Yes, right now photography blogs are my # 1 addiction (after editing photos of course). If you're looking for some interesting tips, a look at life from a fellow photographer or just need something to read to give you a break from whatever important task you were doing, check out the blogs below. You won't regret it..... =)
1- http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/ - This blog is amazing! The Pioneer Woman offers some free actions for Photoshop but also offers contests, food photography info (and recipes - I think), as well as photo "how to" articles.
2 - http://www.clickinmoms.com/blog/ - Offers many techiniques and ideas for photography. There is a very informational forum (or so I've read) but it requires a fee to join.
3- http://blog.brookesnow.com/ - This photographer shares her battle with choosing to create images that are meaningful to her and not get wrapped up in the commercialism of Photography. Very insightful and inspiring.
4- http://www.brandcampblog.com/ - If you're looking for ways to build a better Photo business, this resource is very helpful. Very down to earth and address very pertinent topics. It's my favorite right now, I love browsing the archives.
Happy Blog Reading,
Sara
Showing posts with label free photoshop actions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free photoshop actions. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
My Third Indoor Session
Yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph my uncles family in Statesville.
Since this was only my third time holding a session indoors I was a little concerned with the lighting. As soon as I got there I began playing with my camera to see what settings would be best to use. I began in Manual and then switched to Aperature because I was getting a little frustrated. Aperature, however, wasn't allowing me to get the right exposure I needed so I switched back to Manual. I'm glad I did!
I also made a point to set my White Balance and Metering mode before I began shooting.
I believe most of my shots were taken with my Aperature between f/5 and f/8. My shutter speed was mainly 1/60th.
I had several posing ideas thought out but was only able to use a few since my four cousins were much more interested in their Christmas presents than in getting their family photos taken!
When they did pay attention and give me smiles, it was amazing and even though the session only lasted 30 minutes, I was able to get some awesome shots!!
For a few of my shots I used PSE5 exclusively for editing (except for placing my logo) and gave them some personality by using free actions from www.mcpactions.com and www.thepioneerwoman.com. Each time I use an action (especially Pioneer Woman's Seventies action) in PSE5 I fall more in love with the program!
So great session and I'm glad my uncle and aunt have some Christmas photos they'll love.
Be sure to find and like me on Facebook (Sara Vogt Photography) to see favorites from their session.
Sara
Since this was only my third time holding a session indoors I was a little concerned with the lighting. As soon as I got there I began playing with my camera to see what settings would be best to use. I began in Manual and then switched to Aperature because I was getting a little frustrated. Aperature, however, wasn't allowing me to get the right exposure I needed so I switched back to Manual. I'm glad I did!
I also made a point to set my White Balance and Metering mode before I began shooting.
I believe most of my shots were taken with my Aperature between f/5 and f/8. My shutter speed was mainly 1/60th.
I had several posing ideas thought out but was only able to use a few since my four cousins were much more interested in their Christmas presents than in getting their family photos taken!
When they did pay attention and give me smiles, it was amazing and even though the session only lasted 30 minutes, I was able to get some awesome shots!!
For a few of my shots I used PSE5 exclusively for editing (except for placing my logo) and gave them some personality by using free actions from www.mcpactions.com and www.thepioneerwoman.com. Each time I use an action (especially Pioneer Woman's Seventies action) in PSE5 I fall more in love with the program!
So great session and I'm glad my uncle and aunt have some Christmas photos they'll love.
Be sure to find and like me on Facebook (Sara Vogt Photography) to see favorites from their session.
Sara
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Finally!!! Actions for my PSE5!!! (And the Instructions so You can do it Too!)
Last night I went over to my friend (and fellow photographer - you can find her here: http://sandmphotos.blogspot.com/) ) Shoshannah's house where she has so graciously been teaching me things about photoshop and my camera! She told me earlier in the day that she thought we had missed a step before in downloading actions to my PSE5 and she wanted to give it one more shot before we both threw in the towel and decided that my Dell 2005 computer was totally irredeemable!
So, after downloading a few free textures from http://www.mcpactions.com/ and http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/ we began the process of getting them to work in PSE5. I don't think I have to tell you how elated we both were when I re-opened my Photoshop and BAM! The installation bar popped up and we knew we had ACTIONS!!!!! It was a great moment. =)
If you're having trouble downloading actions into PSE5, here is what we did, step by step. I hope it helps and that if / when it works, you get that same, elated feeling that we got. Then, you get to play with them which really is the best part of it all!
How to Properly Install Actions into Photoshop Elements 5 on Windows XP
*Note, you must first have some actions downloaded before saving them in this location to use!!
1- Go to "My Computer"
2- Go to "C Drive"
3- Go to "Documents and Settings"
4- Go to "All Users"
5- Go to "Application Data"
6- Go to "Adobe"
7- Go to "Photoshop"
8- Go to "5.0"
9- Go to "Photo Creations"
10- Go to "Special Effects"
11- Go to "Photo Effects"
12- Now, paste the action folders you have downloaded into this file
13 - Go back to the "5.0" folder
14- There will be a whited out icon that says something like "mediadata.dp3".
15- Hit the all caps key and behind the word media (or the last word of the file before the period), type "OLD" in all caps.
16 - Close out of all that
17 - Go to your PSE5 and re-open
18- If this was done properly, an installation progress box should come up saying something like, "rebuilding"
19- Once this is finished, go to the toolbar on the right under Special Effects
20 - Choose Photo Filters - All
21- Voila!!! You should see your installed actions!!!!!
If you try this and have any problems, please let me know and I will try to assist you in getting this setup. I know how frustrating it was for me and I'm glad that I had someone like Shoshannah to help me make it happen!!!
Thanks Shoshannah!!!
Sara
So, after downloading a few free textures from http://www.mcpactions.com/ and http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/ we began the process of getting them to work in PSE5. I don't think I have to tell you how elated we both were when I re-opened my Photoshop and BAM! The installation bar popped up and we knew we had ACTIONS!!!!! It was a great moment. =)
If you're having trouble downloading actions into PSE5, here is what we did, step by step. I hope it helps and that if / when it works, you get that same, elated feeling that we got. Then, you get to play with them which really is the best part of it all!
How to Properly Install Actions into Photoshop Elements 5 on Windows XP
*Note, you must first have some actions downloaded before saving them in this location to use!!
1- Go to "My Computer"
2- Go to "C Drive"
3- Go to "Documents and Settings"
4- Go to "All Users"
5- Go to "Application Data"
6- Go to "Adobe"
7- Go to "Photoshop"
8- Go to "5.0"
9- Go to "Photo Creations"
10- Go to "Special Effects"
11- Go to "Photo Effects"
12- Now, paste the action folders you have downloaded into this file
13 - Go back to the "5.0" folder
14- There will be a whited out icon that says something like "mediadata.dp3".
15- Hit the all caps key and behind the word media (or the last word of the file before the period), type "OLD" in all caps.
16 - Close out of all that
17 - Go to your PSE5 and re-open
18- If this was done properly, an installation progress box should come up saying something like, "rebuilding"
19- Once this is finished, go to the toolbar on the right under Special Effects
20 - Choose Photo Filters - All
21- Voila!!! You should see your installed actions!!!!!
If you try this and have any problems, please let me know and I will try to assist you in getting this setup. I know how frustrating it was for me and I'm glad that I had someone like Shoshannah to help me make it happen!!!
Thanks Shoshannah!!!
Sara
Monday, December 5, 2011
Photo Editing - Pro's and Con's of Photoshop Elements 5 and Picnik
So, for the past few days I have been editing photos from the W. Family Session (the last of my winners from the Thanksgiving Giveaway) and I am beginning to learn the in's and out's of Photoshop Elements 5 (thanks to Shoshanna of http://www.shospace.blogspot.com/ ). Before Shoshanna so gracefully began prodding me to use my Photoshop Elements 5, I was using Picnik (www.picnik.com) for all my editing.
Now, Picnik is fabulous! I still love using it and right now am still using it 50% of the time along with PSE5 but having someone begin teaching me all the incredible benefits of PSE5 is making me realize that maybe, for several years I have had a jewel of an editing program right in front of me and have refused to see it.
So, let me give you some of my opinions of the pro's and con's of PSE5 versus Picnik.
PSE5 (Sara's Pros)
1) Enables you to lighten PARTS of an image alone. Example: Say you have a photograph where the lower half of the subjects face is in shadow. You can create a new Brightness/Contrast layer, lighten to your desired strength, hit CTRL+ I and then use the paintbrush tool to lighten only that part of the face. I have used this feature numerous times since Shoshanna showed it to me last Monday night!
2) On a few edits I did the subjects were in front of a beautiful lake with trees. I was able to make the lake and trees darker and more vivid while keeping the subjects lighter so that they stood out. The final product looked AMAZING! The lake and sky were vivid shades of blue and the trees were dark and contrasted well with the subjects.
So far, these are the two best pro's I have gotten from PSE5 but I'm sure there will be more.
PSE5 (Sara's Con's)
1) Because I am using such an elderly version of PSE5 (soon to be remedied since I have an Elements 10 ordered) most free actions from different places like www.mcpactions.com , and http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/ (just to name two) will not work with me =(. Therefore, I can't do anything with one click. I did ask Shoshanna to give me a listing of the processes for certain actions but that is time consuming for her and takes more time on my part.
2) This may be something that I haven't learned yet about PSE5 so I may have to recant this con but for now, I will put it up here. I don't like the text options given for watermarking my edited photos nor how if you go to the buttons where you can batch watermark several photos they only give you three options for placement. I would much rather (at this time) use Picnik because it allows me freedom of choice for my font and watermark placement.
So, there you have it, my pro's and con's for PSE5 and Picnik at this point in using them both.
Give me feedback! What editing software do you use and what are some pro's and cons of it? I'd love to hear from you.
Sara
Now, Picnik is fabulous! I still love using it and right now am still using it 50% of the time along with PSE5 but having someone begin teaching me all the incredible benefits of PSE5 is making me realize that maybe, for several years I have had a jewel of an editing program right in front of me and have refused to see it.
So, let me give you some of my opinions of the pro's and con's of PSE5 versus Picnik.
PSE5 (Sara's Pros)
1) Enables you to lighten PARTS of an image alone. Example: Say you have a photograph where the lower half of the subjects face is in shadow. You can create a new Brightness/Contrast layer, lighten to your desired strength, hit CTRL+ I and then use the paintbrush tool to lighten only that part of the face. I have used this feature numerous times since Shoshanna showed it to me last Monday night!
2) On a few edits I did the subjects were in front of a beautiful lake with trees. I was able to make the lake and trees darker and more vivid while keeping the subjects lighter so that they stood out. The final product looked AMAZING! The lake and sky were vivid shades of blue and the trees were dark and contrasted well with the subjects.
So far, these are the two best pro's I have gotten from PSE5 but I'm sure there will be more.
PSE5 (Sara's Con's)
1) Because I am using such an elderly version of PSE5 (soon to be remedied since I have an Elements 10 ordered) most free actions from different places like www.mcpactions.com , and http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/ (just to name two) will not work with me =(. Therefore, I can't do anything with one click. I did ask Shoshanna to give me a listing of the processes for certain actions but that is time consuming for her and takes more time on my part.
2) This may be something that I haven't learned yet about PSE5 so I may have to recant this con but for now, I will put it up here. I don't like the text options given for watermarking my edited photos nor how if you go to the buttons where you can batch watermark several photos they only give you three options for placement. I would much rather (at this time) use Picnik because it allows me freedom of choice for my font and watermark placement.
So, there you have it, my pro's and con's for PSE5 and Picnik at this point in using them both.
Give me feedback! What editing software do you use and what are some pro's and cons of it? I'd love to hear from you.
Sara
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)