Magic Street – Before and After

photo editing process Photoshop

I took this picture a couple of weeks ago.

It shows a magical street of a lovely city called Gyor in Hungary.

We like going there, it’s a nice place.

 

Since, as you might already know, I never leave my pictures untouched (because that would cause my brain to break), I had to open it in my editing software (Photoshop Elements Eight) and play with it for awhile.

This is what I did, step-by-step…

 

photo editing process Photoshop

The original picture.

No editing at all.

 

I like the magic of the place.

I like how the shadows and bright spots interact.

I like how the history still lives and breathes there.

Captivating.
photo editing process Photoshop, the Pioneer Woman actions

1. I applied the Pioneer Woman Boost Action here.

 

I use that action a lot.

It’s awesome!
photo editing process Photoshop

2. Here I ‘burned the remaining haze’ a little using the Unsharp Mask.

 

That is my favorite editing technique of all times.

Actually, I once wrote a tutorial about it.
photo editing process Photoshop

3. In this step, I used the Unsharp Mask again.

Only this time to sharpen the image a little more.

 

I’ll soon bring a tutorial on what settings I use to sharpen my pictures.

photo editing process Photoshop

The final result.
photo editing process Photoshop

And again – before and after.

 

In fact, the whole transition took me no more than 5 minutes.

Just a few clicks can lead to a very different, punchy and bold result.

 

What do you think, dear friends?

Do you use any of the mentioned techniques?

Let me know!

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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