!

So to start off today's random...ness, I thought I'd show you the best, fastest and most natural method of creating and edge burn/vignette. There are hundreds of different ways of doing it and I've tried MANY. To date tho, this is my favorite. It's really fast and a very natural look. I used to lower my edge burn opacity down to 10-30% usually because they were pretty strong and just didn't look natural. Now with this method, I range between 30-75% opacity. I don't use edge burns as often anymore (the newness & excitement wore off) but when I do, this is my go to method!

Open your image and duplicate the layer (ctrl/j). Make sure you are on the top photo layer. Select your Rectangle Marque tool...no feather needed. Make your selection, keeping in mind the edge burn will be on the OUTside of you selection. Notice the Refine Edge button. Once you've made your selection it should look something like this...

Once you have your selection, hit the Refine Edges button and put in anywhere between 100-200 in the Feather section. I THINK Radious is default to 1 and I just leave it be. I shoot in RAW so my images are very large, I always use 200. But for smaller images, you'll want a smaller number. Play with the feather option here for different size pics. Then hit okay...

Now hit the delete key. What this does is delete the center which is what you've selected. And because you put a 200 Feather on it, it will feather it nicely, for a smooth natrual transition...

So you are probably wondering what the heck is going on because obviously your image looks the exact same. We are about to change that. Now hit ctrl/d to deselect and get rid of the selection. Now go to your blend options and change it to Multiply. Now you edge is DARK. This is your edge burn. You can play with different blend mode options for different edge looks. You will probably also want to play with the opcaity. At 100%, it's pretty strong. I chose 50%. Now normally I wouldn't put an edge burn on this shot, but I just grabbed this Vegas pic for a quick example.

And if you want, you can change the order up of changing the blend mode so that you can see the burn right away. Right after you duplicate your photo layer, you can then change it to Multiply and then make your selection and so on. Some prefer to see the dark before making their selection. You may already do this type of edge burn, but if not...give it a try. You might prefer it and you might hate it! :O) Whateva floats your boat.

Then next tip I wanted to share is also in my Basic workflow post, but I wanted to go over it again because I LOVE it. It's about dodging (lightening) & burning (darkening) certain areas of your photo. I never use PS's dodge/burn tools anymore. This is the only way I dodge/burn and have it recorded into my All in One action. This method works on 1 layer, so you can do both on one layer and have control with your brush opacity.

I think the key to dodging/burning is LOW opacity brush strokes. It will take more time, but will result in a more natural final image. What I love about dodging/burning are two things. One...you can change the attention of your photo and where the light falls...within reason of course. Now I burn much more than I dodge. And what I LOVE about burning the most is that it can take dull flat colors and areas of your image and make them deep and rich. You can also use this layer to make an edge burn or a faded edge.

First thing you need to do is create a new layer. This step is important. You do not want to create a new layer in the layers panel. Either hit ctrl/shift/n or go up to Layers>New>New Layer. When the dialog box comes up, change the blend mode to either Overlay (which I use) or Soft Light. Then under the blend mode, check the box to fill with 50% gray. Here is what the dialog box looks like...

Now when you look at your layers panel, you'll see that the new layer is now gray, but you can't see it on your photo. Now select your brush tool. To burn, change your foreground color to BLACK. Set your opacity to about 10% and your flow to about 15%. For some odd reason, I always go 5% up from my opacity for my flow. I'm odd that way! Ha! Now just paint on your image where you want to burn/darken or enrich colors. This works great on grass, concrete or asphalt. I like to use it on the background a lot so that I can deepen/darken it and it helps the subject POP against the darker background. Then to dodge, you just change your foreground color to white and I would lower your opacity/flow rate. You have to be more careful when dodging because it can strip/fade color and leave it lifeless. So be very careful when dodging and go LIGHT. It's better to go over a section a few times at a VERY low opacity brush, then to blast it and have that blasted area look ghost like and faded. And for that reason, I NEVER dodge eyes. I hate the vacant, lifeless, no detail look it gives. Not insulting anyone who does, I'm just sayin! Ha! :O) And a great way to see how it's effecting your image is to toggle the dodge/burn layer on and off. That is really when you get to see how well your image has transformed!

Here is my before/after shot. It's subtle which I think is what you want. You want baby steps that slowly transform your images. Not one step that says WOW...look at me. Side by side it isn't as noticable. But when I toggled the layer on and off I could see how much I was able to control where the light fell on the image and how I was able to deepin and enrich the colors. And let's say you want to burn one section just a tad and want to burn another section a lot...just change your opacity/flow rate as you dodge or burn different areas for COMPLETE control. And of course, you can always lower the opacity of the layer. So give it a try and I think you'll prefer this method of dodging/burning.

Now in talking about deepening and enriching colors, I thought about a tool that I use only once in a while, but am VERY fond of. It's called the Sponge tool. Before I saw a tut on ILP, I'd never even heard of it. Now I think it's great. The sponge tool allows you to do two things...Saturate areas of your photo or desaturate areas of your photo. Again the key here is LOW opacity brush strokes.

So lets say you have an image with pretty greens and flowers etc and you want to bring out the colors a BIT. Just a slight selective color pop without risking your colors going neon and only on certain parts of your image.

Open the image and duplicate the layer (ctrl/j). You ALWAYS want to work on duplicate layers so you can control the opacity of that layer. Now hit o on your keyboard. If the sponge tool doesn't pop up, hold down the shift key while pressing o until it pops up...or just click on it. I'm a keyboard shortcut JUNKIE! :O)

Now at the top it gives you the option to Saturate or Desaturate. Select Saturate. Now change the opacity of the sponge tool to about 10%. Again, we want it to look natural. Now simply start painting on the image where you want the colors saturated. Here is a screenshot...

And here is a quick before/after shot. Excuse all my Vegas pics. They are the only ones on my laptop right now because I'm still editing them and haven't moved them to my EHD yet. As you'll see, it's not a crazy difference. Because we want subtle improvements. But look at the logo on the Luxor Hotel, the Sphynx and the trees/grass/flowers. Just a nice color pop! This method will give you a brighter color pop vs burning will give you a richer deeper more urban color pop.

You also have the option to desaturate. I over saturated the same original photo for this tut. This is NOT how I edit...haha! So now my colors are wonky and I want to tone it down a bit. So you do the exact same thing, but this time choose Desaturate instead. You can use a bit of a higher opacity for this, but I wouldn't go too high or your colors can start to look gray. I've used this method when I have shots where the magentas in my kids clothing can be overwhelming to the shot. And the great thing is you can Sat or Desat on the same layer just by choosing either one and playing with the opacity of the Sponge tool!

So now that I'm on the subject of color pop, I learned a cool little trick for giving a good color pop to your shots. I will say this before hand, it's STRONG and you WILL need to lower the opacity of the layer pretty low and you WILL most likely want to mask it off of skin tones. But it's a great method for landscape shots or portraits where there is a lot of scenery in your shot. Again, I like to edit hot and dial down, so the method here is pretty strong. I'd rather have to tone it down, then want it more and not have enough. KWIM? :O)

First thing you want to do is duplicate your photo layer (ctrl/j) and I like to name my layers. So I name it LAB color POP. Yes, I said LAB, but don't worry, it's EASY and won't degrade the quality of your image from switching. Now go to Image>Mode>LAB Color. Here's a screenshot...

IMPORTANT...a dialog box will come up and ask you if you want to Flatten...choose DON'T FLATTEN...

Now you are in LAB mode. Not too scary huh? Open a curve adjustment layer. You'll see in the drop down menu you see Lightness (for the L in LAB)...don't do anything with this channel. Click the arrow on the drop down menu and choose a (for the A in LAB....seeing a pattern...lol). Now take the top right anchor and pull it in a bit, keeping it touching the top of the box. This is where you have some control on how MUCH color pop you'll have. The further you go in, the stronger the color pop. Then go to the bottom left anchor and do the same. It's important to pull both in the SAME amount or you will get bad color shifts and casts. Here is what my channel a looks like..

Now go to channel b and do the exact same thing. Again, making sure that you pull the top & bottom the same amount and the same amount as you did in channel a. Here's is what channel b looks like...

Now we want to go back to RGB Color but we cannot do it with an adjustment layer open. So right click on the curves adjustment layer and choose merge down. So you are merging down that layer onto the top photo layer. Then go back to Image>Mode>RBG Color. Again it will ask you if you want to flatten...choose DON'T FLATTEN or you will no have control to play with layer opacity or masking...

Now you have a top photo layer that has the LAB color POP on it. I like to add a white layer mask so that I can mask out any areas that I want less color pop. Or you could add a black layer mask if you only want to pop selective areas of your photo. Then play with the opacity of the layer. I recorded an action for this so I can do it in the push of 1 button.

Here is a quick before and after with my opacity on the after at 30%...

And last final thing for the day. I wanted to share with you something that has made my editing life SO much easier and a joy to do.

This was my Mother's Day present and I will NEVER edit without one again...

Please excuse my shots and colors here. I didn't have the original of these, so I had to pull them from my photography message board and they are a MESS. But this is my Wacom Bamboo Fun Medium tablet! I HEART it and am ready to marry it! Masking is actually EASY & FUN now. Making selections is a BREEZE. So...if you have some extra money and mask/select a lot, or like to draw and create things in PS...you really should get this! You can get them in electronic stores, Amazon, Camera stores and online camera stores. You won't regret it!

So that's my randomness for the day. I hope you find something in this post that will be helpful! Have a great weekend girls! :O)

My basic workflow...

2009-06-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

**Quick disclaimer…I am not a PRO, I am not in business. I am just a MWAC who is obsessed with taking and editing pictures. I have had no formal training. Just what I’ve learned online and in books. So please take what works for you out of this tut and leave the rest. Each photo needs something different. And as with everything in PS (Photoshop) there are a million and one ways to skin a cat! Ha! This is just the process that I have found works for me. I am constantly learning and evolving and my steps do change. But for the last 6 months or so, this has been my consistent workflow and I’m pretty happy with it!**

I finally have a good consistent work flow and I thought I’d share how I edit my photos. This is just a basic clean it up standard edit. It will not go into fixing blemishes, how to even out skin tones (which this pic could use lol), enhancing eyes or color correcting. I will go over how * I * do that in another post. It’s nothing to write home about but is meant to give you a starting point and then you can adjust it from there. This is for good SOOC shots, or cleaned up in ACR and good images when brought into my CS4.

Here is what the SOOC camera, ACR edits and final edits look like side by side...

And here is the SOOC & final basic edit side by side...

I shoot in RAW, so the first thing I do is open my RAW images (.CR2 for Canon and I believe it’s .NET for Nikon) through Bridge. It opens my images in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). I won’t go into the boring details that I do in Bridge. But I do love me some Bridge! Ha!

I first take the WB (white balance) picker and try to find a neutral gray area to check. If I can find one, this works the best because it reads your photo and gives the most true WB. If I cannot find a neutral gray color, I will click other areas that are close and sometimes get lucky and sometimes will find a decent spot but still need to play with the sliders a bit to get it more accurate. If I cannot find any neutral area in my photo, then I start with the presets. Most of the time As Shot works just fine for outdoor photos with some slider adjustments. Indoors is a whole nother world. Lol! I shoot in AWB (Auto White Balance) because I shoot in RAW. If I try a preset, I will usually try Auto and it works pretty well, but always always play with the sliders after I select the preset because they are still usually off a bit. I find the Daylight preset to be too warm for outside shots, even though I do prefer my images on the warmer side vs the cooler side.

Once I have my WB where I want it, I will play with the Exposure slider IF needed. If my image is a bit underexposed I will up it. If it’s a bit over exposed I will usually leave the Exposure slider alone and play with the Recovery Slider and Blacks slider. I find I prefer these two sliders together for overexposed images vs the Exposure slider by itself. Just seems to be a cleaner way to get the colors and richness back in. But if it’s very overexposed, then I’ll play with the Exposure slider as well. Then once I’ve worked on my WB, Exposure/Recovery/Blacks sliders, I will up the clarity a bit. Don’t go too far or your images will have too much contrast and become harsh looking. The clarity slider gives you well…Clarity! Ha! It helps defog the image a bit and gives it some depth. I never go above 30 on portraits and usually much lower. But on landscape/random/flower shots, I’ll up it a bit above 30 depending on the pic and the look I’m going for. Then if I’m feeling colorful I’ll up the Vibrancy slider a bit. This works differently than the Saturation slider that I NEVER use. It takes colors that are dull in your image and ups them a bit. It does not touch colors that are already properly saturated. I use this very slightly if at all on portraits unless there is a lot of scenery/sky. But I do use it on landscapes/random/flower shots. And that is all I do in ACR. You can do MUCH more in ACR, but I prefer to work in layers. If I am batch processing, I will open a set of shots taken in the same lighting, edit the first, then select all and synchronize them. I then look at each one and make any small adjustments if needed. If I’m editing a big batch, I will hit done so that the ACR edits are saved, but so I do not have to open them all in CS4 and risk it running too slow. If I only have a few, then I hit Open Images and do the rest in CS4.

Here is what my ACR screen looks like once I've made my ACR adjustments...

I recorded an All in Once action with my steps, with each layer set up for what I’ve found works for my Canon photos. If I’m editing my friends Nikon images, I have to scale this way back. I’ve found that my Canon shots are much more dull and flat which I’ve found I like a LOT because I feel I have more control & I LOVE to edit. I’m a crazy control freak with my photos…and a big OCD! Shhh…don’t tell anyone! And the Nikon shots I’ve taken in RAW on her camera are much more rich & colorful. Which works for some because there is less to do in PP’ing (post processing=editing), but I prefer a blanker slate.

**Disclaimer…this is in NO way bashing Nikon or saying anything bad about the brand because they are AWESOME…really! Just the experiences I have had personally with shooting images from my entry level XSi and my friends entry level D60. So please do not shoot me Nikon girls…lol…it’s just my personal preference! I love you too! Heck, I love everyone who shoots with ANY camera. As long as you are taking pictures and enjoying the process! End of disclaimer! **

Once I open the image(s) in CS4 I hit shift/f9…which is my All in One Action. The first thing it does is run my TRA Oh Snap action which is the EXACT same as PW’s free Boost action in Set 1 (and you can get Set 2 here as well...they are GREAT) It contains 3 layers…a high pass sharpen layer which works as a Defog. I have the opacity of this layer set to 75%. Then the next layer is a strong S Curve. This layer as is, is CRAZY & makes skin tones wonky and yellow. So I have my action set up to change the blend mode to Luminosity. Now I do not have wonky skin tones. I have it set to 50% opacity. Then the final layer in this action is a very slight Saturation boost. I’m not a big Saturation fan because I choose to do that with burning or every once in a while the sponge tool on a dup layer. But this is so subtle, that I leave it as is. Then I run a slight S curve and change the blend mode to Luminosity as well and have the layer set to 50% opacity. Yes, I could probably omit the slight S curve and just use a higher opacity on the strong S Curve, but this is just my crazy wacky way! Ha! Then I run a basic levels adjustment layer and here is where I have control the specific parts of my photos. You have control over specific parts of your images with curves too, I just prefer to control the shadow/midtones/highlights in levels. But you CAN do it in curves too & we did with the 2 S curve layers which gave us contrast. See my previous post on Curves to get the basics of using them for controlling the shadows/midtones/highlights. Many would probably disagree with me, and that’s okay! :O) I know that curves are the more preferred method. And again, we did use curves for contrast which is done by shadows/midtones/highlights. I just like to have a little more control with a final layer. For my levels adjustment layer I have the action set up to have the shadows slider at 5, the midtone slider at 1.05 and the highlights slider at 250…blend mode left on Normal and opacity left at 100%. This layer does not effect skin tones.

Then my action runs a dodge/burn layer. It’s the ONLY way I dodge/burn now. I learned this from Scott Kelby’s CS4 book. It creates a new layer via ctrl/shift/n…not through the new layer icon in the layers panel. When the dialog box comes up, I have it set to blend mode Overlay (you can also use Soft Light) and the box under that says fill with neutral 50% gray checked. Then my action is also recorded to go down to the photo layer and duplicate it and name it Noise Reduction and add a white layer mask.

So once I hit shift/f9 and my action runs, it’s now on the dup noise reduction layer. If I shot at ISO 400 or above, I run my Noiseware Filter from Imagenomic because my XSi is HORRIBLE with noise…ARG! I LOVE this filter. I hate noise unless I’m going creative, so it does get a lot of use. This is a personal choice. I usually use the Portrait preset in the drop down menu, but for HIGH noise I will play with Strong Luma Noise and Full Strong Luma Noise. The Luma Noise options are not for the faint of heart. They will really smooth out your photo and skin. They way I think about Noise is I want to smooth out the noise in the photo so it’s ready for sharpening later in editing. I HATE to sharpen noise, it looks rough to me. I make sure it’s on a duplicate layer so that I can play with the opacity of the layer if needed and the white layer mask so that I can mask with a low opacity brush, anywhere I want to lessen the effect.

Then I go through my layers to adjust anything that needs adjusting. For the most part, on a good SOOC (straight out of camera) shot, I have it set up so that I do not have to adjust anything. If I do need to adjust layers, it’s usually the opacity of the strong S Curve in the TRA Oh Snap action…and I never up it…only lower it. I usually stay within 15-50%, usually around 30% depending on the image. Then sometimes I need to lower the opacity of my slight S Curve, but this one is pretty subtle, so I usually keep it around 30-50%. Since the blend modes of both of these were recorded to be changed to Luminosity, I never have to do the extra steps. Then I may go into the levels adjustment layer and play with the settings a bit. But for the most part, the settings I recorded it with work pretty well and I always leave the opacity at 100% and the blend mode to Normal for this layer.

Then if I want to do any dodging (lightning) or burning (darkening), I go up to the dodge/burn layer and do it all here. I love burning. I’ve found it a wonderful way to saturate colors and get nice rich deep colors. So to burn, I select my brush tool, opacity around 10% & flow 15% and change my foreground color to BLACK. Then I start burning where I want it a bit darker or richer. You can also use this method for free hand edge burns. Then to dodge, I set my brush opacity to about 5% (go much lighter on dodging or it can look ghost like and faded), with my flow at 10%, foreground color set to WHITE and paint anywhere that needs to be lightened. I do not dodge much. Sometimes if a face has some shadows on it, I’ll touch it up a bit. But then again, I’m learning to like shadows. You can dodge the eyes to brighten them up, but I never do. I feel it takes out all of the detail and leaves them flat. I have a method for working on eyes that I’ll post about another time which only includes a curves & levels adjustment layer and no sharpening.

Here is what my layers panel looks like after the action...

Here is a close up look at the strong S Curve from the TRA action...Oh Snap...

Here is an up close look at my slight S Curve layer...

And here is an up close look at my levels adjustment layer...

Now once my image(s) are done and I am happy…it’s time to sharpen. I now flatten all of the layers of my All in One action.

I have found a new way to sharpen thanks to Scott Kelby and I LOVE it! It’s the only way I sharpen now. I have this action set to short key shift/f10. This action is set to duplicate the photo layer for opacity control. It runs a USM of Amount 125, Radious 2, Threshold 3. I prefer to edit a bit hot and dial it down for more control. Then right after the USM is run, it goes to Edit>Fade USM. Then the blend mode is changed to Luminosity. It’s VERY important to do the Edit>Fade USM right after hitting okay in the USM dialog box. It will not work the same way if you just change the blend mode of the layer to Luminosity. Then I also have the action recorded to add a white layer mask. So that way I can mask out any over sharpening…which now that I use this method is rare. If I have to do it, it’s only in the hair and I’ll do it with a brush opacity of about 30%. And I can lower the opacity of the layer if I choose. The great thing about editing the blend mode to Luminosity right after running the USM, is that the USM is only sharpening the Luminosity of your images and not sharpening the color of your images! It doesn’t give you any wonky colors or over sharpening halos. It works wonders on the eyes & lashes. But again, can be a bit much on the hair. Nothing a little low opacity masking can’t fix!

Here is a look at the Luminosity USM Sharpen layer...screenshot probably NOT needed...lol

And that is my workflow. On this shot I might do a little color correcting with CS4s wonderful new TAT tool that is teaching me to see colors and I would do a curves & levels adjustment layer on her eyes. But for this tut, I will leave it as is. It may seem like a lot, but since I have it all recorded to actions and assigned short keys, if the image is good SOOC, I can edit each pic in about 2 minutes. A little more if the shot needs a little more work or masking. But now, I hit shift/f9 and make a couple quick adjustments, flatten and hit shift/f10 and I’m good to go!

So try to find a workflow that works for you and save yourself some time and record it in an action. I would love to share my action with you, but since I use the TRA action IN my action, I cannot share it.

Again, this is just my way and I believe in different strokes for different folks. Just find what floats your boat and have fun!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to help! :O)

Layer Masks, adding textures & a TIP..

2009-06-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

Layer masks are the BEST thing EVER created. And if you use them already, you know what I'm talking about. If you don't, they will change your LIFE! :O)

Quick notes on layer masks...white layer masks SHOW the effect of that layer and you paint with black as your foreground color to paint something OUT. Black layer masks HIDE the effect of that layer and you paint with white as your foreground color to bring it back IN! And the great thing about a layer mask is that when you mask in & out, you aren't touching/damaging the pixels of your photo. And you can always go back and mask in or out later in editing. They give you complete control! And if you over paint somewhere you didn't want to, just switch your foreground color to the opposite (if you are painting with white, switch it to black and vice versa) and you can redo where you went over. Layer masks are LIKE erasing without actually erasing. All of the info is still there...just hidden if you will.

I have a great tip to share in this post as well. I wish I remembered where I learned it so that I could give proper credit. It's cut my masking time in more than half and taken away ALL my masking frustrations. Have you ever been frustrated when masking something in or out of your photos? Especially a texture. Always wondering if you got it all? Frustrated with the time and precision it takes? Well this should help you greatly.

First I'll show you examples with white layer masks, then black.

Here is a snap of my youngest...Avyree or as we call her "Nugget". I want to add a texture to this shot, but I don't want the texture on HER...just the backgrond.

So the first thing you want to do is open the texture you want. Paste it over your image. Hit ctrl/t and stretch it to fit your canvas. Now lower the opacity of the texture layer to taste. I used 30%. Now you need to add a white layer mask so that the texture is SEEN and you will mask out where you don't want it. So on the bottom right hand side you'll see a little icon that looks like a camera. Click it. Now you have a white layer mask on your texture layer.

This is what it looks like right now...

Now comes the fun part. We are going to mask the texture OFF of her. Select your brush tool, a smaller soft edge round brush. To remove the texture completely, use an opacity of 100%. To keep some texture, lower your opacity and flow rate. Then make sure your foreground color is set to BLACK. Start by outlining your subject with a small brush. You can see it over in the layers panel.

Now HERE is the awesome tip. Hold down the alt button & click on the white layer mask! Now the layer mask is all you see...really nice and big. Now continue to mask out the middle of the outline. You can use a larger brush for the middle and use a smaller brush for the edges.

Once you fill it all in, this is what it will look like. Now you can see if you got it all! Pretty COOL huh?

Then to get your regular screen back, just hold the alt key again and click on the layer mask. Now you can play with the opacity of the texture layer some more and you can spice it up by changing the blend modes too.

Now lets say that you have a shot that you only want the texture on a SMALL portion of the image. It would take forever to mask it all out. We want the least masking possible right? Ha!

So...say we are working with a texture again. I have this Macro flower shot I took. I want to add a subtle texture to the left side but not ON the flower. I know I don't want to use a white layer mask because it would take longer to mask the flower out since it's the biggest part of the picture. So....I'm going to add a BLACK layer mask to this one. That way, the texture is HIDDEN and will only show where I paint/mask!

So again, get your texture on your image, stretch it, lower the opacity, change the blend mode...whatever floats your boat.

Now go back down to the same little camera. But this time, hold your alt key down then hit the layer mask icon. And VIOLA...you now have a black layer mask on your texture layer and you will notice that you can no longer SEE the texture. Don't worry, it's still there...hiding!

This is what it will look like...

Now you are going to do the outline again. Select your brusth tool, size, opacity/flow. Now make sure your foregrund color is set to WHITE. Always the opposite color of the layer mask. And this time, as you paint your outline where you want the texture to show, you will see it only where you paint...

Once you have your outline of where you want the texture, hold your alt key down again and click on the black layer mask. Now your screen is black, with the white outline showing. Now paint the center so that the whole outlined area is filled with white. Now your texture is showing where the white is and is hidden where the black is.

Then to get your screen back, hold the alt key down again and click on the black layer mask. Now you have your texture in a small area where you want it. Now you can play with the opacity of the texture layer some more or play with blend modes.

And for fun...here are the before/after shots...

And you can use layer masks for much more than just textures. All adjustment layers come standard with a white layer mask. So when you use any adjustment layer, the effect of that adjustment layer is SHOWN with the white layer mask, and you would mask with black where you want to HIDE the effect. But lets say you do an adjustment layer and only want a small portion of your image effected by it. With the white layer mask, you would have to mask out everything but the tiny section you want it on. That would take FOREVER and probably drive you MAD. So...all you have to do is click on the layer mask, hold down the ctrl key and hit i. That will INVERT your white layer mask to a black layer mask. Now the effect of that adjustment layer is HIDDEN and you can paint with white where you want it to show! One thing I should've said earlier...when you are going to paint on a layer mask, make sure you are ON the layer mask. All you have to do is click on the layer mask in the layers panel and your are ready to mask!

Layer masks can be a bit intimidating, confusing and take a little time to get used to. But I PROMISE it's worth the time to figure them out. Once you have your CLICK moment (pun inteded) you will wonder how you ever edited without them. And you will NEVER use your eraser tool again! :O)

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions. Just practice over and over til it CLICKS. Happy masking.

Okay...off to Vegas. Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

My FAV actions of ALL time review...

2009-06-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

Okay, things are settling down a bit and I have some what of a brain today! So I wanted to do an action review!

I have admitted to a big problem/obsession...whatever you want to call it, that I have. It's an addiction to ACTIONS! I really think I need a SERIOUS intervention. And one of the reasons it's so bad, is I RARELY use them! Pretty sad...I know! But I'm changing that. I have an actions panel stocked with good expensive pay actions. So I have vowed to myself to start using them more. I still ALWAYS do my standard edits (that I will post about in the future) then I decide if I want to spice it up a bit. And if so, I hit f9 to open my beautiful actions panel!

I do have three sets from the same maker that I use A LOT for my creative edits. They are SO my style and I am DEEPLY in love with them. Okay...ready...

Lily Blue LB and I are tight! Ha! Not! She has NO idea who I am or about my silly little blog! But I'm ready to move in with her...like right now! I want to BE her! If she finds this blog (yeah right) and reads this, she may just get a restraining order! But that's okay, as long as I can still buy her actions, I'm all good!

I will say it is because of HER and her actions that I am now branching out and buying/using other actions. I've started to find my style in photography/editing. I'm finding that I very much love the wash feel to pics! It gives my heart a warm fuzzy happy feeling. Like my slippers in the winter! Or my AC in the hot smoggy Cali summers!

I have her Color One Action set, her Waterplay Action set and her Color One ACR Presets. I have certain favorites in these actions. From her Color One action set, I am OBSESSED with Honey! UGH...I cannot get enough of this action. It's a simple 3 layer action...and it's YUMMY! It looks GREAT on outdoor shots...people or flowers etc. Then from her Waterplay Action set I LOVE Sweet Water. I use this one A lot. I also LOVE Rose Water and use it a LOT too! Now...mix Sweet Water & Rose Water together...and my heart just flutters! I have yet to fall in love with the Color One Presets tho. It's not that they are not good...because they ARE. It's a personal thing. I have the NEED to edit in layers...which is why LR doesn't float my boat. In ACR, I just do the basic corrections of WB, Exposure & Recovery if needed, Blacks and a tad of Clarity and once in a great big while when I'm feeling bright and sunny, I'll slap a touch of Vibrancy...but VERY little! So the creative stuff in ACR isn't my cup of tea. But don't let me not feelin the love for them stop you. Because they are just as AMAZING as her actions. And she also has LR Presets that are FANTASTIC! And all of her actions are completely adjustable, so you can really tone them down if you wish, or you can do a few combo actions. I really enjoying mixing the Color One Action set & the Waterplay actions for various different looks!

PLEASE stop by her site and check her out. If you fall in love with her examples, hit that buy button and I promise you...you will NOT regret it and you too may become an OBSESSED LB fan too!

So without further ado...here are some examples. My originals aren't SOOC, they are my basic edits. And all of the action examples have been adjusted to my taste and are not run as is. And because I'm also obsessed with my Macro lens, all the examples are flowers. But these work AMAZING on people too!

These 3 examples are from the Color One Action set...

And these 4 examples are from the Waterplay Action set...

And these 3 examples are her Combo Actions from the Waterplay Action set...

Can you tell I'm also obsessed with the back of flowers?! :O)

The Combo Actions in the Waterplay Action set can be pretty intense and strong and require a good amount of adjustments to get them to taste. But they are more complex actions and you have a LOT of control with them. The other Waterplay Actions are less intense and strong and don't require as much adjusting. The Color One Action set are simple 3 layer actions that require very little adjusting!

So now you know my secret...that I am in LOVE in LB and her actions and I think if you try them...so will you!

Now go check her out!!!

B&W Action set...

2009-06-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me a while to get this up. Life seems to be moving FAST these days!

And I need to apologize for something in advance. I recorded these actions a few months ago and I recorded them to duplicate your photo...thinking at the time this was a good idea! UGH. This will probably annoy you to death! Ha! And I also put an intro to EVERY action and an ending note or two as well! Sigh. I hope this doesn't stop you from using them IF you like them. I saw somewhere (MAYBE MCP) with instructions on how to stop the ANNOYING stops and notes in actions. So you MIGHT want to look into it if you plan to use these a lot because you may want to KILL me after a few runs! Lol! I think I also did this with the Eye Pop tut...but learned my lesson and didn't do it with the Beach Wash set! Atleast I learn right?! :O)

So as with any action set, you HAVE to get into the nitty gritty of the action and adjust it to your taste. Rarely does an action look good run as is and some actions look better on some photos vs others. None of these actions apply any sharpenening as I think sharpening is a personal perference. So after you run the actions, you'll want to apply your own sharpening!

I also included a seperate "Haze" action so that you can add haze to any of the actions if you'd like. It's just a 1 layer action. I also included a 1 layer dodge and burn that ROCKS! It's the ONLY way I dodge and burn. And a 1 layer lighten and a 1 layer darken action.

Here are some quick examples...

And HERE are the actions! I'd love to hear what you think and see any links to edits you do with them! I hope you enjoy!

Got my laptop back...

2009-06-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

and all is good with the world again! Ha! So now I can start posting some fun stuff!

I want to share one of my last 2 actions sets I've recorded! I wanted to ask you girls which you'd like first! My b&w conversion set which has 11 b&w conversions, a dodge/burn action/a haze action and a ligthen and darken action. Or my eye pop action! Majority wins. I'd like to post it tomorrow and I'll post it with examples. So leave a comment and let me know which action you'd like to see shared tomorrow!

And if you have anything specific you've been trying to learn, leave me a comment and I'll start making a list. It feels GOOD to be back! Hope everyone has been well and thanks so much for your patience!

Another quick update...

2009-06-01T20:02:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to stop in and say Hi and apologize for starting this blog, then not posting much. I'm still having puta problems. My laptop is in the shop and although I do have a loaner, it's not going as well as hoped. I've calibrated a few times and it just doesn't look right. So I'm hesitant to do too much until I get my laptop back. I feel blind without it! Ha! Funny how used to your own stuff and feel left handed when you don't have it.

I'm hoping I'll have it back within a couple weeks. I'll still post a few things on the blog before I get it back, but I can't get into too much. I think I will go ahead and start writing up the layer mask post. It will just be a begining intro into layer masks. You'll just have to excuse my example shot! Ha!

So I hope you girls are doing great and that you'll keep coming back. I promise it'll get better once I have my puta back and can start posting some fun creative stuff!

Thanks for everything!

A couple more quick lightening and darkening tips...

2009-05-27T11:58:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Wednesday and I'd normally be doing an action set review, but since I still can't load my calibrator, I cannot do the action review yet. I'm taking my laptop in tomorrow to the shop. The good news is with my 2 year extended warranty, I get a loaner laptop if they can't fix it in one day, which I doubt they'll be able too! So atleast I won't be without and I'm hoping that I'll be able to load PS and calibrate it while I have it, so I can still get some stuff done.

So as a filler post this week I wanted to further go over a couple of other * beginner * tips on how to lighten or darken your photos. This will be a short post and really easy. But I just HAD to post SOMETHING! Ha!

And since I've already gone over how to lighten with a curves adjustment layer, I thought I'd go over a couple of other options that may work for you. Remember, every shot needs something different, so try your hand at all of them and see which fits you and your shots the best!

So probably one of the most popular ways to lighten or darken a shot is done with duplicating the photo layer and changing the blend modes. To lighten you would choose screen blend mode and then play with the opacity of the top photo layer and you can always add a layer mask and do some masking if needed. And to darken a shot, instead of using Screen as your blend mode, you would choose Multiply. This is a great method and can be very successful at saving shots that didn't turn out right SOOC, or you want a different affect. The drawback with this method is it makes your file sizes larger.

Here are a screen shots of the Screen & Multiply blend modes. I didn't do before/after pics because I can't tell the colors without my calibrator. So for now, it's screenshots only!

This shot SOOC was underexposed. I upped the exposure a tad in ACR, but not too much so I could show you the duplicate photo screen method.

Before I go any further, I do understand that the shot in this screenshot looks lighter than the one above, but this is because I purposely ligthen the pic A LOT to be able to do the duplicate photo layer with Multiply blend mode. So don't look too much at these quick examples, just the technique themeselves and try them out.

Now, as I said, the above technique is great and works when you need a LOT of help with making your shots lighter or darker. But what if you don't want larger file sizes or don't need THAT much help? Here is a really QUICK way that will keep your file sizes a bit smaller and the way I do my basic brighten or darken the whole pic.

Chose a levels or curves adjustment layer. But don't make any changes. Just hit okay, or if you are using CS4, just click on the levels or curves adjustment layer. Now to lighten, just change the blend mode of the adjustment layer to screen and VIOLA, a nice subtle ligthening!

And to darken a pic, same steps, curves or levels adjustment layer and change the blend mode to Multiply. And as with any layer, always play with the opacity of the layer if needed and also as always, add a mask if you need to mask stuff in or out!

Now if you want a little more control and have a couple more seconds, you can lighten your photo with a levels adjustment layer as well. Just take the top middle slider (midtones) and slide it to the left a bit which will lighten all the midtones in your shot. Then take the top right slider (highlights) and give it a gentle boost to the left to give your highlights a little pop. Now you are lightening certain parts of your photos, without washing out the shadows! YAY!

And to darken using the levels adjustment layer, just take the top left slider (shadows) and nudge it to the right a tad deeping the shadows in your shots. Then take that midtones slider and bring it to the left a bit to bring down your midtones. Unfort you cannot bring down your highlights with the levels adjustment layer. I won't go into setting your target points YET. That's for another post!

And for those of you who shoot in RAW (which I HIGHLY recommend if you don't or atleast TRY it) you have a lot of control to lighten and darken your shots in ACR. This shot was the first I took and I just snapped it quickly without checking my light meter. DUH! Ha! So for this tut, I'm just showing you how I lightened it. I'll post another full ACR tut on how I use ACR another day.

So all I did was take the Exposure slider and slide it to the right, which lightened my whole shot. It's ALMOST like being able to change your settings after the fact. You can do a good amount if you shoot in RAW without loosing too much quality in your shots in ACR. I shoot in RAW 100% of the time.

When using the Exposure slider, you can hold down your alt key (PC) and it will turn your screen black so you can see if you have any clipping. Again, I'll go over that and all of the other sliders and some other stuff in another post. As you can see in my screenshot, I had to up it quite a bit to lighten the shot. And if it had been overexposed, I would've taken the Exposure slider and slid it to the left a bit.

And there you have it, a couple other options for lightening and darkening your photos. One of the things I love about PS so much is that there are SO many ways to do one thing. It's nice to have a lot of different options, so that you can find the best option for you and your shot(s). So try these out and make notes in a notepad. And before you know it, you'll have the basics of PS and you'll be editing like crazy

Hopefully Friday or next week I'll be posting a fairly in depth tut on layer masks and how they work and how to get the most out of them. If you don't know how to use them yet, make sure to check back because once you start using them, you won't know how you ever edited without them! Then the ACR tut!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial weekend and once all my laptop stuff is worked out, I'll be posting lots of fun new posts!

Have a great rest of your week!

Sharing one of my action sets...

2009-05-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hi ladies! I hope you girls are all having a great week! Wish I could say mine has been great. Looks like that computer will be going to the Dr next week. We are leaving tonight for the holiday weekend, so I'll be calling on Tuesday to find out the details. But I wanted to get my action set up to share before I leave and before I am without my baby! I'm sure it'll be gone for a couple weeks. I'm going to have my husband hook up the net on the desktop, but it's in our detached garage. So with two kids, I'm sure you know what that means. So please keep coming by and checking for updates tho. I'll calibrate the desktop so I can still play, just won't be as often.

So here is my favorite creative actions set I've recorded so far. I love a creative edit and this set is great for the beach or outside shots. The great thing is every layer is adjustable and all layers have a white layer mask for painting. Each action in the set is grouped in a folder and the folder also has a white layer mask. So you can just paint or lower the opacity of the whole folder, or you can adjust by layer.

I really hope you like them! I would love to hear what you think of them after you've had time to play and I'm always open to suggestions how you think my actions can be better.

The examples shown were done on my NON calibrated laptop because my computer decided it didn't like my calibrator anymore and won't let me reload it! UGH. So bear with me. The examples have been slightly adjusted. They are pretty strong run as is, but on the right photo will work! And you can lower the opacity of all the layers for a subtle creative look as well.

Thank you Gemma for the GREAT beach shot to use for my examples. Haven't been to the beach this year. Sad when you live in So Cal! Ha!

I've never used 4shared before so hopefully everything will work without any problems.

Go here to download Momaziggy's A Day at the Beach Action set

I also have a b&w conversion set, an eye pop action set and a color pop action set I'll be sharing in the future as well.

I hope everyone has a GREAT & SAFE holiday weekend!

Having some computer problems...

2009-05-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

or as my 2 year old would say "puta"! Lol! UGH...annoying in general and more annoying since I just started this blog and am so excited about it. I was going to post Monday about Layer Masks, but have been having the issues. I hope to post a free "Day at the beach" action set that I recorded tomorrow. But we'll see how my PUTA is behaving! Ha! I most likely will have to send it in! :O( Only had it a year and 3 months...granted it's on all day every day!

So please bare with me and know that I haven't abandoned the blog. Check tomorrow as I hope to get my action set up (which is the only action set I'm really excited about) and if I can't get mine up tomorrow, I'll at least go over an action set I already have with some examples.

Hopefully my PUTA won't be gone for too long because I may have a stroke if I'm without it for too long. I can't even edit any shots now because the problems are creating problems with my Spyder3Pro calibrator and I'm on a laptop. So I won't dare touch a pic without it!

Thanks for your patience girls and I promise I'll keep the blog going until I send it in and will jump right back in when I get it back. I will keep you updated on when it's going to the PUTA shop etc!

You girls are GREAT and I deeply appreciate your support!

Let's talk BASICS...

2009-05-15T11:56:00.000-07:00

Let’s talk Basics…this will be long…get used to it! I’m LONG winded!

Photoshop can be very intimidating and overwhelming. I remember when I first started PSP9 making sigs, which also works in layers, I was lost. And with a LOT of help, I found my way.

Then when I started trying to learn photo editing I remembered thinking…”What the heck am I supposed to do?” I had no idea what layers did what, which ones to use and why.

So I wanted to go over two very basic layers that I do on every photo. These two layers will hopefully serve as a starting off point and give you a basic understanding of how each layer works so you can adjust them to your liking.

The most important thing to remember is that not all photos are created equally. You will always get a better final result from good SOOC shots. But with that said, you can do a lot to save shots that aren’t technically correct. And the settings I use are not set in stone. Don’t be afraid to try different things. It’s FUN!

Also remember there are many ways to do different things in PS and these are just two ways.

The two most basic layers that will make a big impact on your photos are curves & levels. You have a lot of control with each.

I’ll go over curves first.
The curves dialog box can be intimidating…it sure was for me. But that’s because I didn’t have a basic understanding of how they work. So here is a curves dialog box…unaltered.

You can use curves for so many things. To color correct skin tones, to correct color casts by setting your shadows/midtone/highlight targets, to bump contrast, lighten or darken a photo, warm up or cool down a photo and for special effects. Curves are a very powerful editing tool.

As you can see, there is one line on the curves dialog box. The center of your line affects the midtones of your photo. The top section of the line affects the highlights of your photos and the bottom section controls the shadows of your photos. Just think middle, high & low. Middle is neutral, high is bright and low is dark! I know…I’m so technical. Hey…it works for me, but I’m blonde! Knowing this gave me much more control over my photos.

The easiest most basic way to use curves is to lighten or darken a photo. I always use adjustment layers so that I can go back and adjust them as I edit and have the ability to use the layer mask if needed. To get a curves adjustment layer, go to the little half white/black circle at the bottom of your layers panel and select curves. Or if you use CS4, you can just click on the curves box on the adjustment panel. All of the layers in this section are adjustment layers. Which means at any time in editing you can go back and adjust your settings and each comes with a white layer mask to paint on. I will go over layer masks in another post as well. If you don’t use them yet, you need to. They will change your life!!!
To lighten a photo, just grab the center of the line and pull it up and out a bit like this (you can also change the blend mode to Screen for more brightness and remember you can play with the opacity of the layer too)…

To darken a photo, grab the center of the line and pull it down and out a bit like this (you can also change the blend mode to Multiply to darken even more and remember you can play with the opacity of the layer too).

There are MANY methods to lighten or darken your photos, this is just one way using curves. I will go over other ways in another post.

To give your photos a nice gentle contrast boost and depth, you can do a slight S curve. This isn’t as tricky as it sounds and I will walk you through it. When doing any kind of S curve, it’s important to change the Blend mode of this layer to Luminosity. If you don’t, it will add some yellow to your skin tones. And I think that’s one of the things we are always trying to fix in our photos, so we don’t want to do that. And I will say now that I’m not a nit picky person and I do not edit by numbers. I edit by my eye. If I have a little bit of blown sections, it doesn’t ruin my day. Lol! I watch my photos as I edit, but I don’t check all my channels to make sure nothing is being clipped. Yet, I’m just a MWAC (mom with a camera), so if I were in business this would be more important.

I use a slight S curve on every photo I edit. The easiest way to do it is to open your curves dialog box and click in the middle of the line to put an anchor for your midtones. Then again near the top to put an anchor for your highlights and again near the bottom to put an anchor for your midtones. It’s easy…promise. Here’s a screenshot of what it will look like at this point.

The easiest way is to click on the highlights anchor and hit your up arrow eight or nine times, then click on your shadows anchor and hit the down arrow key about six or seven times. Or you can actually enter in the numbers I use. This takes a bit more time, but you can record it as an action so you don’t have to do it every time. This is what I did. So if you want to enter the numbers I use, click on your highlights anchor and you’ll see at the bottom of the curves dialog box output and input numbers. So after you click on your highlights anchor and enter 202 in the output box and enter 196 in the input box. Then click on your shadows anchor and enter 59 in the output box and 70 in the input box. Your midtones anchor should be anywhere between 128 to 130. Just make sure that the output/input numbers are the same. Now you have a slight S curve that has given your photo a nice pop in contrast. Making the highlights brighter and the shadows deeper and richer. REMEMBER to change the blend mode to Luminosity. A great way to see how adding contrast with curves effects your skin tones is to change the blend mode from Normal to Luminosity a few times while watching the photo. You’ll see the difference. I ALWAYS use Luminosity blend mode when adding contrast with curves, but I don’t when just lighting or darkening a photo. Because when you are using curves to lighten or darken the photo you are adjusting the all three ranges fairly evenly, so it doesn’t give you a bad yellow color shift. A tiny bit, but not enough to affect the skin tones badly. And you always have the option to mask out skin tones if you like the way it affected the background but not the skin tones. So try changing the blend mode to Luminosity when you use the lighten or darken method and you’ll see that it’s a grayish flat look. So I leave the blend mode set to Normal for those. Now here is what your slight S curve will look like and you can turn the eye on and off to see how it effected your photo.

Now onto a strong S curve. Use this with caution and you will almost always have to lower the opacity of the layer or do some skin masking. It will give you lots of contrast to your image. I use my slight S curve and a strong S curve on every photo. Overkill? Maybe…but I like to ride on the edge…well with editing anyway. I’m a big chicken in real life! Ha! But I always lower the opacity of this layer. Some would think then why not use the strong S curve at full strength and omit the slight S curve? And to those of you who are thinking that…it’s a VERY good question. One that I don’t have the answer too! Ha! I started doing it this way and now I’m just used to it. So you can omit the slight S curve and just do the strong S curve at a higher opacity. Whatevea floats your boat. I’m all about options! :O)
So to do a strong S curve, you’ll be doing the same method as the slight S curve. But we’ll be adding two extra anchors. So click on the center and add an anchor there, then one for highlights and one for shadows…like the slight S curve. Now, add another anchor for highlights above the one you already did and another anchor below the shadows anchor you already did. Here is about what your curves dialog box should look like after adding the anchors.

Now you can click on each anchor and use your up arrow keys for highlights and your down arrow keys for shadows. But with this one, I do suggest taking the time to set the numbers. Because this is a strong contrast boost, you want to be pretty accurate. It will take a bit of time to do it, but again if you record it an as action, then all you have to do his hit play each time you want to use is.
Well start with the highlight anchors. Click on the top anchor that you made and type in 248 for output and 239 for input. Then click on the second highlight anchor you added right below, enter 212 in the output and 199 in the input. Your middle anchor should be about 128/128 to 130/130. Just make sure both are the same number in output and input and within the 128 to 130 range. Now go to the bottom shadows anchor you added and type in 4 in the output and 16 in the input. And the last one is the shadows anchor above the bottom one. Enter 36 in the output and 51 in the input. Now you have a strong S curve. REMEMBER again to change the blend mode to Luminosity. Do the test switching it back and forth from Normal to Luminosity so you can see how it’s affecting your photo! And make sure to turn the eye on and off to see how it is affecting your photo. Here is what your strong S curve should look like.

And that’s all there is for curves today. These are the most basic easy beginner curves techniques that will enhance your photos and make them pop. I will post more on curves and more advanced things you can do with them in the future.

The next layer to discuss is levels. I always run a levels layer as well. Today we’ll only be talking about the top three sliders. I won’t be going over setting your shadows/midtone/highlights targets or how to use them creatively. Just a basic enhancement.

Levels work similar to curves in that you can adjust/enhance your shadows, midtones & highlights with the sliders. It gives you a little less control than curves but still gets the job done. I personally love levels and find them as a great defogging tool. And a levels layer in combo with a curves layer can really make your photos pop and remove the haze/film on your photos. Levels also help you remove haze from shots taken in the golden hour that result from too much sun coming into your lens. It’s a beautiful affect when done on purpose, but we don’t always want it. So if you don’t, levels will help you remove the golden haze.

You get a levels layer the same way you get a curves layer. In the little half black/white circle. If you have CS4, just click on the levels box in the adjustment panel.
So pull up a levels adjustment layer. This is what it looks like unaltered.

Each photo will need different adjustments here. The thing to do is look at histogram and figure out which you need to slide. We will only be using the top 3 sliders…the input sliders. The output sliders are fun to play with for creative edits. But like I said, I’ll save that for another day!

So when I look at the histogram for this particular shot I can see that my midtones are clipping a bit, or at least too bright and my shadows are flat and could use a little boost in the highlights. The shot needs more work because it's a bit overexposed, washed out and flat. So I took the shadows slider and slid it in until my shadows started looking deeper and richer. I stopped at 30. Then I took the midtones slider and brought them down a bit to 0.95 so the skin tones weren’t so washed out. It’s still looking a little dull and drab, so I slid the highlights slider and stopped at 240. Here is what my levels dialog box looks like.

If this shot had been better SOOC, I probably would've only slide the shadows slider from about 5-10, the midtones slider probably up a bit to about 1.05 to about 1.10 and the highlights slider to about 250. That's my range usually for good SOOC shots.

Now…click the eye on and off and you’ll see how amazing this layer is. You’ll see that gray film on your photos disappear and your photo will now have nice skin tones, bright highlights, rich shadows and more depth! If you do just this layer it will be a big difference. If you did a curves layer first then this layer, the difference will still be beautiful, but it won’t jump out at you as much as it would on it’s own. You can leave the blend mode to Normal for the levels layer. Remember…the key to good edits is small changes that together, improve your photo. You don’t want one layer having a big impact on your photo or the final result won’t be as clean. Levels are pretty simple and straight forward but amazing all on their own.

So here is a before shot…SOOC. And the after shot has a slight S curve and a levels layer and that’s it.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section or email me at momaziggy @ yahoo .com

Next post I’ll go over my workflow. Which isn’t much or very impressive, but it gets the job done for me and will hopefully help you!

And every Wednesday I will review/sample another set of actions that I have with examples! Some will be pay actions with the websites I got them from and some will be free actions also including the websites!

Happy editing!

Let's talk ACTIONS post 1...

2009-05-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

I think that's a fun place to start. So I will share a little something you with...I have a MAJOR addiction to actions. Like I need a serious intervention. I have an actions panel FULL of amazing actions. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But when you hardly use them, it's bad! I have serious control issues when I edit and have always preferred to do it by hand.

But recently I've recorded my own actions for standard processing, which has sped up my work flow. And with this I've learned how much I love the speed. So I've told myself that for a couple weeks, I WILL try ALL my actions and see what they are about. I'll buy a set, play with it & dissect it, learn it and then go back to my recorded actions. These poor actions that I buy are not living their destiny. And it's wasting my money. I'm about to change that. And my hope is that as I post these examples and my opinions on different sets that I have & love, it will help you find some great actions that will suit your style and hopefully speed up your work flow as well. Actions are a big time saver, but also an AMAZING way to learn your program. It's a sin to run an action as is, flatten and save. They are meant as a starting off point and then meant to be adjusted. I dissect my actions and try to figure out every layer, what settings and how it's effecting my shots. They should be a learning tool as well as a way to get your edits you can't get on your own and to speed up your work flow.

I do have one set I do use A LOT and I will share those next post. They are my FAVORITE actions of all time and I use them a lot. They are great for outdoor summer shots...just in time. BUT...you'll have to wait a few days to hear about those.

So this is the first post of my actions reviews/samples series.

Today...I'm going to talk about a set I bought last week! They are called Childs Play and here is the website... http://www.petamazey.com/actions/actions.html They are great for clean crisp edits and will really help you POP your shots. And they are VERY affordable. When I first bought the action, I thought they were okay. But I decided to really play with them today. To try different combos and see what end result I can get. I tend to be on the creative edit side of the fence and I came up with a combo that I loved. So I give these actions TWO THUMBS UP. And I will say that Childs Play does not know me and I have nothing to gain by this review!

Here is my SOOC shot. Brought through ACR and resized and sharpened for the web in CS4...

And here is my final edit! I'm VERY happy with this!

And here they are side by side.

And here are a few more examples...

This is my beautiful cousin...

And Nugget again...

And please excuse my dog pics but I don't have a lot of full size pics on my laptop and I was too lazy to hook up the EHD (external hard drive).

This is Dixie...our beloved crazy yet gorgeous puppy!

And for this shot I just tried a really standard clean it up pop the color edit...

So that's my review and examples for the GREAT Childs Play actions. There is a Flickr group to share shots that you ran her actions on if you want to check it out... http://www.flickr.com/groups/childsplay/

I hope this was helpful and I sure had fun playing with her actions and I will be using them now that I've really gotten my hands dirty with them. And remember...GOOD actions allow you lots of freedom to adjust them!

Hi and welcome...

2009-05-13T22:02:00.001-07:00

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!