More Michelle Kane HeARTy action examples...

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....

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....

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...

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...

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...

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!