Before and After #2

Hi there! So yes, I was a bit neglectful of the blog last week. But hey, it was Thanksgiving. And it was AMAZING! I don't know if I've ever had a better Thanksgiving. Luisa and I even did some Black Friday shopping. We weren't those crazy people that got up at 4am to get in line. No thanks. We left the house around 1, and enjoyed the much shorter lines, less traffic, and surprisingly ALL the same deals! We loved it. I hope yours was wonderful as well.

But to make up for last week, I'm going to blog every day this week. There. I said it. Now I'm committed. But I have some really fun blog posts ready that I'm excited to share.

SO! To kick it off, I thought I would do another before and after post. If you missed the last one you can see it here. I've been experimenting with Totally Rad Actions for photoshop. They had a killer deal last black friday and my only regret is that I didn't buy both of their packs.

My first image is pretty subtle, but the next too are more drastic that anything I've ever posted. So without further ado...

SOOC (Straight out of camera) image:

Edited Image:

Quick note: All of these image were edited first in Aperture, and then in Photoshop with the TRA demo actions (I edited this shoot before I had bought the action pack). You can get these free right here! So with this image, you'll notice I burned the edges a bit, warmed up the skin tones with the Action Troy at 20%, and that's about it. Not too much going on here.

SOOC on left. Final edit on right:

Recipe:

Duplicated Layer in Photoshop, set blending mode to Multiply, and then with a mask, painted in the vignette and darkened corners.

Added a contrast layer, and also painted in the edges with layer mask.

TRA action Troy at 29%

Pioneer Woman Action (Both packs are free) "Seventies" at 10%

SOOC on left. Final edit on right:

Recipe:

Duplicated layer, set blending mode to Multiply and then paint in the burnt edges.

Troy at 23%

Seventies at 20%

And there you have it. Notice, I only used two actions, and also that in the future I'll probably back it down a little. I always notice that when I learn a new editing technique, I use it too much, and I need to back down the effect about half. But I'd love to hear your take on them. Have an amazing Tuesday and we'll see you tomorrow!