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Last fall I was in Belle Vernon, PA and got to experience what fall really looks like.  I’m from CA and TX were fall lasts anywhere between 2 hours and 3 days. Fall in Belle Vernon was right out of a storybook for me.  The river, the old houses, the orange leaves….everything what fall looked like in my head.  My images didn’t seem to capture the color that I saw…and it was because I was shooting them in the middle of the day.  I knew with a bit of Lightroom and Photoshop help I could get my image to look like it did in my memory.

Original image:

after some help in lightroom (used Work It presets)

then a couple final touches in Photoshop (including a new sharpening action I’ve yet to name…)

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Have you seen the new action in the ASD store?!  If not, run to the store and check it out.  It’s Dear Abbie!  I LOVE the tint it adds to an image!  I changed the opacity a little when I used it, just to add a little bit of tint and pop!   Here are a few quick before & after’s to share with you so you can see how you just might LOVE to use the Dear Abbie action.

Hope you guys are all enjoying the beginning of Spring!  Grab your camera and get outside.  Make some memories and preserve some with your camera, too!

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Hi friends!  Barb here after a week’s hiatus.  Life has been crazy for me recently, lots of sad things going on with a lot of people I care about.

Fortunately, however, when life hands me lemons, I still have Lightroom!  Taking pictures makes me happy, playing with and editing pictures makes me happy as well, and in my opinion, there is no better photo-play-toy out there than Adobe Lightroom.  My love for Lightroom was not instant, however. I must have downloaded the trials ten times and just couldn’t “get it” until I finally read Scott Kelby’s Lightroom book and then…you got it, The Light Went On, and it’s been true love ever since!

So needless to say, I was thrilled to hear that Andie was releasing a whole bunch of new Lightroom presets. I’ve had them for a week or so, but hadn’t had a chance to really check them out until last night.  I thought I’d share with you some of the magic…..

Kudos to my brother Steve for the fantastic photos.  He’s living in South Africa right now with his family on an ex-pat assignment. I’m so lucky that he gave me the thumbs up on all of his wonderful photos.

So here we go!

Here is one of the beautiful vistas that seem to be visible in every direction. The first photo is SOOC, the second one applies Andie’s Pretty Pretty Sky, Bright, and More Contrast presets. I love how you can “stack” presets on top of each other to create a very unique and customized look. I did do a bit of sharpening on the “after” images, just so you know (and I do my sharpening in Photoshop, not Lightroom).

This next one features some classic African animals that you just might recognize. The first is SOOC, and the second uses presets Golden Hour, Hypnotic, and More Contrast.

The third photo uses Depression, Hard-Knocks, and Dream Date Off. Not that these cubs look like they are depressed or have a hard knock life…

And finally, my favorite….the lemur. This dude was made to look even more dramatic with Holga, a bit of exposure lightening, and Pops. Isn’t he cool?

That’s it for me for now. I’ll be back in a few days with more great animals and South African scenery.

And remember my mantra, when life gives you lemons, you need to get Lightroom!

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I admit this was my 1st week entering the challenge on I Heart Faces…so much wonderful talent there. I figured why not make today the 1st time I play “Fix It Friday” too…

so….

before

After:

- crop

- Workflow Action – Awe-Some(Coming soon)

-Awesome Eyes

-Warm B&W

Run don’t walk and explore I heart faces… if you used one of our actions in fix it friday let us know!

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I just love the Fake HDR  action so much, and I think it’s so versatile, I thought I’d share it again. In this image, I used the Fake HDR and the Edge action – upping the opacity for more drama.

Just for fun, here’s the before:

For this next sample, I used this  awesome 5×30 storyboard template to showcase a series of newborn photos. For visual interest, I also added one of the Rhonna Backgrounds that can be found here.

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I must admit, I am an action junkie. No, I do not participate in extreme sports, I love PHOTOSHOP actions! I like that they can really speed up production, while still allowing for total control and customization.

On this photo, I used Andie’s Sunflower action found here, tweaked the layers a bit until I got the color that I wanted. Then, I added the Edge action, upped the opacity and duplicated the level to achieve the look shown here.

For comparison, I’m showing the original, sooc version. I’d love to hear your thoughts – leave me a comment!

-Sheri

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Hey Friends!  It’s Barb here checking in to say hello.

I don’t know about you, but a few times a year, I find myself getting stuck in a rut. I get bored with my clothes, I get bored with my cooking, I get bored with my routine. I even find myself getting totally bored with my photos. Right now I’m in one of those ruts.

I can usually shake my clothing boredom, by cleaning my closet. I spent a few hours cleaning my closet last weekend and I’ve had quite the fashionable week, if I do say so myself.  I’ve been turning on Food Network for a bit of culinary inspiration.  But my photos….no inspiration at all lately.  UNTIL…..

Until what you ask? Until I started goofing around with some of Andie’s Photoshop Actions. Now I frankly admit that I’m not much of an “action using chick”. I think a lot of people go overboard with them, and occasionally…ahem….use them to cover up some of their shortcomings. Oh dear!  Did I just say that?

Anyhow, last night while relaxing with the family, I was going through some pics that I took in October and just for the heck of it ran some of Andie’s actions and guess what?  They pumped some fun new life into my images!

This one, Tilt/Shift, mimicks the effects of a tilt-shift lens. Now at this point, I can’t see spending the moolah on a TS lens, so for a mere $4, this action gives me just the look that I want!  Here are the before and afters, taken at a Cincinnati Bengals’ game.  The first one is basically SOOC, and the second has the Tilt/Shift action on it.  If you notice on the second one, I selected the focus on the “Warrick” jersey on the lower left hand side. See how the blur moves both up and to the right?  I told it to do that

This one, Sketch-It, applies a fun sketh-pad look to one of my daughter’s best friends.  Would I use this every day?  Of course not, but it would make for fun comic book pictures for kids to color, or for scrapbooking (or just for fun…..).  Again, the first is SOOC, the second applies the Sketch-It action. I “painted in” some more of the detail on the face.  Andie designed it that way to give you more creative control.  Awesome!

And finally, I admit that I liked the first Twilight movie. Yes I did.  I actually saw it before I read all of the books (all four in ten days, I’d like you to know!).  Bad sparkling aside, I loved the tone that was set by the cinematography.  I loved the moody color that the director applied to the film.  Andie has an action called Forks that mimics the look of the movie. I thought I’d try my hand at applying it to some overly-cheery Halloween photos, and I love the results!  Again, the first is SOOC, and the second has the Forks action applied.

So what do you think?  Pretty cool, eh. Andie’s actions might just turn me into a fan after all.  But sssshhhhhhh!  Don’t tell anybody!

Gotta fly, got some hockey pics to take!  My kid is riding on the Zamboni tonight, so that’s a really big deal. I’m thinking lots of photos will be required!

Ta ta for now!

Barb

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I took these photos at a friend’s 100+ year old farmhouse and wanted to create something special for her. I really like the funkiness of the storyboard bringing focus to some of the small details in and around the house. I used the 16×20 #12 Storyboard found here , along with the Fake HDR action found here (which is Specially Priced at only $3!) and the Sloppy Frames found here. I just selected the color for the background from the images in the collage, and changed the color of the frame to match, lowering the opacity just a tad to soften it up and make it look a bit more aged.

-Sheri