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.