Before & After: Actions

I detest change with every fiber of my being. Particularly the kind that has to do with my computer. And more specifically my editing program. Why can't they just leave well enough alone?

At least that's how this backwards thinking, average gal from Iowa feels.

As luck would have it I dumbed into a blog that linked me to another blog and then another and so on... (you know how it goes) until I found the pioneer woman.

It appeared to be cool stuff, but for one I had no idea what actions were and two, how does one go about extracting it it from her blog to mine?

So I used my handy, trusted friend, mr google.

{Action: A recording of a series of Commands in Photoshop to which you apply a name. Later on, you can play that recording back on a different file and have Photoshop do your work for you. They are mostly used to capture repetitive tasks that are to be applied to a series of files or walk a person through a technique in a step-by-step fashion.}

Then I found this video at texas chicks blog. I only had to watch it 5 times and push pause 183 times.

But this average gal from Iowa eventually figured it out. And it's a good thing.

It has changed my life!

One click and 3 seconds later... VOILA! I've been spending hours upon hours slaving away over my editing for years.

Who knew that all I needed to do was dumb into the photoshop element's cliff notes for the 21st century, aka cheat. I really can't even believe it's legal. And FREE. But who cares how you get the end result. And if you save 3+ hours editing photos per week, just imagine the possibilities...

My eyes have been opened to an entirely new world.

And if I was a tech goddess I'd share a fab video tutorial demonstrating the very easy process of transforming photos since my recent epiphany.

But you're gonna have to just use your imagination 'cause although I am spreading my wings, I'm not quite to vlog tutorials just yet.

But below are some examples of what these actions are capable of producing. I've had so much fun playing around. You might have seen these in the last couple weeks, but they are some of my favs. The first is unedited or SOOC (straight out of camera) and the second is after Pioneer Woman Actions. I currently use Canon EOS 50D and Photoshop Elements 7.




PW heartland, change opacity to 40% and PW colorized, change opacity to 20%
You can see more of this shoot here.




PW seventies, then PW colorized
You can see more of this shoot here.



PW beauty, change opacity to 30%
PW colorized, change opacity to 45%
PW lovely
PW dim the lights, change opacity to 45%
PW edge burn, change opacity to 50%
PW boost, change opacity to 30%
You can see more of this shoot here.

I'm sure there are easier methods to get to this end result. I am still learning and am open to any and all suggestions.

I also just recently added a handful of Coffeeshop Actions to my repertoire. They are free by the way. My favs so far are perfect portrait, baby powder room, and moody pop.

I also bought their watermarking kit. I'm still experimenting and trying to find my niche.

What are your favorite actions?

Linking up with Pixel Perfect's before and after bloghop today. Stop over and check it out. Monica is an amazing photographer who shares free tutorials and tips with all of the wannabes, such as myself. She truly has a gift and is uber-inspirational. If nothing else, just check out some of her work.