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Last week reminded me once again of how important photographs are.

After 14 wonderful years, we had to make the tough decision to put our beloved labrador, Olive, to sleep. These photos were taken about 30 minutes before we took her to the vet’s office. It was a sad day.

However, I’m so glad that I got photos with Olive and our family before she left us. This is one of my favorites. Eventually I’m going to create a storyboard of three pics that we took before we left, but right now I’m debating on going with the natural color, or with Andie’s Work-It presets.

Here is the SOOC image:

Here is the shot again, using Andie’s Hypnotic Lightroom preset and sharpened a bit:

And this is probably my favorite, mainly because it really brings out my husband’s gorgeous blue-green eyes. This shot uses Andie’s Smurfed, Dream Date-On, and Vignettes – More Bright presets, followed by a bit of sharpening. I don’t know how well it translates on your computer screen from the website, but my image in Lightroom (and consequently in print) is really great!

We really miss our special girl, but thank goodness for the photographs.

p.s….. I’m not a wedding photographer, but I am shooting a wedding in the hills of beautiful southern Kentucky this weekend. I can’t wait to “work it” with Andie’s presets when I get home. I can almost taste the vintage feel!

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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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Scouts honor that the Work It Presets are used on 99.9999% of the images I edit. I really love the B&W Basic Dark

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Lucky me, not only did I have great seats to see Michael Buble’ in concert this week, but I got close enough to touch him!  Like a teenager, I may not wash my hand again. I know that my love for MB is shared by our friend Andie, so while my photos aren’t great (no good cameras allowed in the arena, and they mean business!), they’re okay enough to showcase them with some of Andie’s goodies.

Here are some of my pics that I converted to black and white to give the shots a “Vegas Lounge” feeling. I converted them in Lightroom using Andie’s Work-It Black & White Lightroom Presets (most using a combination of Kisses, Basic Dark, and Contrast Dark).  I used the 12X24 Polaroid Storyboard, and the heart is from Andie’s Love brush set.

Enough for the opening act, here’s the main event:

If you love Michael like Andie and I love Michael, hop on over to my blog, where I’ve got more photos and video of this week’s concert. Catch it here.  Have a great weekend!

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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!

There are some crazy named presets it Work It, right?  Wanna go know the reasons?

Work It: Well they are work flow presets….

B&W:

Most of these are basic names…

-B&W Hard Knocks: give a hard edge…almost Dave Hill effect

-Sepia: Kendrick, Sepia; Robb are both named for Robb Kendrick an incredible photographer who shoots….Tintypes.

-Tintype: I couldn’t duplicate the look of tintypes…but I think this gives a feel of one…pair it with Sepia Robb or Sepia; Kendrick for a cool look!

Color:

-Awesome: Makes your image more awesome than it already it!

-Bazinga: Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory’s catchphrase.  The modern day “Ka-Pow”.

-Big Bang: paying homage to my favorite TV Show

-Spring Training: reminds me of the lightness of spring and hello….you want to hit a home run right?

Tints & Tones (may break my bones….):

-Bobby: Named for my favorite Dallas Cowboy Player Bobby Carpenter. (the tones are a light gray and blue)

-Five Rings: The tones are a Gray and bright blue…..like the Dallas Cowboys…..who have 5 Super Bowl Rings

-French Quarter: The tones are rich caramels…like Bourbon….Bourbon Street…..French Quarter.

-Funky Brewster: Hello children of the 80′s… you should get this one…….any one wanna guess????

-Hang Ten: The deep blues and greens remind me of the ocean.

-Knock Knock Knock Penny: Another Big Bang theory reference. The sepia tones are penny like.

Those are the names that have a story behind them…the others are kinda self explanatory.  I’m sure you will sleep better at night know all this. =)

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We have teased you all week about new Lightroom Presets coming to the store…. the wait is over!!!

Work It, is a set of 85 Develop presets, and 8 Local Adjustment presets. The presets are part of my current work flow, that is how they came to be… I would create presets or my own images…I like them so much I am sharing them with you!!

Want to see more samples?  Check out our Work It: Formulas page.  We want to feature your Work It: Formulas!  If you have an image and formula using Work It, send it to us (the image and the formula) and you could be our next featured formula!

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From time to time someone sends me something and says – try this out and let me know what you think?!?

Okay, Andie – I spent $99 on some “rad” Lightroom Presets…lets just say I’m making some room to keep yours!

I used the new Vintage Preset for this one.

Awesome Preset

BW Contrast Dark Preset (LOVE THIS ONE)

I stacked Holga and Pops Presets

I have some more in my facebook gallery, please take a look then don’t waste time, add these to the toolbox now!!!

emily law – flom designs and photography