Tyler Senior Photos Part Two

Photos speak to me. 

I know that sounds stupid but-

Wait, wait! 

I did that post already : )

How do I edit photos?

Greatly. Extravagantly. 

And with ACTIONS.

If you know even a smidge about photoshop, then you know about actions. They are a set of "CLICKS TO MAKE YOUR PHOTO LOOK COOLER"

assembled into an "action." It's like getting a grab bag at the Hello Kitty Store. 

A bunch of cool stuff packed neatly into one container. 

This is so you don't have to push the same buttons again, and again, and again. 

See my watermark?

That's the MELANIE SEGALLA on each photo.

I just push a button and it appears! Like MAGIC! 

I've even given it a super awesome name.

It's the "Melanie Watermark" action.

You take a photo,

You do a few little adjustments (skin, teeth, eyes, sharpen) on your own

and then comes the aforementioned DOLLOP. 

You push a button. And the action magic happens.

Yes, its not that simple. 

But that's a start. 

(Later I'll talk about layers and painting and opacity and fill and....etc. all part of the action fun.)

I'm going to give you a present. 

A PRESENT. 

Well, its a regift, as I didn't exactly "buy" it myself,

but it is invaluable! 

You buy actions. I lust after them. 

I want ALIEN SKIN and TOTALLY RAD PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS and 

HOLY FREAK THE HOLY GRAIL, THE SKIN PLUGIN

and MCP ACTIONS

and....and....and.....

But, since they are FREAKING EXPENSIVE

(some photographers get together and buy them and share them so when I tap into that I will die of excitement, but that hasn't happened yet ; )

I use these two sites that are insanely great for FREE ACTIONS. 

Here's one. The one(s) I use most.

(For Photoshop Elements)

PIONEER WOMAN ACTION SET ONE AND TWO

And for the fancy schmancy photoshop (this is the one I use)

PIONEER WOMAN ACTION SET ONE AND TWO FOR FANCY PHOTOSHOP

and this blog has a lot, a lot, of free photoshop actions, which she even explains how she made! 

I use the BRIGHT EYES action in almost every photo : )

THE COFFEE SHOP BLOG FREE ACTIONS

The thing about Photoshop is you use it with a light hand. Conversely, I use a 'light hand' all over the photo. But I just change a little bit in each part. I don't think there's anything wrong with helping a photo live up to its full potential : ) Below, I will tell you which pioneer woman action I used on each photo.

Fresh and Colorful, Boost, Bright Eyes, Define and Sharpen, a hint of Lovely and Ethereal.

Pioneer Woman (PW) black and white is one of my favorite black and white actions ever. I used it AFTER the above photo was edited and done. This is an action that needs toggling on levels. Something I will explain in a later post : )

P&W Black and White. Just a crazy photo : ) I personally love it : )

After this photo was edited and done, seventies taken down to 50%. (Only 50 percent of the seventies action was used.)

I love this action! After this photo was edited and done, a heavy dollop of Old West! This action needs a certain kind of photo, so I only use it every once in a while.

Need I tell you? P&W black and white : )

Regular editing. Eyes (Bright Eyes) skin, Boost, Define and Sharpen, a touch of Lovely and Ethereal.

PW Black and White, a generous helping of Define and Sharpen applied to certain parts of the photo.

Ditto for this one as above.

After edited and done, A half order of seventies again : )

This is an example of using layers. I MUST explain this later. Pioneer woman's action 'Sunshine' applied to a photo that already had a little bit of sunshine and I just wanted to boost up the flare. Using layers, I applied a tiny bit of the sunshine action to the right side of the photo only. Layers are fabulous. Ok, for serious, post next week on layers.

Ah, the road. I love the road. It calls to me, its dangerousness is enticing : ) PW black and white.

Edited and done with a generous generous serving of seventies action.

PW Black and White.

Ditto, cropped.

Seventies again. Seventies action is another one that has a certain "feel" to it. When I 'feel' that 'feeling', seventies action never lets me down : )

Very light dusting of PW black and white.

Boost, eyes and skin touched up, heavy sharpness on the clothes, boost again, a medium helping of lovely and ethereal. Also, the Quick edge burn action (which makes the edges darker)

In the top three favorite of these photos I took. Those eyes! Deep and dark and beautiful. PW Black and White.

This photo uses one of my absolute ABSOLUTE favorite photoshop actions that I use ALL THE TIME. Here is the link. Free again of course : ) Inverted Mary The key with this action is to only use it on a separate layer, not the background. (Watch for my layers post for reals) It takes away some of the color of the skin, lightens the skin, and darkens the dark parts. Time and time again it has made a photo "pop" for me.

I use Lovely and Ethereal a lot, but for Tyler, it didn't seem quite right. It's soft and pretty, not something I was going for in Tyler's senior photos. But on a hunch, I used it here, and I love it. I think it is the perfect balance between the edgy look I was going for, and a lovely portrait of a really awesome kid. 

So there are the rest of my photos of Tyler! It was so much fun. I am very grateful for the chance to do a senior shoot, and I hope I get to do another one soon! I hope these links will help you get a photo, dig into photoshop with a gigantic shovel, and wow yourself. 

Ok, get used to it but here it is again.

I LOVE PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!