photoshop actions.

I get a lot of emails & comments over at CaseyLeigh asking how I edit my photos. 


Well, my favorite way to edit is in photoshop with photoshop actions. Above you can see three variations of the same picture using actions. I literally have hundreds saved but have a few "go to" favorites that I tend to use over & over.


One of my favorite places to get free photoshop actions is from this blog here:


She has all kinds of "freebies" and is always providing new FREE actions!
Enjoy!

photography

BY JENNA 

They say “a picture’s worth a thousand words” right?

Well, I think they are worth more. Especially after having a baby and living away from family. Sometimes months will go by where the only way my family can see what my daughter looks like is through photos. I have always had an interest in taking photos. I don’t think I have gone one day in the past 5 years without taking a photo. But it was always the, “hey lets get together and take a photo.” I never thought about taking action photos or just capturing every day life. Recently I’ve stopped trying to get my daughter to sit and smile at the camera, but instead capture what she’s doing in her daily life. Or taking a moment to look at what is around me. 


This world can be such a beautiful place and I want to savor that.

I am by no means a professional photographer, and I still have a long, long way to go before I’d call myself good. But this is something that I am definitely passionate about and I am making the goal now to become as good as I can. I’ve never been good with words and I feel like I can better express what I see and feel through photographs.

Photos can make memories last forever. I know that I personally can be forgetful and I want to capture as much as I can so I can look back 20, 30, 40 years from now and remember what life was like at this time.

Casey has definitely inspired me to be better. Her photos are beautiful and you can really see the love behind them. My hope is that someday people will be able to see the love behind my photos, because it is something that I truly love to do.

capture the small details

My name is Danielle and I blog at CHANGING LANES.

I think of myself as a visual artist. I see things as they should be.

Life isn't always perfect...but I like to see it that way.

I began photographing my own children when the oldest was ONE.

I bargained with my J.,

the price of one professional setting ~ for that of a dsl camera.

I am self-taught at manual settings.

Am only a tad bit good at it, but it's what I enjoy.

Today,

I want to encourage you to capture the small details.

Because I believe...

I could care less about when and where we are for a picture.

Trees, buildings, cats, dogs, cows ~ take em' or leave.

I want to find my littles' little parts.

Toes, fingers, bums and curls ~ that's what excites me.

Zoom in a LITTLE, I think you will be happy you did.

thank you to Casey and a little artsy for having me.

i hope to be here again.

until then~

danielle

http://amomseyeview-lulu.blogspot.com/

photography04

lesson 4: 12 weeks to better photos

Ok, don't judge me, but... I am totally a slacker today!!!

I didn't get a chance to play with my flash this weekend which is what today's lesson is all about.  truthfully, I have been trying my hardest to NOT use the flash and the thought of turning it back on, well, it scares me!  so... with that being said, I did not do today's lesson yet, slacker right? I know!  but I am going to work on it this week. we have rain in the forecast tomorrow so, I think it will provide the right light  I need for the first task in the lesson. 

back to your photos... How is everyone doing?  noticing some changes in your skills?  shooting on M ? posting lovely photos?  friends, I am having so much fun with my camera and am really feeling more comfortable with M..

so here's the deal.  linking up with the gals from two peas in a bucket, {stop by and check out their loveliness} for their self-paced and totally awesome 12 weeks to better photos   tutorials!  if you are just joining, catch up and follow along!  we have tons of fun stuff coming up that you won't want to miss..

here is the content for lesson 4, check it out and then give it a try! 

and keep shooting, keep practicing, and keep having fun with your camera!

and what's a photography post without a picture right?

my little sweetie in her new swimsuit!  it was a hot.day, and presley loved dancing in front of this fan..just love this little girl and her fun little personality!

have a lovely week friends, and you will not want to miss next week.  I have an amazing guest blogger stopping by to help with the next lesson, she is fab and you all are going to love her!

love,
elizabeth
www.pocketfulloflovelies.blogspot.com

photography03

lesson 3: 12 weeks to better photos
 

I have noticed that I am carrying my camera around with me a little bit more and am taking more and more pictures the more comfortable I get.  I have been shooting in M, and while challenging at times, I think I can see a difference in my pictures!!   

so this week is all about light.  and I am super excited to have my friend tiffeny, a amazingly talented wedding photographer here to help us with today's lesson.

here is the content link, go check it out, and meet back here in a few! ready, break!! {again, thanks for the fab two peas in a bucket  for sharing this awesome course}

Alrighty, my friends.. meet.tiffeny!

so, tell us a little about yourself?
About me – uh . . . I cannot spell – I am mother of three, wife to one and an only child – (booo for me)!!  I am a self-proclaimed geek.  I HATE to clean and I like to make messes – and start lots of projects that sometimes I never find the time to finish, but you probably want to know about why I am relevant to giving you advice in the photography realm.  Because it makes me sound fancy, I will start with - I have a degree in photography.  Yes – there is an actual degree in an accredited college for photography – but after reading the twelve weeks to better photos lessons I kinda feel like I got ripped off!  The lessons are really awesome.  I wish I would have known about them back in my “Elementary Photography” Days! So... I started taking pictures in 4-H and I am going to leave it at that, because I would rather talk more about the subject than me – because I am not that cool and light is – or it can be hot – but anyway . . .


what's your favorite shoot? 
 I like to shoot weddings.  I love weddings – I love brides – I love happy couples – I love people in love – I love to make images of people in love – and my most FAVORITE is to create images of people that think they are not “photogenic” and show them how wonderfully beautiful they are in my light!  

 any advice to us newbies who are just using a dslr for the first time and just want to take better pictures of our kids? families? for our blogs?

Advise for newbie’s – I think I will let you in on the biggest secret my favorite college professor told me . . . wait for it . . . shoot, shoot, shoot, and then shoot some more.  The real awesomeness of taking pictures is in light, so you wont be able to completely learn it in one lesson – especially with white balance included.  Back when I was learning the fundamentals of photography (and dinosaurs roamed the Earth),  white balance wasn’t a big issue – which would be a totally different lesson – the point is with digital images it is harder to get color correct images because you have to factor in white balance.  In film days a lab technician did all that fun stuff for you.
give us your take on the lesson: the color of light?

Shooting lots and lots of images will teach you so much, which is one way digital has an advantage over film – you can see instantly what different light or white balance has on your image.   My best suggestion would be to shoot lots.  Good photographers know light and how to use it in different ways to capture the feeling they want the image to portray.  If you learn how to read light versus what the green square tells you – you can create some really awesome images.  Green square has a great purpose but you need to know how to use it.  I believe it is super, ubber important to know the rules before you break them.  Even Helen Keller could happen onto a good image if she poked the button enough times!  The real secret to making better images is knowing how to look at light and use it to your advantage.

thanks, tiffeny for the great advice!!  so on that note, I think I will grab my camera and SHOOT.  take lots and lots of pictures.  I have some really fun little outings coming up and am thinking I may just stumble upon many photo ops!  but for today, I am sorry to say, that I offer you pictures of blue mason jars.  yes, I did my light experiment for today's lesson with blue mason jars.  but let me say, on a side note, I am stoked about these jars.  I have been looking for blue ones and I have something really awesome planned for them. so to me, blue mason jars can be exciting.

ok here is my take!!!

{all of these I shot on AV with f/stop at 3.5 and ISO at 1600... only difference is the light setting...}

subtle differences.. I think you would be able to tell a little bit better if your subject was a person, although mine does not sit still long enough, so it's blue mason jars.  play with the light setting on your camera when your indoors this week.  it's kind of fun!!

next week, flash: friend or foe? 

until next time lovelies...

love,

elizabeth

www.pocketfulloflovelies.blogspot.com

photography02

lesson 2: 12 weeks to better photos

hello.there.

how'd you all do this week?? did you stay away from green square??  I am proud to report that I did {for the most part.}  yes, one time this week, I did shoot in green square, at a wedding reception.  {hey, it was candlelit and I could not figure it out, and I needed some sweet shots of my daughter bustin' a move}

ok, if your just stopping by for the first time this week, you can still join in on the fun, check out lesson 1 here and feel free to catch up or follow along at your own pace!! 

so, here is the content for  lesson 2  a huge thanks to two peas in a bucket for this awesome introductory photog class... I am also super excited to say that today, my lovely friend, molly, from willow brandt photography, is here to help us out with today's lesson.

meet.molly.as.she.tells.all...
tell us a little about yourself??
let's see. i'm a mom to two littles and one on the way. met my husband on a blind date, we've been married 7 years. i moonlight as a labor and delivery nurse with miss elizabeth. when my first little was born i took lots of awful pictures, truly awful. shaky, blurry and the like. when he was almost a year old i decided i needed some photo album worthy pics and bought my first slr......and that's where my story starts. 

what inspired you to learn about photography  and what keeps you inspired??
hands down, i was inspired by my first little to want to learn about photography. from there i watched others, did lots of on-line research and took hundreds more blurry and shaky pics to get to what i know now. keeping myself inspired comes easy with my own littles, lots of friends with littles, and all that creativity on the web doesn't hurt either. what i definitely know is that photography is something i'll never stop learning about and the opportunity for growth is endless. 

so...tell me, why should I shoot in {M} instead of {green square}??
shooting in {M} lets you get the most out of your camera. it allows you to tell it what to do, down to the finest details that help get those great shots. you know, the ones with the blurry background, the crisp focal point and the right exposure. your camera lets you set all of these things when you use the functions that are available to you while shooting in {M}. when you use the auto mode where your camera tells you what the picture will look like, you have no control over how that image will turn out. it might be blurry, it might be too dark or too bright, or worse yet, you'll miss a great shot waiting for that flash to warm up. it takes a little bit of work, but after you get the basics down it's well worth every minute spent, promise!
I will admit, I was a lot intimidated by this lesson.  but, after practicing for a few days, I feel a little bit better and I bet by next week will feel tons better {I hope}

I did the kitchen sink test, just like the lesson instructed me too. here's my take.

ok, so I did the pictures, now what does that mean for me??
when you look at the first picture in comparison to the last picture you can see a huge difference. the faster your shutter speed, the faster the image is taken. in the first picture, there's not much to look at. the water running off the canister is hard to see. when you look at the water running off the canister in the last picture, you can see the bubbles coming from the faucet and the bubbles on the side. much more detail. if you're feeling brave, when you're done with the lesson all together, go back and take the sink challenge again. try once on auto and once controlling all you know in {M} mode and see what you think. you'll be impressed, i'm sure!!

for the second part of the lesson, I shot in M {I feel like such a big girl, yay} and here are some of the shots I took.  {my Lilly's really bloomed over the last week.  aren't they prettyful?}

 
so, how'd I do??
you did great! the colors are bright and vibrant, and the detail is perfect. 


any advice for those of us that just bought our very first SLR camera and are trying to learn to take better photos??
the best advice that i can give to anyone is to practice and play around. take a day and photograph everything. keep it in manual, and don't worry about what the end result will be. it wasn't very long ago i read through these tutorials, took lots of not so great pictures, and in that mix found a few good ones that i got excited about....and the rest is history! just play and learn. take pics of your littles, take pics of your surroundings, take pics of still things, moving things and silly stuff in-between. have lots of fun, be patient with yourself and just enjoy it. somewhere in the midst of all this, you'll have captured the small things in life that matter in the end. 

 

have a lovely week friends!!!

 love,
elizabeth
www.pocketfulloflovelies.blogspot.com

photography01

basic photog class:  lesson 1

while enjoying the nice weather and snapping pics of little miss outdoors, I remembered a gift from my photog friend, ran inside to grab it, and was so excited to start lesson 1.  I have been waiting for nice weather to get started on this begginers photo class from 2 peas in a bucket .

I bought my canon rebel xs because I wanted to take sweet little pictures of my baby and wanted to take rockstar shots for my etsy store.  I will admit, I had an altered conception of {photography} to say the least.  I was under the impression you drop a few several hundred $dollars$, get a nice camera, and all of a sudden your pics just looked amazing.  well, imagine my disappoinment upon buying my first slr camera and my photos were not winning any awards.  I realized I had a lot to learn but had no clue where to start.  thanks to my friend molly, she so kindly printed off all the lessons and put them in a handy dandy little notebook and made it so pretty and gave it to me as a christmas gift.. GENIUS.. 

so, if you're like me and need some very basic direction to get to know your camera and want to take better pictures, then join me as I do this 12 weeks to better photos.  I will link up each week to the content and then share the photos I have taken and you do the same...  sound fun?? ok, let's get started.

lesson 1: aperature basic training {click on this here link and it will take you to the content}

I will be the first to say, what? aperature? maybe I should continue to shoot in green square {a term dubbed by my friend jolene} another way of saying automatic.  well, I am going to give it 12 weeks and see if I am brave enough to shoot in AV or whatever you photog's call it, or continue in green square.

I did lesson 1 and I vow to shoot in AV all week long.  I changed nothing on my camera except the f/stop, like it said to do.  here is what I came up with...

gus {the gorilla} is more in focus here, while the plants in the back are out of focus

it seems like both gus and the plants are in focus here...

 

to me, gus is in focus but not as sharp and the plants are also in focus

 

is that what is supposed to happen.. I wasn't convinced so I tried a few more times...

I see it!  first flower in focus, the rest a nice "blur"

front flower still in focus, background not quite as blurred...

everything in focus!

and again...

front lily's in focus, and bushes in background blurred

 

 

front lily's in focus, back bushes more in focus but still a little fuzzy...

mostly everything in focus...

so, play around this week with your camera, but shoot in AV mode only.  take some different shots while adjusting your f/stop.. next week, we will add in the next lesson...

love, 

elizabeth

www.pocketfulloflovelies.blogspot.com