my point behind quickie edits are not to show extensive editing. often there is more that can be done. but i think you get the idea right?

this is a snapshot (gasp! why not share amazing images all the time? because i am keeping it real. i want the focus to be on the edit and what is going on not wowing you with my work)

i took this just after sunset. so the golden light is all gone leaving behind what? almost an overcast like shadowing which can make raw sooc skin tones kinda bleh.

i purposefully chose not to tweak the white balance so you could see what the presets are actually doing. not hiding behind a bunch of little tweaks or white balance fixes -

which frankly good white balance can make a ‘meh’ image ‘wow!’ just like that!

anyway back to our edit here…

Daybreak is a nice preset- it slaps that dull reddish skin away and replaces it with nice coloring…see?

i used the brushes to bring back detail that ethereal preset had washed out a bit. kodachrome adds a nice subtle but rich color depth to the reds and blues especially.

in photoshop i might tweak the skin tones a bit- they are pretty cyan here. you may not. i would also normally tweak the Tone Curve in lightroom but also did not here (so you could just see the presets at work)

but in just a few clicks and a few brush swipes you can see what i have done in less than 2 minutes on an image.

i cannot speak for other photographers. i can only speak for myself. but i absolutely love snapshots.

my personal facebook is full of them. recently mostly ducks- not my kids. probably to the annoyance of all my friends.

but as a photographer that really loves capturing the real stuffs of life…it’s what is happening in my life and i want to document that.

i see myself as more of a documenting kind of photographer than a fancy fashion kind. so 98374392 duck pictures are what is going on in my life right now.

i also edit my snaps. it’s my time to play. try new things. get out of the box a little. i might not change anything permanently in my style…but i love to play and try new things.

so here is a personal fav snap of mine.

i used my multi-purpose non-fancy 70-300 vr lens. i shot in aperture mode and set the iso to 2200 because these are just for me and i am letting my camera set the exposure.

i hate shooting manually on a lens whose aperture changes if I am at 100 or 300mm. it’s too much to keep up with when i want to shoot on the fly with moving targets.

so first up…

how i would normally edit this image. i adore bw. this is my hazy daisy bw preset with exposure cranked down. i like it dark.

i wanted to play. i thought…you know what.?

i want COLOR.  velvia is a type of color film. it’s really rich and often not so hot on people photos as it can make skin really orange or weird.

i made a color preset that was inspired by that very look. it also looks weird on people usually and can make the eye whites look really scary. so use on people with caution.

this image with the red mower and the blue skies screamed- try velvia!  to me. so into squeaky clean i went and i played warm water and then velvia (which only changes saturation/vibrance and hue panel).

i really love what it did to the sky. brought out the vivid blues and it made the red snap.

now that may not be everyone’s flavor. it’s not my usual flavor either. but i had fun and i think it really works here!

and then something that is very popular right now. the matte/hazy look.

i went into my wildflowers essentials for lr4 set and played chocolate lily lite. i tweaked it a LOT. lifted shadows, pushed contrast…a few other little things.

same snap. 3 different plays. my preference for this image even though it’s not my usual?

the velvia version. i’d love to print it and hang it in my kitchen of all places.

i challenge you to take a recent fav snap and play. i’d love for you to post your favorite play on my FB wall.

get those creative juices flowing!

so i thought since it’s been a while since my last tweaker- i should share one.

i wanted to use a plain image to illustrate just a good basic clean.

my image was ok sooc (straight out of the camera) but very cool and blah.

i really just wanted to clean it up a little.

my white balance was great after warming it up in lightroom. so no further tweaks were required in photoshop- but this is not always the case.

in a future tweaker i will be sure to show some tweakers where i have to fiddle with skin tones or color casts.

in lightroom i played the preset {delight} from the squeaky clean set. now i have to note here- that you will likely need to try a couple on a new image to see which best fits the  image.

lighting, colors, white balance- so many things can affect how a preset will look. many of the presets will look great on sooc cool images as they tend to warm them up inside the preset.

there are a few that are a tad bit ‘not clean’ and just a little sweet on color and tone. and they can work on the right image. for example- {rose water} is a perfectly lovely preset but it is really best played on backlit images where some natural sun haze comes into play. it adds just a pinch of sweet pinkness.

but always never forget- you must adjust presets and actions. playing any action or preset and expecting it to magically transform your image from meh to ah-mazing is really a beginning editor’s ‘mistake’.

although i ran the {delight} preset i still needed to adjust the lights (too bright), added some fill light (pulls shadows out for harsh lighting. got unpleasant shadows in the eyes and face- fill light is yo friend!) and a tad bit of recovery because i could see my highlights were still pushing ‘too bright’ status on this particular image.

ah-mazing are the results of almost always tweaking sliders (lightroom/acr) and masking layers and adjust layer opacities in photoshop. tweak tweak tweak!

if you do not know what a mask is or know how to mask (for photoshop/elements users)- that is something you definitely want to educate yourself on. your life in elements and photoshop will absolutely transcend what you thought your images could look like.

although lightroom is my main program- i never ever EVER use photoshop without doing some masking.

masking is like putting on makeup. you don’t put a thick gob of mascara on your lashes and leave it all goopy. NO! we comb through those lashes and get the clumps out. we don’t just put an inch of eyeshadow on our eyes- no way! we use several colors and we use a brush to blend blend blend and remove where some color might have shifted to (like a cheek) and we don’t want it there right?

and dudes…think of it like detailing a car. you have all these tiny little tools to help you go in after a big paint job to make sure that are no air bubbles, creases, cracks, globs, smudges, fingerprints…masking allows you to place effects EXACTLY where you want it. anything you do in photoshop- pretty much- can be masked.

so here we go. we take the lightroom image from above that we played {delight} preset on and then tweaked and now we run it through photoshop.

now you might have noticed i did not cover ALL the layers that you get in in the squeaky clean CLEAN action. there are several. these are the ones i usually hit on a basic clean edit.

there are layers to help strip color casts. it’s called Stain Lifters. it’s a very simple action that helps you lift  ’stains’. open up that layer and use a soft WHITE brush on the black layer mask. i like to start at about 40% opacity on the brush and swipe on the color casted areas. i swipe again if needed. i hit X if i need to erase (X changes my brush back to the opposite color and in this case since we started with a white brush- it will change it black. now i can erase the effects off areas i may not want it to go. i often use the red and/or orange layers for reddened eye rims, pimples, scratches. the green and yellow layers are good for the darn little casts you sometimes get from grass reflecting on your subject. remember that it’s purpose is to minimize not be a magic wand.

there is also a toothbrush in the action- but there are no teeth showing here.  there are also level layers, curve layers and color balance layers for fixing exposure/tone and white balance and skin tones. these layers DO require user input. you can’t play the action and expect it to automatically scrub the image. starting from the bottom layer and working your way to the top most layer is usually the most effective and efficient way to use this action.  you do NOT need to shoot raw to have the squeaky clean action set. it works really great on sooc jpgs. and often you will not have to reduce opacity of the More Color layer. some jpg shooters even select this layer and tap CTRL J and duplicate the layer for extra color- some masking may be required on the yellows/greens as they can get a tad nuclear if pushed too far. the layer itself is generally pretty kind to skin tones however.

ok so let’s recap! another before and after and after.

now see the final image? it’s just…nice. colorful but not too much. it’s just clean.

your images may require more or less. it depends on lighting, your shooting style, equipment used (flash/studio often requires less ‘cleaning’)…so please always look at each image as a new dish.

it might require a different amount of spices than a previous image or a new spice altogether.

so get tweaking!

so i thought since it’s been a while since my last tweaker- i should share one.

i wanted to use a plain image to illustrate just a good basic clean.

my image was ok sooc (straight out of the camera) but very cool and blah.

i really just wanted to clean it up a little.

my white balance was great after warming it up in lightroom. so no further tweaks were required in photoshop- but this is not always the case.

in a future tweaker i will be sure to show some tweakers where i have to fiddle with skin tones or color casts.

in lightroom i played the preset {delight} from the squeaky clean set. now i have to note here- that you will likely need to try a couple on a new image to see which best fits the  image.

lighting, colors, white balance- so many things can affect how a preset will look. many of the presets will look great on sooc cool images as they tend to warm them up inside the preset.

there are a few that are a tad bit ‘not clean’ and just a little sweet on color and tone. and they can work on the right image. for example- {rose water} is a perfectly lovely preset but it is really best played on backlit images where some natural sun haze comes into play. it adds just a pinch of sweet pinkness.

but always never forget- you must adjust presets and actions. playing any action or preset and expecting it to magically transform your image from meh to ah-mazing is really a beginning editor’s ‘mistake’.

although i ran the {delight} preset i still needed to adjust the lights (too bright), added some fill light (pulls shadows out for harsh lighting. got unpleasant shadows in the eyes and face- fill light is yo friend!) and a tad bit of recovery because i could see my highlights were still pushing ‘too bright’ status on this particular image.

ah-mazing are the results of almost always tweaking sliders (lightroom/acr) and masking layers and adjust layer opacities in photoshop. tweak tweak tweak!

if you do not know what a mask is or know how to mask (for photoshop/elements users)- that is something you definitely want to educate yourself on. your life in elements and photoshop will absolutely transcend what you thought your images could look like.

although lightroom is my main program- i never ever EVER use photoshop without doing some masking.

masking is like putting on makeup. you don’t put a thick gob of mascara on your lashes and leave it all goopy. NO! we comb through those lashes and get the clumps out. we don’t just put an inch of eyeshadow on our eyes- no way! we use several colors and we use a brush to blend blend blend and remove where some color might have shifted to (like a cheek) and we don’t want it there right?

and dudes…think of it like detailing a car. you have all these tiny little tools to help you go in after a big paint job to make sure that are no air bubbles, creases, cracks, globs, smudges, fingerprints…masking allows you to place effects EXACTLY where you want it. anything you do in photoshop- pretty much- can be masked.

so here we go. we take the lightroom image from above that we played {delight} preset on and then tweaked and now we run it through photoshop.

now you might have noticed i did not cover ALL the layers that you get in in the squeaky clean CLEAN action. there are several. these are the ones i usually hit on a basic clean edit.

there are layers to help strip color casts. it’s called Stain Lifters. it’s a very simple action that helps you lift  ’stains’. open up that layer and use a soft WHITE brush on the black layer mask. i like to start at about 40% opacity on the brush and swipe on the color casted areas. i swipe again if needed. i hit X if i need to erase (X changes my brush back to the opposite color and in this case since we started with a white brush- it will change it black. now i can erase the effects off areas i may not want it to go. i often use the red and/or orange layers for reddened eye rims, pimples, scratches. the green and yellow layers are good for the darn little casts you sometimes get from grass reflecting on your subject. remember that it’s purpose is to minimize not be a magic wand.

there is also a toothbrush in the action- but there are no teeth showing here.  there are also level layers, curve layers and color balance layers for fixing exposure/tone and white balance and skin tones. these layers DO require user input. you can’t play the action and expect it to automatically scrub the image. starting from the bottom layer and working your way to the top most layer is usually the most effective and efficient way to use this action.  you do NOT need to shoot raw to have the squeaky clean action set. it works really great on sooc jpgs. and often you will not have to reduce opacity of the More Color layer. some jpg shooters even select this layer and tap CTRL J and duplicate the layer for extra color- some masking may be required on the yellows/greens as they can get a tad nuclear if pushed too far. the layer itself is generally pretty kind to skin tones however.

ok so let’s recap! another before and after and after.

now see the final image? it’s just…nice. colorful but not too much. it’s just clean.

your images may require more or less. it depends on lighting, your shooting style, equipment used (flash/studio often requires less ‘cleaning’)…so please always look at each image as a new dish.

it might require a different amount of spices than a previous image or a new spice altogether.

so get tweaking!

| the complete guide to buying OJS | get the 411 on all our stuff

ok here is the skinny on where OJ presets and actions fall. i’ll keep it short and sweet so it’s easy to follow.

*****

the clean photographer:

you like subtle processing. you like scrubbed up images with pleasing skin tones. nothing too much. nothing that screams holy heck i’ve been photoshopped.

usually natural colors. even skin tones. proper exposure. you usually care about good white balance. you like to nail it in camera, and clean it up and get the heck off the computer.

classic clean and urban photogs fall in this spot.

you don’t need much- maybe a hammer and some nails. basic tools and you are one happy photog.

you might like:

squeaky clean for lightroom

jewels for lightroom

shiny happy people vol1

squeaky clean for photoshop cs2-cs5

*****

the retro vintage photographer:

you usually style your sessions. clothes- check. location- check. you generally have more yellowed tones in your edits. higher contrast and shadows.

your colors are deep and rich. you are authentic old school vintage and you like it hardcore.

you might like:

vintage recess for pse and ps

just beachy for pse or just  beachy for ps

just beachy for lightroom (pushing the blacks give you that hard vintage look you crave)

nostalgia for pse and ps

shiny happy people vol2

wildflower collection for lightroom (especially the matte presets and the matte bws)

*****

the pastel vintage photographer:

you like it soft and sweet and usually on the light side. your clean is not quite clean and is usually pretty low on contrast. your favorite time of day might be sunset where the light is soft and dreamy.

you often love to shoot against the sun for lush yummy haze. your colors are usually soft.  you love to style sessions with romantic tones and elements.

you might like:

just beachy for pse or just  beachy for ps

just beachy for lightroom

little wonders for ps

summer haze for ps

shiny happy people vol1 for lightroom

shiny happy people vol2 for lightroom

wildflower collection for lightroom

*****

the playful or experimental photographer :

you like to play. it’s all about having fun. you like colors that would normally be green to be blue. you like color shifts. you like vintage. shoot…you like it all.

you might be trying to find your flavor. you might be a hobbyist just enjoying the ride.  or in a rut and need to change it up.

you might like:

your best bet is to actually contact amy@olive juice and tell me what you think you might want and let me help you find something you don’t already have. a happy customer is a repeat customer!

*****

the black and white photographer:

you see the world through colorless goggles. shades of gray and contrast. you love to remove the distraction of color and get right down to the heart of the image.

emotion often drives you. you know that one preset or action does NOT fit all images. you know that changing the colors in an image actually changes the black and white look.

your heart bleeds black and white.

you might like:

monochrome vol1 for lightroom (especially for tinted bw lovers)

monochrome vol2 for lightroom (for the bw purist)

beyond shades of gray for pse and ps

*the bw presets in the wildflower collection (not sold separately)

*****

the jpg photographer

you don’t shoot raw. you nail it right in camera and just want a little snap and git r done. you have better things to do than fiddle around in all these programs.

you might even simply be a photography enthusiast and use your humble but awesome point and shoot and just want to slap some get up and go on those babies.

you might like:

tea shoppe for lightroom/acr (for cs2-cs5 only)

squeaky clean for ps

*****

at anytime i invite you to send me a couple raw files (for lightroom users) or sooc jpg files and tell me what set you might be intrested in and let me slap some OJ on your images and send them back. try them before you buy them.

if you don’t know what you want- let me help you find it!

a happy customer is a repeat customer <3

warmly,

ab of olive juice shoppe

also check me out on my personal blog

http://amymcmasterphotography.com/blog/

or my photog facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AmyMcMasterPhotography