Rock the Shot Canon 5D Mark III Giveaway! YES, PLEASE!!

Today I received an email from Rock the Shot that I KNEW I had to share. I recently purchased the Canon 5D Mark III, and it is AMAZING! Here is your chance to win one, along with tons of other wonderful and amazing prizes!  It ends November 25th, so hurry and enter by clicking  here.

Part of the email I received:

It may only be November, but Santa Claus is coming early to Rock the Shot fans this year!
We’ve put together the EPIC 5D Mark III GIVEAWAY: a giveaway SO big we think you’ll be dreaming about it at night!
 Because we LOVE our fans so much, one SUPER LUCKY person will have an incredible jump-start on their photography career and receive:

A Canon 5D Mark III {$3,399 Value}
A $1,000 Amazon Gift Card towards the Canon Lens of your choice
A Lifetime Membership to Rock the Shot Forum ($175 Value)

(end said email)

I'm absolutely drooling over this contest!  I love Canon, and I love lenses!  I would take any one of these prizes, and you should to!  Over $4,800 in prizes being offered here, folks!  Do yourself a great big, huge favor and enter now!

Morgan Burks Photography Facebook Contest. Win a Photoshop Actions or Lightroom Presets Collection!!

Here's another set of Actions or Presets I haven't tried yet, but Morgan Burks is running a contest on her Facebook Page. She will be selecting the winner on November 14th, so hurry and click here to enter!
On the top post on her timeline, there are instructions on how to enter.  You and the person you tag in the comments must like her Facebook page to be eligible to win.  Here are the instructions (taken from her Facebook timeline post):

GUESS WHAT?? We are 10 fans away from 20K!! 

To celebrate, I'm giving two lucky fans their choice of any single collection in my shop for FREE! All you have to do is help me spread the word about my shop! 

To win - First, Like this page, then tag a friend you think would be interested in this giveaway in the comments section below this photo. (Please don't tag in the image, only in the comments!) On Thursday, November 14 I will be randomly selecting a winner from the comments below. The person who commented will WIN - and so will the friend whose name they tagged!  (Both friends MUST be a fan of my page in order to win!)

*Only one tagged friend per comment. You may tag more than one friend in separate comments, but please don't spam them all!  *

Good luck and thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support! 

To view all of my products and set your sights on something you'd like to win, visit www.morganburks.com 



If you would like to view all of her products, click here.  Her products look great, and I have read a lot of really good reviews on them.  I would love to win a set so I can try them out and review them here!  Looks like she has great prices, too!

MCP Actions Inspire Lightroom Presets or Photoshop Actions Sweepstakes. Win Your Own Collection!

I haven't tried them yet, but here is your chance to win them! This is a $149.99 value (on sale now for $129.99).  Click here to enter today!  Hurry--the sweepstakes runs through November 15th.

Taken from the MCP Actions website:

Description

MCP Inspire™ Photoshop Actions

Photography fads come and go, so how can you ensure that your images will transcend the trends? We’re proud to introduce MCP Inspire, a new set of actions that puts a timeless twist on the latest trends (think Vintage Chanel, not shoulder pads!)

Love the muted tones of a matte image? Obsessed with bright, airy edits? Prefer bold, rich, high-contrast looks? Whatever your current post-processing passion is, MCP Inspire has an action that can help you embrace and enhance the latest trends while staying true to your own personal style. We spent months developing, designing, testing, and fine-tuning these actions to bring you a set of actions that will instantly transform your images -- without losing any luster in years to come.

MCP Inspire begins with the Brilliant base action, which provides a clean and well-balanced image in both color and black-and-white. The finished result is strong enough to stand alone, or it can act as the perfect foundation for your favorite effects.

The set includes 99 actions to polish and perfect your photos, including:

• LIGHTING FIXES: Rescue highlights, brighten shadows, and more to create luminous images.

• QUICK LOOKS: Give your images a sunny vibe, a dreamy haze, a dramatic cross-processing effect and more with 27 different effects for color photos. Or add metallic tones, bold contrast, or film grain to your black-and-white images with seven B&W actions.

• MOOD RINGS: Instantly add overlays and toning to your images. Can’t decide which look will work? This set includes  mix-and-match mood ring actions to help you find your mood!

• CUSTOM LOOKS, SPECIAL EFFECTS, COLOR TRICKS, POLISHING ACTIONS…AND MORE! A huge collection of color tricks, special effects, and finishing effects will complete your image. Urban, matte, bold, hazy – whatever your style, you’ll find it here. You can also add rainbow flare, fix glowing grass, paint on blurry backgrounds, add streams of light, pop or change colors, resize for web, and more! And as always, each layer is fully customizable so you can adapt your favorite actions to suit your style.

How many hours would you have to invest to master all these toning techniques? We know your time is valuable, so MCP Inspire was designed to help you spend less time in front of the computer and more time finding inspiration and creating images you love. For only $149.99, you’ll have everything at your fingertips to masterfully edit your images and turn your photos into true art that your family, or your clients’ families, will treasure forever.

And in case you need some extra inspiration to take the leap, the MCP Inspire set will be available at an introductory offer of $129.00 for a very limited time.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: “Every artist was once an amateur.” Sometimes it just takes a little inspiration to get to the next level.

What photographers are saying:

"MCP Inspire truly works wonders on photos - this is my all time favorite action set!  Brilliant Base is worthy of the name - it gives a wonderful lightness, crispness and depth on images in just one click. The mix of looks and special effects give playful inspiration and blend together beautifully.  Editing images has never been this easy and this much fun. You will love it!"

 - Pia Rautio, www.pictor.fi

"MCP Inspire is my new favorite set for editing seniors! With it's wide versatility, this set would be the perfect starter set for a new photographer as well as an excellent addition to a seasoned photographer's editing toolbox."

- Ann Bennett, www.annbennettphoto.com

"Jodi has done it again! These are the best Photoshop actions money can buy - they help me edit quickly, grow my business, and allow me to spend more time with family. MCP Inspire is so versatile and makes editing more fun!  Brilliant Base is my new favorite batch action and I am using it on every photo." 

- Amanda Johnson, www.amandajohnsonphotography.com

"The Inspire action set offers professional and hobbyist photographers looks to suit nearly any style. I love the tricks, effects and little helpers that are included to help save time when editing. Thank you MCP for these fabulous new actions!"

- Amanda Clarke, www.amandaclarkephotography.com

"MCP Inspire actions give me flexibility to create different looks for all of our landscape and portrait images. The Brilliant Base + Mood Rings = instant love. They are the perfect touch for my images."

- Karthika Gupta, www.memorablejaunts.com

"MCP has done it again! The Inspire action set is AMAZING! It is jam packed with actions that help my workflow and give my photos any look I want!  It's the most versatile action set to date and has quickly become my go-to product!"

- Jane Atwell, www.janeatwellphotograph.wix.com/photostudios

To use this MCP product, you must have one of the following software:

Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud), Photoshop CS6, Photoshop CS5, Photoshop CS4, Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, Elements 12, Elements, 11, Elements 10**, Elements 9**, Elements 8, Elements 7, and Elements 6 

* Results from these actions vary based on the colors and tones in your image and if you use Photoshop or Elements. The Elements version comes with six fewer "little helpers" as these tools are not available in PSE.

**Compatible with all versions of Elements 6-12, except for PSE purchased from the Mac App Store.

VIDEO TUTORIALS:

Installing & using these actions in Photoshop

Installing & Using Actions in Photoshop

Using Layer Masks

Organizing Actions in Photoshop

Using the Inspire Actions in Photoshop

How to Change the Color of Objects, Infuse Sunlight and Add Faux Clouds with Inspire

How to Create a Deep, Dramatic Edit with Inspire

How to Make Shortcut Keys & Remove Built In Directions

Installing & using actions in Elements:

Installing actions into Elements 11 and later

Installing actions in Elements 9 and 10

Installing actions in Elements 7 and 8

Installing actions in Elements 6

Using the Inspire Actions in Elements

How to Change the Color of Objects, Infuse Sunlight and Add Faux Clouds with Inspire

How to Create a Deep, Dramatic Edit with Inspire

he MCP Inspire™ Photoshop Actions set includes the following:

• • • Lighting Fixes • • • MCP Auto Exposure

MCP Increase Exposure

MCP Decrease Exposure

MCP Night-Light (Shadow Lightener)

MCP Highlight Tamer (Recover Highlights)

MCP Quick Flash (All Over Light)

MCP Light Painting (Paint on Light)

MCP Light Blocking (Paint on Dark)

• • • BASE ACTIONS • • •

MCP Brilliant Color Base

MCP Brilliant B&W Base

MCP Brilliant Combo Base (Color+B&W)

• • • QUICK LOOKS: INSPIRES COLOR • • •

MCP Beaming (Warmth & Light)

MCP Bittersweet (Brown & Peach Tones)

MCP Countryside (Haze & Light)

MCP Cruisin (Retro)

MCP Denim & Pearls (Soft Blues & Yellows)

MCP Enchanted Rainforest (Lush Color)

MCP Georgia Peach (Peachy Tones)

MCP Lemon Sorbet (Bright Yellow Tones)

MCP Maplewood (Warm Brown Tones)

MCP Modern Matte Twist (Matte XProcessed)

MCP Plum Perfect (Plum Tones)

MCP Prom Queen (Pink XProcessed)

MCP Rose Petals (Warm Red Tones)

MCP Silk Blend (Creamy Tones)

MCP Spunky (Bright Color Pop)

MCP Sun-Drenched (Warm & Sunny)

MCP Sweet Dreams (Blue & Peach Tones)

MCP Vitality (Subtle Color Pop)

MCP Color Merry-Go-Round (All Looks)

MCP Color Carousel (Base + All Looks)

• • • QUICK LOOKS: INSPIRES B&W • • •

MCP Brushed Metal (Metallic Tones)

MCP Chic (Subtle Matte)

MCP Grain-it (Film)

MCP Hush (Bright & Soft)

MCP Vogue (High Contrast)

MCP B&W Merry-Go-Round (All Looks)

MCP B&W Carousel (Base + All Looks)

• • • MOOD RINGS: OVERLAYS, TONING, HAZE • • •

MCP Sweet: Brown

MCP Passionate: Red

MCP Loving: Pink

MCP Daring: Orange

MCP Caring: Peach

MCP Simple: Cream

MCP Emotional: Yellow

MCP Sensitive: Green

MCP Calm: Mint

MCP Peaceful: Light Blue

MCP Relaxed: Blue

MCP Wistful: Lilac

MCP Blissful: Purple

MCP Find Your Mood (Overlay Mix & Match)

MCP Find Your Mood (Toning Mix & Match)

MCP Find Your Mood (Hazy Mix & Match)

• • • CUSTOM EFFECTS • • •

MCP Drama (Dark & Intense)

MCP Epic (Cool Fall Tones)

MCP Fantasy Land (Peach Soft Tones)

MCP Magical Matte (Ultimate Matte)

MCP Multi-Matte (Matte Mix & Match)

MCP Metropolitan (Urban/XProcessed)

MCP Theatrical (Deep Burnt Color)

• • • COLOR TRICKS • • •

MCP Bold Color (All Over Color Pop)

MCP Ultra Color (Paint On)

MCP Custom Color Pop (Pop a Specific Color)

MCP Auto Color Switcher (Change Object's Color)

MCP Manual Color Switcher (Change Object's Color)

MCP Fix Glowing Grass

MCP White Balance Sliders

MCP Color Fix (Paint On)

• • • SPECIAL EFFECTS  • • •

MCP Shallow DOF (Paint On)

MCP Custom DOF (Paint Off)

MCP Toned Blur Overlay

MCP Custom Faux Cloud Overlay

MCP Custom Ball of Sunshine

MCP Custom Sunlight

MCP Custom Sunbeam

MCP Custom Sunburst

MCP Rainbow Maker

• • • POLISH YOUR IMAGES • • •

MCP Quick Contrast

MCP Rich (Contrast and Clarity)

MCP Haze Reducer

MCP Custom Edge Burn

MCP Classic Vignette

MCP Precision Sharp (Selective Sharpening)

MCP Gem Polish (Selective Sharpening)

MCP Perfect Print Sharp (For Printing)

MCP Webify Sharp (For Web: Resized)

MCP Custom Webify Sharp (For Web: Resized)

• • • LITTLE HELPERS • • •

MCP Snapshot*

MCP Flatten Image

MCP Select the Mask*

MCP Select and Invert the Mask*

MCP Paint with a White Brush

MCP Paint with a Black Brush

MCP Convert to 8-Bit  (Faster Editing)

MCP Convert to 16-Bit (May Slow Editing)*

MCP Convert to sRGB*

MCP Convert to aRGB*

MCP Group Everything* * Helpers with an * are not available for the Elements version. Elements also includes a "Remove Folder" action.

Free Pseudo HDR Lightroom Preset

Click here to visit Presetpond and grab this free Pseudo HDR Preset

Presetpond...It's a veritable treasure of Lightroom presets.  It's a great site, but the downfall is you have to sort through pages and pages and pages and pages to find the presets that you really want or need.  There are freebies galore, but many of them you just aren't going to use.

I came across this one today.  It gives a pseudo HDR look, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  This preset is fantastic for bringing out detail and reducing shadows.  I ran it on this picture I took at Comerica Park.  I didn't do any pre-processing or sharpening.  Best of all, it is completely FREE!  As with any HDR processing, you really have to find the 'right' picture to apply it to.  But when you do, the results are amazing.

Free Faux HDR Photoshop Action

Today I'm testing a free HDR photoshop action that I found on photographypla.net.  It is a sample out of a set of 12 that are available for purchase.  I love HDR photography, but I have to admit, the only thing I know about it is that it really takes a specific picture to really pull it off.  My new Canon EOS 5D Mark III has built in HDR functions, and I'm pumped about trying to figure it all out, but for now, I like to experiment with faux HDR actions.


I always like to show you the stand-alone, true results of the actions I test, so I try not to run any work flow processes on them before I post them, and I try to do limited layers adjustments after I run them.  With this one, I wanted to show you that final "oomph"  by running it on a couple of pictures that were pre-edited.  The picture of the Chrysler 300 to the left shows the difference between a straight out of the camera photo compared to only having the free faux HDR action applied.  Same thing with the tree photo below.  That one actually turned out to be one of my favorites and is such a simple photo.
I didn't constrain the proportions when I added the picture of my grandpa, but aside from that, the photos show a straight out of the camera shot compared to having the HDR action applied.  It's amazing how a simple action can give a photo a whole new meaning.  Bringing out the details in an old man's face tells a story like words could never do.   I was happy with the picture straight out of the camera, but the HDR action really gave it a whole new depth of feeling.  He passed away not too long after this photo was taken.

The bottom two pictures show pre-edited photos with the HDR action applied.  They really turned out well.  This action isn't over-powering like many HDR actions tend to be.  I didn't have to adjust any layers on any of the pictures, which is also a huge, huge plus for me.  Overall, I would highly recommend downloading this action, even if you aren't a huge HDR fan.  You can get some very cool looking effects if you apply it to the right photos.  If you are a huge HDR fan, I would consider purchasing the set based on the quality of this action alone.  It is only $17, and there are 12 different actions in the set.  It's only available with Photoshop CS4 and up--unfortunately, no elements version.

Bellevue Avenue Photoshop Actions, Timeline Covers and Textures {Freebies!}

Bellevue Avenue...I fell in love with their actions the first moment I saw them.  I finally downloaded their free sample pack tonight.  Unfortunately, they only have one workflow action freebie, but I'm going to try it out along with a couple of their Facebook Timeline Cover freebies.

The action they have available is called "Vision".  It brings out color, contrast and sharpens your photos.  I have to admit, when I first ran it, I was hoping that the adjustment layers were going to be easy to adjust.  Lucky for me, they were!  Bellevue Avenue's Vision action tends to come out very strong, but it was easy to adjust.  It's very important to me when I am purchasing actions that I don't have to put a lot of time into adjustments, and I have to say I didn't have to adjust this one very much.  All I did was lower the 'Contrast' layer.  On the second example, I didn't make any adjustments.

Keep in mind that I would typically run more workflow processes on these photos, but I wanted to keep the action as true as it could be.  I could have probably lowered the 'Brightness' layer on the second photo a bit, but I wanted you to see the action right out of the box. The Vision action is from Bellevue Avenue's Deep & Rich collection, and it lives up to the name.

I also tried the free Facebook Timeline Cover PSD's. For those of you who don't know, PSD's are not run like an action.  They are simply a layered photo, and you copy and paste, and then resize, the photos you want to add on top of the 'clip' layers. The covers are very high quality for freebies.

Bellevue offers an amazing collection of Photoshop Actions and Lightroom Presets.   I would love to try their Clean Edit Toolbox action set, which unfortunately, they don't offer for Lightroom.  They do have some of their most popular action sets available as Lightroom presets, which is a huge bonus for me.  I do think that I am going to purchase some of the Bellevue actions and presets. I'll get samples posted as soon as I do.

Colorvale Photoshop Actions {Freebies!}

If you're anything like me, you have a bazillion free Photoshop actions. Like me, you probably don't even know what they all do anymore, except you are 100% sure that they have slowed down your Photoshop program to the speed of molasses, and most of them never, ever, EVER  turn out like they do on the gorgeous professional photos you first discover them in.  

What I'm finding out the hard way is that 'free' doesn't always mean quality, or pretty, or even semi-attractive.  So, after overloading my Photoshop with freebies, I started buying Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets.  Now I have a whole bunch of actions and presets that I really don't use much, and a lot of money that has gone down the drain as a result.  Money I really could have used in other, more productive photographic endeavors.  The problem is that it always looks so good and so easy.  It just doesn't ever seem to end up quite that way!  

Today, I decided to try out Colorvale Actions.  They have a sample set of Actions that you can download here for free if you share the link on Facebook or Twitter.  The image I used was one I chose randomly from one of my recent 'play days', as I like to call them.  A play day is one of those days that you go out with a model and just aimlessly experiment.  No expectations, but high hopes that you will get that shot.  You know, "the one".  The one you will repeat over and over and over, because everyone who sees it is going to want it.  Well, anyway, enough about that.  I just randomly grabbed this one out of a lonely little play day folder.

 As you can see, the first photo at the top of the blog is the one straight out of the camera.  No touching up, no sharpening--just a 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' photo.  The free action "Splendor" in the  comes from the Colorvale workflow collection. Ordinarily, I would do more in the way of workflow, but I wanted to test these actions out on their merits alone.  I have to say, Splendor is one of the more in-depth actions that I've tried.  I was very happy with the result.  And since I realize that many of us want our actions to do it all, I really tried to leave the layers as they were.  On Splendor, I did end up adjusting the 'details' layer just a little.

From there, I applied each of the other actions separately onto the photo that I had already run Colorvale's "Splendor" action.  Of the 5 free sample actions, I have to say overall I was *surprisingly* impressed.  I made only a few very slight adjustments to the layers.  That never happens for me.  The most impressive action was "Twisted Lemon".  I have searched high and low for a Photoshop action that would give me a beautiful black and white photo with only the touch of a button, and Colorvale's Twisted Lemon delivered.  I didn't have to adjust a single layer to get the gorgeous result you see pictured above.  For a quick matte finish, Colorvale's Tangerine Dream really hit the mark.

Of course, I do need to test it out on a few different pictures to see how the light/skin tones/backgrounds react.  An action isn't an action if it only looks good applied to a single photo, right?  I will add some more with minimal adjustments later to test different visual scenarios.  The best actions can be run on multiple photos with minimal adjustments needed on minimal layers. I have to say that so far Colorvale seems to be a versatile product, and I'm definitely giving the workflow actions my "BUY" rating.  

For you Lightroom fans, Colorvale also carries Lightroom Presets.  The only freebie they had was the Colorvale Ultimate Web Enhancer and Resize Lightroom Preset. I do plan to purchase some of their single Presets soon and test them out on the blog, because even though I love post-processing with Photoshop, almost all of my workflow is performed in Lightroom and then completed in Photoshop.