Saturday, November 13, 2010

{Actions are NOT scary!}

When I first started Brooke Price Photography, I was terribly intimidated by other artists, mostly because of all the beautiful color they were able to capture, and also I always wondered how in the world they could shoot in some locations with limited equipment, much like myself now.


Then, I found, like all the others, the power of Photoshop Actions. They not only clean up the color and funky color casts that sometimes come up in digital photography, but they have also allowed me to literally "save" a quick shot photo, I would have normally cast off. And some of those random, quick shots have turned into my favorite pictures.  Now lets be honest. 1. I am not a technical genius or guru.  I break a lot of the rules, some because I know to, and others because I am still learning. 2. I'm still trying to find my niche in the photography world, so what I think is beautiful may very well not float your boat. And I'm good with that. I mean, I stamp my name on it after all, not someone elses.

I wanted to give a couple of examples of BEFORE & AFTER pics so you can see the post production.  This is the time consuming stuff you pay a photographer like me for. This is where our eye, our talents, and our flair come out. This is what makes a picture have our unique spin on it.  I prefer rich, vibrant, and bright color, and it shows in my processing.

This was one of those "quick shots" I was talking about earlier.  This little guy was way too cute, but he had tons of energy and none of it was really focused on having his picture made. He did awesome when he needed to be posed, but I love this one, just because its him and all his curious 2 year old self.
This shot was processed using a combination of Pure Photoshop Actions and Paint the Moon Actions.  Both of these sites offer freebies that you can try out before you purchase, but trust me, they both are so very worth every penny!

As you can tell, the before is underexposed. At first glance it would be a cast off, not much to work with, but by using the actions I was able to drop out the shadows, bump up the background color, and add some sparkle!   Now its bright, you can see the little guy clearly, and you get to take in all the yummy buttery bokeh of the background.

Here is another:



I absolutely LOVE this tree canopy, but again my shot was underexposed, I tend to do this on purpose now just because I like to pop it in processing.  Bad habit, I know, but its MINE.  Trees can also cast funky shadows and tend to give you a green color cast.  With Actions I was able to remove all of this. And get the picture I had imagined in my head when I took it in the first place.

Again, this was process using Pure Photoshop Actions and Paint the Moon Actions.


The whole point of this was to show you that the actions are totally customizable, they work for a variety of things, and overall just improve on what you already have!  So, if you were like me and scare of them at first, I hope at least now you are considering checking them out!


God Bless,
 Brooke

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