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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Photoshop Tips & Tricks

I can honestly say that I do at least one edit on every single picture that you see on my blog {ok, maybe there are a handful that are straight out of camera, but yes, more often then none I use something to jazz up or freshen up my photos}Whether it is just a simple re-balancing of light, adjustment of shadows or even using auto contrast, or more extravagant with actions and textures. I always make one quick edit, sometimes more, I love cloning things out of photos and I love playing with Actions {a one stop editing tool}!

I have been getting a few questions and comments on my photos asking about my camera and what I use to edit, so I thought I would share my {gasp!} secrets with you...First my camera is a Canon PowerShot SX20IS (a point and shoot with all the bells and whistles). I have the option of using Manual and adjusting aperture and shutter speed. It has tons of settings depending on what your shooting , a 20x zoom lens and super macro capabilities. I find that my camera takes the best photos in outdoor light, zoomed in from afar or zoomed in real close...those are the ones that I rarely edit. I have yet to perfect the big {M} button, but I am slowly learning a bit as I go :)

As for editing, I use Photoshop CS2. As some of you may know, I am a Photoshop addict, I think I would be lost without it! 

My newest love is this Topaz Labs Adjust 5 Filter that I won in a random draw a few weeks ago over at  Bumbles and Light. Check out these before and afters...



I was never really into taking photos of landscapes because I never thought that my camera ever did the photo justice...well, I've changed my mind now! This filter is so amazing at bringing the colors and details to life. I tried it on a few shots with the kids but it was a bit too drastic for me. Of course you can get pretty artistic with it and really distort your photos too, just depends on what you like :)

Another Action that I love is this one which includes the DW Clean Edit. It lightens, brightens and evens out everything. 

 For the final photo, I adjusted the shadows/highlights, and then the levels in Photoshop.

Another Action that I love is Night-Fate's Soft Vintage Action, but I don't think its available any longer. I did find this one though, which is closeI love playing with all the different layers in this action, deleting some and adjusting others...

For the above I deleted the first 5 layers. 

 For the one above I applied the Topaz Labs Adjust 5 and then the Soft Vintage Action.

So there you have it, some tips and tricks that I use when editing my photos. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve when it comes to editing your photos? 

I might do this again sometime and share a few others, but for now I'll leave you with the rest of our Beach pics from the week and you can decide if I edited them or not :)






Lish

7 comments:

Cropped Stories said...

I just love learning how others edit there photos and what they prefer; it's so much fun! Thanks for sharing! I am loving that first filter; it really brings the colors to life!

Satakieli said...

So glad you're enjoying Topaz Adjust, it is pretty great isn't it? The edits you've done look great!

Also, I had no idea you were using a Canon Powershot, my first digital camera was a Powershot. Although not as fancy as the cameras are now (mine was 3 megapixels, this was in about 2001?)

Emily @ Anna Delores said...

Loving those PS actions! I love to play in PS and LR. My favorite here is the soft vintage one, but all the images look amazing. :)

Andie Jaye said...

it's soooo amazing what a little editing can do to an image isn't it? i rarely post anything that isn't edited. thanks for linking this up to tip-toe thru tuesday!

Alyssa Dawson said...

I love edits!! These look so great!! Awesome job!

Artsy VaVa said...

My son keeps telling me I need to use Photoshop. From looking at your pics, I guess he's right! Great photos!

Sara Gomas said...

Beautiful images. photoshop editing gives new life to your images.