Using Actions with PSE9 to make your photos really POP

This is my first Technique with Lollipop Press and its a little scary.......

I've been Tradition and Hybrid Scrapping for a long time, although relatively new to digital scrapbooking!!

But i am a keen amateur photographer so I thought i would share with you how i make my photos really POP making them eye catching when on our layouts.

I am using Actions for Photoshop Elements 9.

Im a huge fan of Actions.

Rather than playing with lighting, contrast and colour ourselves, we can down load free Actions, or purchase them from Photographers.

Here is a photo that was taken by the Local Paper at a recent school fete. Its kinda flat and boring dont you think, and i totally don't like that background, but with the right "Action" we can change that!

Once Actions are purchased you have to save them into the Program Data File for PS9 and then they are avaiable to use.

Then its just as simple as a double click on your photo to completely change their look.

I have several free and purchased actions on my PSE9, but my favorite ones are the ones I have purchased from professional photographers.

For this finish i have used what the photographer calls Astoria. It adds brightness and contrast and really makes the subjects stand out from the photo.

This finish is called Tombstone and it gives a real cowboy feel i think. Its been layered with a brown shade, reducing the opaque and adjusting the tones.

But the finish i find i use most is converting the Black & White features. That way it doesn’t matter what colour my photos are, i can always make sure they match my papers.

It also reduces the impact of the background in the photo.

See... the photo looks much better now doesn't it!

So Chic....

In more ways that one.... hehe

Thanks so much

Hope you enjoyed my first Technique with Lollipop Press