Kiss n' Tell: Homeward Bound style

Hey all!  Haven't posted a kiss n' tell for a while so thought I'd do one on my recent action pack I got from Paint the Moon :)

I just purchased the Fresh Wonderland 2 set and decided to play a little.  I never thought that Annie could get any better at what she does, but she has officially knocked my socks off.... again!

I started going through some archives and found some pics of our trip home from Maryland and New York... from CHRISTMAS!  Ugh!  A*N*Y*W*A*Y.... We had decided to drive all the way through the night with as little stopping as possible.  Translated to a photographer... NO stopping to take pics.... WAH!!!  I was in the primest (ok, so I'm using my own dictionary, sue me) country for barns, rolling hills, silos, and just plain gorgeousness touched by our Heavenly Creator and NO stopping!  Kill me now! :(  I decided to get creative (working on my problem solving talents) and see how I could capture stuff while flying down the highway at 70mph.  No, I wasn't driving and shooting at the same time, though temptation did set in occasionally.

Well, caught this barn and wasn't thrilled with it SOOC (straight out of camera).  I applied two actions and a texture!  I could NOT believe how fast this changed!!!  I LOVE it now!  I even played a little bit more and added a verse and some birds, teehee!  Photoshop.... some amazing stuff!

ran the "Serendipity"action, NO tweaking :D

Thought it needed an aged feel so added "Time Worn" texture

Still felt like it needed a little pop.... that reminded me of the "Pop My Flare" action.  One of the MAIN reasons I bought the set.  I ran it, and adjusted the whole action (a new feature from amazing Annie!) by setting the opacity to 75%. 

Added "Pro Edge Vignette", something I'm addicted to!!!  Voila!  LOVED it!  It screamed for only two more things...

Birds.... Yep!  Birds :D  A brush by Shadowhouse Creations

and the "piece de resistance"... One of my favorite verses!  I love this stuff :D

Kiss n' Tell: Adding a little light....

One of the things I want to do is utilize back lighting.  In order to not blow out my highlights (which you can tell in the example below was a MAJOR "my bad" moment) I will have to learn more about fill-in.  I'm going to make myself a diffuser (more on that later), play around with it and see how things go.

As a self-taught photographer, I learn by trying... then trying again, and again, and again, well you get the picture (sheesh that was bad!).  Until I can perfect this, I will have to spend the time adjusting things in post production.  I've discovered a secret....  again, PSE9 and actions (specifically Paint the Moon) came to my rescue!

One day I'll be the ninja master of my camera, light and all that encompasses photography.  Of course, then it will all change and I'll have to learn even more, haha!  Truth be told, the challenge to learn new techniques, new processes, etc..... kinda drives me so no complaints here :D

(SOOC means "straight out of camera" and KISSED.... well, that's my special little term for "after" lol!)

Kiss n' Tell: Playin' on a Plane...

Ok, so I've kinda been in a kiss n' tell mood lately :)  (ooo!, new section idea for the blog!)  I've just been so thrilled with my PSE9 and actions that I can't help but share!  I'm about to divuldge my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE feature of PSE9!!!  It's actually the feature that sold me on this particular program, well, that and the price, lol!  First, I must set the scene...

I HATE power lines!  In fact, while taking pics of Austin, and the crew ;), painting a plane at the Burnet Air Museum (for his Eagle Scout project :), I fumed about them, lol!  I HATE power lines and they are EVERYWHERE around here!

I wanted to document a special moment (to be shared later, haha) and couldn't avoid those dadgum powerlines.  If I haven't said it before, I kinda loathe them.  Anyhoo...... NOT anymore.  Ok, so I sorta, kinda just lied... a little.  I still hate them, but NOW, I can fix them :D (BIG cheesy grin here)!

This feature, my FAVORITE feature in PSE9,  makes it worth it's weight (plus some) in gold.  "Content Aware".  Yup.  That's what I'm raving about.  It's like cloning only it "magically" configures the pixels around the area you choose and "decides" what to put in place of that area.

Ta-da!!!!  Powerlines, schmower-lines!!!!!  They'll never get the best of me (or a pic) again!  :D

If I haven't said it before, I LOVE "content aware"!!!!!!

(stay tuned for the special reveal to come ;)

Kiss n' Tell: Little Tricks, Up My Sleeve....

I've decided to show another before and after showcasing a Paint the Moon action called "Baby Soft Skin".  If you notice the picture on the left, while STUNNING she is SOOC, using a few actions, the "content aware" feature of PSE9, and "baby soft skin", she looks like someone off the Mary Kay ad :)

I LOVE this stuff!!!

Now, after I did this one, I realized you need to be careful around areas like the crevices of the nose, etc.  It does tend to lighten so you don't want it to look like the nose, eyebrows, etc are barely there, lol!  DON'T use it on the eyes, eyebrows, or lips.  Gotta have shine and definition there as well :)  You also don't want to use it much on guys.  It is great for taking some stubble out and helpful with blemishes but remember, we want our guys rugged, not soft and supple, haha!

Kiss n' Tell: The Secret Dark Room...

Ok..... I have decided to show you all just a little of what I do.  My computer is my dark room.  In this digitalized age so much has become changeable and accessible, yet harder.  I am NOT the most computer literate person there is so post processing, programs, keyboards and mice all tend to have their way with me.

One of the best things I have "discovered" is PSE9 (photoshop elements 9) and "actions"!  I have learned so much since I started playing with my little point n shoot back in January of 2009.  I could always "see" the images in my head but they never came out the way I "saw" them.  I now know why.  So much can be altered via post processing, programs, keyboards and mice, that through trial, error, time, and $, I think I have now, finally, figured out how to change my SOOC (straight out of the camera) images into what I've always seen in my minds eye.

Here's a little sample of a before and after shot.... hope my precious subjects don't mind me spilling the beans, lol!!!!