The Pioneer Woman actions

Fall at Zoo

canon 550 D sample picture

Camera Model: Canon EOS 550D (…yes, I have a new camera. I’ll be talking about this a little later. Now I really need to spend some time crying …out of happiness. I hope you understand.)

Lens: Canon Telephoto 75-300mm (…yes, I’ve used telephoto to shoot almost macro. When I had a first look through the lens I could barely see one quarter of the leaf. I was standing that close to it. It’s actually not that smart to stand close to the photographed subject when you use a telephoto lens. To maneuver out of this peculiar situation I had to take a few steps back to achieve the dimensions of the photo above. This clearly describes how terribly lazy I can get – I decide to take a few steps back instead of reaching into the bag that’s hanging on my shoulder for a more appropriate lens because it just seems less energy consuming. Sometimes it’s hard to be me.)

Focal Length: 190 mm (…the distance from the lens to its focus. This sounds rather technical. I have a distant and misty idea what this means but I am not sure I ever want to see into this fully.)

Aperture: F5.0 (…this is a quite small aperture value. The lower the aperture the blurrier the background. Petra loves blurry backgrounds. Sometimes she thinks she loves blurry backgrounds more than sweets. Sometimes she loves sweets more than anything.)


Shutter Speed: 1/100 [s] (…this is the fraction of time I have captured. It always amazes me. My brain isn’t even able to imagine a fraction that small.)
ISO: 3200 (…this is a very high ISO setting. ISO setting this high allows you to take pictures in rather low light conditions. And this number – I mean the number 3200 – is one of the reasons why I am crying with happiness when I think about my new camera. I can’t stop it! I was dreaming about this number for such a long time.)

White Balance: Auto (…the auto white balance of this camera must have been programmed by aliens. It is that good. Another tear of joy is rolling down my face.)
Post Processing: Photoshop Elements 8 (…I mostly played with the Pioneer Woman Action called ‘Soft Faded’.)

The moral of this story: ‘Even not so optimal equipment or settings can create quite an acceptable picture.’
…oh, and here’s the original picture:


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The Most Narcissistic Post Ever Posted!

First of all – this is a picture of me… thinking.

Because when I think, I think hard.

And it is such an experience that I usually want to take a picture of myself… just to remember this memorable moment.

So far, I have one.

Anyways, I used this special picture to try out The Pioneer Woman’s Actions – I mean the Photoshop Actions created by The Pioneer Woman.

Pioneer Woman is awesome, her site is awesome, her family is awesome and her actions are nothing less than awesome, indeed.

On the left side, there is the original picture that I took with my camera. Let’s call it the SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera).

And on the right, there is a picture which has undergone certain beautifying process – the result of applying particular Photoshop action.

I used two actions here – Boost and Bring Out The Eyes.

Here I’ve used the Slight Light action. The new picture looks much more positive and fresh then the original one.

I think I will use this action all the time – I need to lighten up my pictures almost always.

And I even dare to think that most of us do.

This is the action called Colorize.

It’s made my skin look more matte.

I like that.

The Heartland action – I love the color tones, especially the color of my lipstick.

Very ‘fairy-tail-ish’.

A dreamy and lovely action called… Lovely!

Very aptly named. Not that I look lovely, the effect is lovely.

Here I used the Beauty Black and White action – originally, it resulted in a black and white picture, but I decreased the opacity and saved some color.

And I love that!

Oooooooh, and here comes my all-time favorite – Seventies, everybody!

I love, love, LOVE that – anything vintage makes my soul happy.

I really don’t know why, but I have always been a granny in my heart – since I can remember… since 3, I guess.

Three years old granny, that’s what I was… in my heart.

This is Slight Light and Seventies, both together.

Impressive!

Yeah, you can combine the actions – use one on top of the other.

You can mix three or four and see what you get.

Isn’t that great?

I think it is more than great – it’s ÜBER-GREAT!

And here I’ve combined the Slight Light and Soft Fade actions.

Using actions is so much fun.

The Pioneer Woman’s action are free to use – so if you have Photoshop (even Elements), just go grab these treasures.

And thank you, Pioneer Woman, you are the best!

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