This Blueprint was sent in by Jessica Crawford, an MCP Actions customer.  She explains below how she has saved time using our products and she shared an example of how she adds color and depth to her photos while using our products.

“I’ve been a huge fan of MCP Actions ever since I first discovered them. I use the Fusion Photoshop Actions on almost all my images. As much as I love using photoshop in my digital darkroom, as a mother of two small kids, I love finding shortcuts to make my workflow more efficient. I’ve found that with the Fusion Photoshop Actions Set, it can take me from start to finish with a click of a button and a few opacity adjustments. This set has truly improved my images by 100% and cut my editing time in half. I’d like to share this before and after shot I did and my blueprint on how I created vibrant color and add depth to a flat imagine using MCP’s photoshop actions.”

BEFORE:

 To achieve this look, I used MCP’s Fusion Set, MCP’s Eye Doctor, and MCP’s Free Photoshop action: Touch of Light and Touch of Dark.

1. Ran “Eye Doctor” to lighten the iris, enhanced the catch lights, and sharpened with sharp as a tack.
2. Ran “Fixed overexposed” under the Fusion set at 13% opacity.
3. Ran “Color Fusion Mix and Match” under the “Fusion” set and  I left “One Click Color” at its 75% default while making these adjustments:  turned off “Brighten it,” and “Spot Light It” because the image was bright enough already, raised “Richen It”  to 55% opacity, “Edge It” to 100%, and used “Sentimental” on all of the background at 45% opacity.
4. Ran “Magic Marker” and used a white soft brush at 100% and painted color over the graffiti wall. I adjusted the overall opacity to 40%.
5. Ran “Touch of Dark” at 66% opacity over parts of the track and 10% over his face and hair (I still felt like he was a little overexposed.) I used “Touch of Light” to dodge parts of the track and his clothes at 10%.
6. Ran “Golden” from the Fusion set at 5% to warm him up a bit.
7. Finished by running “High Def Sharpening” from the fusion set at 100% opacity.

AFTER:

This Blueprint was created by Jessica Crawford at Jessica Crawford Photography and Framedweddings.com is based out of Raleigh, NC, specializing in Newborns, Children, Families, Engagements and Weddings.

Are you wondering how to get creamy newborn skin and edit baby images in Photoshop? It all starts in camera with proper lighting.  Nice, diffused, even lighting will help even out skin tones. Many babies have red or yellow coloring and bumpy or textured skin.

There are a few tricks you can do in Photoshop to help even texture and tones for a creamy newborn skin.

Step 1: Duplicated the background layer and then use the Patch Tool in between the eyes and left eyelid to smooth the skin. Adjusted the layer opacity to taste.

Step 2: Used the Lasso Tool to select her hands, set a light feather 1st so there is in a jump in toning.  Then used a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer. For this image, Hue to +4 and the Saturation to -5. She still looked red all over. In a second Hue and Saturation adjustment layer, this time all over rather than just on the hands,  set the Hue to +2 and Saturation to -3. This will vary based on the image and color issues.

Step 3: Next, used MCP’s Magic Skin Action set – specifically the Powder Your Nose skin smoothing Photoshop action which is great for newborns and set the opacity to 50%.  Brushed all over her face except lips, eyelashes and hair.

Step 4: Flatten Image. Made a duplicate layer and chose MULTIPLY as my blending mode. I set the opacity to 29%.

Step 5: Made another new layer and chose SCREEN as my blending mode and set the opacity to 50%. Amounts will vary based on your image.

Step 6: Added a layer mask to the SCREEN layer and used a black brush on the green blanket to darken it back. The mask icon is the tiny circle in a square at the bottom of the layer’s palette.

Step 7: Next, used MCP’s Crackle – a Photoshop action to add mid-tone contrast in the Quickie Collection.

Step 8: Lastly, used MCP’s Free Magic Dark action at 17% opacity and darkened the edges.

Katie Hardy is the owner of Katie O Hardy Photography located in Augusta, Georgia. She specializes in studio and natural light photography. Her work is described as clean and simple.

Sometimes your daytime photos fail to capture the depth and warmth that you remember seeing in person.  This amazing photo by Amanda of Sparrow Memories Photography is full of personality.  What an adorable shot. Amanda sent me her before and after and felt that while she loved the original, it needed an extra something.  Admittedly, her favorite MCP Photoshop Actions set is Fusion. She uses at least some actions from Fusion on nearly every edit.

Here are her steps for this image – the Blueprint shows how she got from the before to the after using actions in the Fusion set (which works inside Photoshop and Elements).

If you prefer your photo not quite this warm, you could definitely dial back the Magic Markers and not do the last One Click Color, but Amanda loves rich color pop and this is how she achieved it.

Thank you, Sparrow Memories, for sharing your edit with us!  MCP Fans – when you edit your photos, come share your favorites on MCP Actions Facebook Page.  Yours could be selected for a future Blueprint.

Learn my photo editing process from beginning to end for a bridal image.

I use Photoshop for all of my editing – starting with the RAW images from my Nikon D700 in Adobe Bridge to completion in Photoshop.

In Adobe Bridge:

• Turn the Brightness down to +40 (I tweak until the histogram is more evenly distributed). There is a little more bright than dark to begin within this photo, so it won’t be completely equal, but you don’t want anything climbing the right side of the histogram.
• Under “Detail” I pulled luminance up to +5 under noise reduction. It’s­ very effective for both reducing noise and softening. Next I open the photo in Photoshop to complete the editing process.

In Photoshop:

Step 1 (Cropping): I don’t like the column on the left or the way she is centered completely in the photo, so I’m going to re-crop. Generally it’s a good idea to get your crop right in camera so you can maintain the most information possible. Sometimes, however, it’s just not as easy as others. This picture for instance was taken while I was 2nd shooting at a wedding. So the main photographer was directing the bride, and I am literally just shooting a 2nd perspective. The bride may never look at me, and in this case was only standing here for about 30 seconds.

Step 2 (Cloning): Now we have our basic composition to where we like it. I do NOT however, like the big gaudy black hand rail running through the pretty white column. So that has to go. We’re going to get rid of it by cloning. Be precise when cloning, and always do it on a separate layer. Once you clone, you delete the data that was in that spot. Duplicate your background layer. You should always do this before editing so that you can always undo whatever you have edited. I named this layer “Handrail Clone.” This fix is all I will do on this layer.

Click on your “clone” tool from your tool selection.  We’re going to start on the column and work our way left. You want to do this in as few and correct motions as possible. So make your clone tool the size of the rail. You’ll find the sizing selection at the top left corner of your screen.  Also make sure your opacity is at 100% for this. So you don’t have to go over and over to get the desired look. Once this is done, find the spot on your photo you want to replace the rail with and click on it while holding ALT.  You can see the preview of that you’re going to move over when you hover. Just make sure any lines, or designs match up how you want them to.

So far we’ve gotten rid of the bar completely that was on the column. All of our lines match and you can’t tell it was ever there!  Finish your cloning. Try not to clone using the exact same place as your source the whole time. It will look good as you go, but when you finish and look at the whole photo you’ll see an undesired pattern or repeat in your photo, and it won’t look natural.  Just to make sure all of my bushes blend together, I’m going to select my blur tool, which is under the little button that looks like a tear drop. Select about 50% opacity, and blur my bushes a little.  I also cloned the small portion of the white column that remained on the left side of my photo. I wanted to keep this size, but don’t want the column.

As of now, this is what we are working with.       

Step 3 (The Eyes): I want to make her eyes a little more clear. For me, in a portrait, the eyes should always be the focal point.  I use the MCP Photoshop Action “Spark” from MCP Fusion set. It also automatically creates a new layer which I love. After running this action, I painted on her eyes to activate at 50%.

Step 4 (Teeth): I like for everyone to look their best in photos, so I generally whiten teeth and clear up and skin issues as well.  MCP has an action called Eye Doctor and Dentist  and another called Magic Skin so check those out for action based retouching.  For teeth, I do it manually by duplicating my last layer and call it “teeth.” I like to just use the DODGE tool. I put it at about 17% opacity, and on midtones to start. zoom in close enough to see the teeth, and make your brush about the size of one tooth.

Step 4 (Lightening and Darkening): Now I want my subject to pop a little more off of the backdrop, so I want to darken behind her, just a LITTLE. To do this I’m going to use the MCP Fix Overexposure Photoshop action in Fusion. It automatically defaults at 0% opacity, so you just increase it to suit your needs. In this case I’m going with about 30%. Remember this layer is masked, so you only want to judge it based on the area you want darker, were going to erase this action over the rest of the photo. So now just use the mask, (a soft black paint brush, while the fix overexposure layer mask is clicked on).

Step 5 (Enhancements): I like to do as little as possible. LESS IS MORE! For this photo, I ran the Sentimental and the Fantasy actions in Fusion, but turned off One Click Color. I added a mask over the Sentimental layer and turned the opacity up to 57%. I used masking so that it only affected the surroundings and not the skin tones.

Below is the before and after bridal image:

Jenn Kelley is a VA Wedding and Lifestyle Portraiture photographer in Chesapeake Virginia. In business for 2 years and studying photography for 8. More info on Jenn and her photography can be found on her website/blog at WWW.JennKelleyPhotography.com.

Here are the Lightroom presets she used from the Quick Clicks Collection – in this before and after “Blueprint.”

1. Outgoing
2. Booster Shot Light
3. Sharp Attack Light
4. Burnt Edges v2

Literally four quick clicks to enhance her image!

Whether you prefer color photos or black and white imagery, there are times where you may want a classic black and white photo.  Most photographers shoot in color, but it can be as easy as a few clicks in Photoshop to get rich monochromatic images or more subtle film like black and white conversions.  Using this color photograph submitted by Spanki Mills Photography in Texas, I will show you a few options using the MCP Fusion Photoshop action set.

Here is the straight out of camera image of a baby girl:

Next are three conversions to black and white.  I would love to hear in the comments which you prefer most and why. The step-by-step Blueprint showing exactly what actions were used and at what opacity is listed under each photo.

The 1st image is meant to give a look similar to black and white film.  Lower contrast, lighter tones, very classic.

This next edit used a deeper conversion with more contrast, but grayer midtones.  This gives the photo a darker overall quality.

The last photo edit has a warmer toned black and white feel by combining the higher contrast Timeless with the Toned Sunkissed action using Black and White Fusion Mix and Match.

After viewing, what are your thoughts?  Which black and white look speaks to you?  What is the most visually appealing?  Taste is subjective but it is always fun to hear opinions. Thanks for your thoughts.

Do you prefer Lightroom or Photoshop?  For many photographers, both are an important part of their workflow.  When it comes to shortcuts, both Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets can help you edit faster and get the results you want. To learn more about the differences between the two, read about the pros and cons to actions and presets and when you might want to use each.

In this step-by-step Blueprint, professional photographer Stephani Dennis used a mix of actions and presets in her editing.

She started her edit in Lightroom, using the Quick Clicks Collection Lightroom presets.  She used a preset called Extreme Detail. This preset brings out incredible details in the photo, such as the texture in the dog and the metal.  It really made the photo pop.  Next she went into Photoshop and smoothed the model’s skin using the Magic Skin action set – Powder Your Nose action. Lastly she used Touch of Light/Touch of Darkness, a free Photoshop action. She used a 30% opacity brush and painted on the light on her arms and the darkness around the edge of the photo.  In less than 2 minutes, she went from the before image to the after photo.  Thank you Stephani for sharing your work with us!

One fun thing about Lightroom is its ability to go from one editing extreme to another with a few quick clicks. Make sure to Watch Me Work in the Lightroom video tutorial below to see how we go from the “Before” image to the two after versions – a hazy look and a clean post processed look.  You will be shocked at how fast we edited this using the MCP Quick Click Collection.

Have you ever screwed up the exposure or white balance of your photo? If you shoot RAW you are in luck!

While you may not want to admit it, every photographer has been there.  Maybe you were shooting manually and forgot to change the settings when you switched locations… Maybe you metered incorrectly?  Maybe you are on auto and your camera guessed wrong?  Or maybe you just messed up! You may have grabbed your camera to snap a shot of your child  – and your choice was change your camera settings and miss it or just click – click – click and worry later.

Read on to learn how to go from the before to the after shown here.

Sound familiar?  No need to answer in case you would be embarrassed.  Seriously, I promise this happens to everyone, including me.  99.9% of the time those photos just get deleted later because I usually catch my mistake as I chimp (check the back of the camera) and readjust.   If you find that you are correcting every photo with strong adjustments to fix mistakes, you may want to revisit your camera, read more, and practice.

But on the off chance you mess up on a rare occasion and need to save an image, here are 3 tips.

1. Shoot RAW. I cannot say this enough times.  I don’t care if you do.  I will not make you shoot RAW, but on the off chance you need to “fix” bad color or exposure, RAW is by far the best choice.
2. Use Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. Or another powerful raw editor, like Aperture.  Do not try and “fix” these severe issues in Photoshop or Elements. You need the control of one of these software programs.
3. Learn about white balance correction and exposure. Gain an understanding of the white balance tools and sliders, exposure, fill light, and recovery sliders in your editing program.

BONUS TIP: For One-click fixes use MCP Quick Click Collection {Lightroom Presets} or {Adobe Camera Raw- ACR Presets}

The other day while in Downtown Detroit, I begged my twins to let me snap a few pictures of them against the mostly torn down building featured in the Chrysler commercials. They  finally gave in, and I snapped this before adjusting my settings.  If I was not demonstrating a point, I would just delete this and use the next one I shot that was exposed correctly and not crooked either…  But… I wanted to show you the power of RAW!

The following image has more things wrong than right.  It is many stops underexposed, you cannot see the subjects, and it is on a horrible angle.  What’s right?  My kids are in it.  I love the backdrop of the 1-sided building, and the sky is decent, but at the expense of the rest of the image.

So first I tried a color edit.  I did not love it – the sky was blown out from increasing exposure and my other images I took after this one are significantly better.  I only saved it to share here.  When you find a photo extremely underexposed, and you fix it, you get a lot of grain and artifacts.  Lightroom’s noise reduction algorithms are good, but may not work miracles.  Steps: The photo below was cropped.  Then I used Quick Click Collection Presets: “Add 2 Stops” to fix exposure and “Daylight and Sunshine” for white balance. Them I used “Silence the Noise Medium” and “Fill Light Medium.”

I decided to scratch the color play and try a black and white. My steps using Quick Clicks Collection presets were as follows:  “Add 1-Stop” to adjust exposure, then “Sundae Dish” to convert to black and white.  Next I clicked “Fill Flash Full” as the dark shadows needed to be lightened a lot. Finally I added the ice cream tone “French Vanilla” and  finished with “Silence the Noise Medium.” Besides the cropping, it took five instant clicks to go from the before to the after shown below…

On Wednesday, we showed you how to photograph perfect sunset silhouette photos. Once you get them out of your camera, editing them in Lightroom or Photoshop can make a huge difference.

The main goal when editing a sunset silhouette image is vibrancy.  Rich colors against a dark shadow. To achieve this look in Lightroom, you can use our Sunset Silhouette presets in the Quick Click Collection.

In a few quick clicks you will go from this – where you can see their clothing and where colors are washed out…

To this: Dark black silhouettes against vibrant colors.

Watch our Lightroom video tutorial to learn how to edit your silhouette images. To learn how to photograph the perfect silhouettes here.