Favorite Photoshop Actions!

[Kjersti]

I feel like my photos are a little blah. What are your favorite photoshop actions?

Do people even use actions or has eveyone moved on to plug-ins for Lightroom? I don't know how it works!

Thanks!!!
Kjersti

[rach3975]

I love Elements Color Poppers by My 4 Hens. I didn't even realize how blah my photos were until I started using it on most of them.

[EvaK]

Nicole Van has some really awesome actions. They are a little on the pricey side, but I love them.

http://shop.nicholev.com/default.aspx

[eranslow]

yup - I use My4Hens actions - love her photographers tool box and the color poppers I've also used some of the Coffeeshop actions - those are pretty fun too (and free)

[Kjersti]

Thanks - I appreciate the links too

[Balinda]

I am another My 4 Hens addict~ermm fan (cough, cough)
and they fit my budget...you can't go wrong with her photograhers toolboxes.
And MCP has some freebies.

[AmyM]

Love TRA, Florabella, and My4Hens.
Hey, make sure you back them up regularly. I almost lost a ton of them.

[maryinaz]

Pioneer Woman has 2 sets of free actions too. Oh, just tried to look up the link for you, but her site is down for a redesign (can't wait to see it!).

[eranslow]

here's the coffeeshop actions

http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot...d-presets.html

and my 4 hens

http://myfourhensphotography.com/

[Megan Turnidge]

I use Florabella actions lots! Love them! http://florabellacollection.com/blog/

[luckyme]

I use:

- Totally Rad Actions (The Original and TRA 2), as well as Totally Rad Lightroom Presets.
- Kubota Lightroom Presets
- Lilyblue Actions

I like to mix n' match and have fun!

[Gabbina]

I love myfourhens actions! There are tons, but I mostly love the vintage kind. She has often promo or discounts, so check her site often

[Gemma]

I only use M4H's actions, I only got the photographers tool box the other day and I love it already!

[adrianka]

I don't use actions, but play a lot with the Curves (both in RBG and Lab mode). Levels and Exposure are also quite effective.

Another way of play is to duplicate the photo and play with blend modes. One of the coolest ways that I've stumbled across when experimenting is to desaturate the photo on top, put the blend mode to Screen and decrease opacity to approx. 50%. It makes wonders for the white balance.

I tend to do another duplicate in-between where I set the blend mode to Overlay and decrease opacity as seems fit (otherwise the colours scream too much).

There are lots of possibilities with these; it just requires some time to try them.

[ColleenSwerb]

I love PW's free actions. I like for my photos to be a little more saturated (feels more true to reality) and Pw's Boost action was my favorite for a LONG time. Then last Thanksgiving I bought Totally Rad Actions 1st set, and their Oh Snap! is my new favorite

[newfiemountiewife]

I have some of M4H, MCP and Nichole Van. I am a huge fan of my MCP actions, I use them on just about everything. I bought a big set last year with my birthday money

[Milmomma]

Another M4H girly here. I won a GC to her store on mother's day and hit the jackpot. Then grabbed her retirement bundle a couple weeks ago. I love mixing and matching and adjusting them for what I want

[suladesign]

Thanks ladies for sharing those links with us. I've been wanting to start a thread about this for a while, never got to do it, but here it is! I still have a hard time with improving pictures in photoshop, haven't really gotten the hang of it yet. So I use simple ol' iPhoto to do some editing, and it already helps me a lot, but these actions are great!

[ayaandjudah]

Oh my gosh, so many to choose from. I was looking at the Coffee Shop site and she has a really nice freebie called Baby Powder room. Does anyone have that? I ask because it looks hard to do, do you need in depth PS knowledge to run it?

[adrianka]

Alisa, actions are easy to use. They're here to make our lives easier. You just load the action and run it, that's all. Don't be afraid of them, give it a try and you'll see. If in doubt you can always put a question here at the forum and there's lots of people here who can help you with getting the hang of it.

[ayaandjudah]

Thanks! I use two actions, by a person named Mike. They're super easy, one is called the basic clean up action and the other is a color pop that goes with it.

I used it for this picture. I thought I had the SOOC shot on photobucket but I don't but let me say it was not nearly as nice as it looked after the actions.


I think I'd like to delve into the world of some more actions. I'll be brave and take Adrianka's word for it that is easy. Or I'll come begging for help. :-)

Originally Posted by helenvader

Alisa, actions are easy to use. They're here to make our lives easier. You just load the action and run it, that's all. Don't be afraid of them, give it a try and you'll see. If in doubt you can always put a question here at the forum and there's lots of people here who can help you with getting the hang of it.

[neenee]

Another M4H and PW girl here. I have a few from coffeeshop too but don't use them as often. I like free ones but sometimes you just have to break down and buy them cuz they are too awesome not to!

[lovely1m]

I have a ton of My 4 Hens' actions. I lurve her and she runs lots of sales. Almost all of my photos have one of her's run on it.

[ayaandjudah]

What's PW?

[jenn7]

I used Lightroom for a while when it first came out but gave it up in favor of PS again. I usually do my own thing to my photos but I also occasionally use actions by many of those already mentioned: Totally Rad Actions, M4H, MCP, Florabella and a couple of old Photoblast ones.

[jenn7]

Originally Posted by ayaandjudah

What's PW?

Pioneer Woman

[jessica31876]

Pioneer Woman

Originally Posted by ayaandjudah

What's PW?

[sugirox]

I use TRA both the original and the revenge pack.love it so far
for quick fixes i use PW1.

[Valgal]

Yah, I use Ree Drummon's (Pioneer Woman) actions ALL the time. Esp the 'fresh and colorful'. Here's a direct link to the download if no one has posted it.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2008/04/actions/

[eranslow]

Originally Posted by ayaandjudah

Oh my gosh, so many to choose from. I was looking at the Coffee Shop site and she has a really nice freebie called Baby Powder room. Does anyone have that? I ask because it looks hard to do, do you need in depth PS knowledge to run it?

for some of her actions you need to play in the layer masks to get the right look. she includes directions/instructions in the zips which really help

[nesser1981]

Paint the Moon has some nice free ones. I just got some of her textures and I love them.

[junebug]

i use My 4 Hens, Coffee Shop and also Paint the Moon's actions. most of what i'm using now are freebies except for one or 2 sets from M4H. and i almost always mix them up. its fun to get a unique look.

[d2vasquez]

I use a combination of M4H and Pioneer Woman's - love them both and like that they have the flexibility to edit and play with them to fit my needs.

[lillannie]

I use Photoshop actions, and pretty much any from www.coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com are amazing.