Ladies Mutual Photography Improvement Association: January 2010

Hey all! So, just to give you a little background on me in regards to my editing "experience". I graduated from Purdue in Computer Graphics technology where I learned the ins and outs of Photoshop among other things. We did a little bit with pictures (manipulations, restorations, etc.), but not a ton with editing. After I graduated, I discovered some new "worlds" in Photoshop...and I fell in love. haha! Anyway, I know some of you don't currently have Photoshop, but the good news is that you can download 30 day trials from Adobe.com to get you through these dull winter days (trust me, it WILL brighten your day!). Here is the link to download the trial:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/photoshop/

You will need an Adobe.com account, but they don't spam and I don't even get e-mails from them very frequently. And, after your 30 day trial of Photoshop expires, you can move on to Elements (photoshop lite). And, after that hopefully they'll release the beta version of CS5. You can usually keep those for longer than 30 days. Now, one note to make is that the 30 day trial you can download from Adobe.com is Photoshop CS4. In my tutorial, I'm using Photoshop CS3. There are some differences, but for the most part they are fairly similar. If you have any questions about where to find things that I've done in CS3 on CS4 just ask. I've used and have access to both.

Sooo, here is my tutorial! Because it's so huge, I've also added a link to view it in a new tab: Click here.

OK, so after I posted the video embedded in this post...It was too huge. So, to see the video tutorial, just click on the link above. Let me know if you have any problems.

Free Actions Resources (and other great tutorials):
Coffee Shop Photography Blog
Pioneer Woman Photography Actions (and really great Tutorials!)
Smashing Magazine's Favorite Actions (I think most are free)

And, just searching for free photoshop actions can get some good results as well, but those are some sites that I really like. Some actions work better with certain kinds of pictures obviously. It's a really good way to get started editing and learning the Photoshop interface.

I'd also like some feedback on the tutorial. I'm currently getting a master's in educational technology and will be creating a photography e-learning course (or components of the course) this semester. So, I will be making quite a few similar tutorials throughout the next few months. And as I mentioned in the video, ask me questions if you have them. I seriously love photoshop and editing! And, if you have any other ideas for tutorials, e-mail me. I will happily use your ideas for my class. :)

And, here are some before and after photos.

Before.