Add some words. . ..

An old photo made new with the addition of some simple words.

Two Actions - One Photo

Using two actions on one photo is new to me but not new to a lot of you.  I decided to play around with a few from CoffeeShop (see link on the left) to see what I could come up with.  I like this!

LOVE

The top photo was untouched before adding the action, "Vintage Blush."  The only thing I did differently with this action was to change the Pink Haze layer to Multiply and reduce to 50%  

LOVE - A Second Look

After that I added  "Velvet Cream" and that was it!  I'll definitely be experimenting more with double-actions in the future.

Vintage Kids

I am not a purist.  I like having fun with pictures, manipulating the elements and changing color and texture.  The first thing I did to this photo was crop and apply the "Velvet Cream" action from the Coffee Shop (see link to the left).  This photo then had a texture applied and blended.  I have found that many textures just make skin look dirty. . . . and especially with kids it makes it look like they haven't been bathed in a while.  Choose textures carefully.  The photo was then popped into a vintage border.  It looks like this guy stepped out of 1965!

Cacti

Shot close but not macro.

f/5.6

1/1250

ISO - 200

Using Gradients

I've experimented just a bit with gradient layers.  I know they are a great tool for coloring a photo when accompanied by manipulation of the layers.  Let me show you a before photo. . . . . this pic was taken in Sedona, AZ on a cloudy day.

I began the transformation by duplicating the layer and then changing it to "multiply".  The intensity of the photo changed instantly and I merged it down.  After that I added a gradient layer called "rust, green, gold" and changed the layer to "saturation".  That's it.  A completely different and more beautiful photo than the original.

Old Tucson Studios

This photo had a bit of work done on it.  I started by applying a duplicate layer and upping the contrast.  After that I desaturated the duplicate and applied a creamy photo filter.  At this point I merged all of the images down and applied two different filters. . . the first was a grunge layer and the second was a torn photo layer.  Both were adjusted to my liking.

Old Tucson Studios

Macro - The Cactus Flower

Sometimes macro is the only way to go!

Vintage Frame and Layer

I found a new vintage frame set at The CoffeeShop blog this morning.  Rita has done all of the work for us.  I dropped in a new photo of our dog Gracie and tweaked things just a bit to get this photo.  Thanks Rita!  

Before

Already my mind is thinking ahead to how this frame set can be used in the future as it comes both vertical and horizontal.

After

Flowers

I have found that I love focusing on the middle subject in a photo.  I had three different bouquets, front to back in graduating heights.  The middle green flower dominated the grouping so I made it central to the photo.  In Photoshop Elements, I duplicated the image two times for a total of three.  The middle photo I changed to multiply and adjusted the opacity, and the top one I applied a Gaussian blur.  The next step was to link the top layer to the middle.  I then merged all of the layers and applied a creamy layer around the outside by adding a solid layer, selecting a border then feathering at 25px, backspacing that center, then adjusting the opacity of the border.  

Re-touching Photos

Before

There are so many family photos taken back in the 1950's and 60's that need help and I'm not sure where to start.  Some pictures are easier than others to work on, including this 1959 shot of mom and me at Lake Michigan.  I use Photoshop Elements 9 and begin with the spot healing tool.  There are always so many flecks and spots that need attention.  The next step I take is to add a levels layer to adjust the light and dark areas of the photo.  Some times there are more steps in between but lastly I head to the "adjust for skin tone" action which is under the header Enhance, then Adjust Color.   In the adjusted photo I also straightened the horizon line.  More could have been done but I wanted to retain the vintage look of the original.

After