Will somebody add color-popping action please?

[dizim]

I use PSE8 and am debating if I should purchase CS5. A few of you have talked about a color-popping action (I think it's called that) and I've seen some pictures with it and have been soooooo impressed! Will somebody please alter this picture with that action? And only that action (for now) so I can see if that action is going to sell me on CS5! And if you want to really "wow" me, feel free to do more alterations on this picture (after you show me the color-popping), but make sure to tell me what you did. Since I can't take "great" photos, I want to learn to fake it! lol :)

Thanks so much!!!!

[Austin.Manny]

I think better lighting would help you more than a "color-popping action". And I would way rather learn how to take better pictures than to fake them. JMO :|

[JoShAdKa4]

Hi I have been practicing my editing skill, so if you don't mind I gave it a try. I used coral paing shop pro x2. If you like and want to know what all I did just let me know. She is a real cutie, and with that pout she probably can get what ever she wants... I hope you like it...

[Stacey8221]

I am also VERRRRY new to editing but lately I have been trying to get all the practice I can get so I gave yours a try!
Unfortunately I don't have the color pop action so I can't show you those results but I did this in Lightroom 3 (Just downloaded the free trial a couple weeks ago and will defnitely be buying it!) I tried downloading a color pop action for it and can't get it to load in. Anyways I hope you don't mind that I did the edit without your color pop request!

[dizim]

Thanks! KEEP THEM COMING!! I really am curious about the color popping action. I think Sarah Wilkes is the one who turned me on to this action. Are you reading this, Sarah? :)

I just downloaded the trial for Lightroom today and am playing around.

Yes, I know I should learn to use my camera better.....it's in the works!

[JoShAdKa4]

Nice Stacey, you and me both! (just learning) I downloaded that Lightroom and for the 30 day's couldn't figure it out. I see my edit is a little too warm, the white in her bathing suit is not so white, if it were mine I would fix that.

I too would like to see what other's come up with... Sarah

[Stacey8221]

Oh I am just in love with my Lightroom! I don't know what I did without it lol! Now that I have this back up I am realizing I overdid the eye color too much, (maybe even the whole image!) I used the Iris tool for the very first time and wasn't sure exactly what I was doing! But I guess this is how to learn!

[sf1]

Hope you don't mind, but how about a Aperture 20 second edit. Use a free plug in for the LOMO effect, then added some skin softening and slight amount of definition. You could get most effects out of LR alone, saving lots of money for other gear!

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u198/shanef1/Haileypoutresizedforweb-Version21.jpg

[D Thompson]

Not sure what the color pop action is either, but here is my attempt.

Most edits done in ACR and then in CS5 ran a Topaz Detail preset and then a OnOne preset and dropped the opacity on the OnOne layer.

I can give more specific if you like and are interested.

[tkbslc]

Try this instead of an action (I'd post a sample edit but I am not at home)

Duplicate layer
Change blending type of duplicate layer to "soft light"
adjust opacity as desired for effect.

Also, you can run any actions for the full photoshop in elements, you just can't create them. So if you find an action out on the web, you can run it in PSE8.

[Stacey8221]

Not sure what the color pop action is either, but here is my attempt.

Most edits done in ACR and then in CS5 ran a Topaz Detail preset and then a OnOne preset and dropped the opacity on the OnOne layer.

I can give more specific if you like and are interested.

LOVE this one!! Great edit!

[Stacey8221]

So I wanted to give it ONE more try lol, It was driving me crazy that I overdid a few things!

[MJF830]

Here is my 2 minute elements 7 edit. 1/8 the cost of CS5 http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/mjf830/Haileypoutresizedforwebcopy.jpg

[JoShAdKa4]

Wow Sf1 your edit is amazingly sharp, and D Thompson love your edit too.

I really want to use lightroom, it's just I could not figure it out within the 30 day's and I'm not sure if I will benefit buying it. I do like coral paintshop pro 2, though it is limited.

I am going to go and try editing this picture again, just to try and get a little closer to Sf1 and D Thompson's.

[sf1]

Well since I just got the NIK Viveza 2 in 64 bit, I wanted to try it out....hope you don't mind...30 seconds of work.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u198/shanef1/Haileypoutresizedforweb-1-Version2.jpg

[JoShAdKa4]

ok so I gave it another try, OP I hope you don't mind us practicing our editing on your photo. Here is my second try at it I don't think it looks as warm as the first one...

[FstopMiami123]

I use CS5 but this is easily done using E8.

Armando

http://a.imageshack.us/img832/5980/haileypoutresizedforweb.jpg

[katodog]

About two clicks in PSPX2.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a399/katodog/Haileypoutresizedforweb.jpg

[l7s4]

dizim...in my opinion, your basic issue is not having enough separation between your subject and your background. You are not going to be able to take that better picture in the program mode.

Two issues from this image...1. f5.6 has too much depth of field and 2. you are metering the whole scene at the expense of your object of interest.

I assume that you were using the nifty fifty. If you select spot metering and used AV mode at f2.8-3.5, your image would stand out more.

Again, this issue is the total view versus your subject. If you look at the enhancements, the background gets blown out. This should have been the starting point rather than the end point.

Re PSE...while I am trying to learn this myself, what you need to do is separate layers where you would enhance the subject lighting and deal with the background on a different layer. You might merge/flatten the layers afterwards to produce a semi HDR image.

There are a couple of video tutorials at youtube, adobe and from PS trainers on the web. But you greatly reduce your chances of getting that exceptional shot when you let the camera programming make all the decisions for you instead of assisting you in getting the image.

Another thought would be to shot RAW images which will give you even greater control in producing outstanding images.

Good luck, Paul

[lr0868]

here is my edit

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/sfbullygirl/Photography%20file/Hailey20pout20resized20for20webcopy-1.jpg

[JoShAdKa4]

This is amazing how there are so many differant version of edit's going on here, and some great advise on getting a better shot right out of camera, which is always a great place to start. Now I can only wonder which one looks like it did to the photographer taking the photo.

What a wonderful learning opportunity this has been, too bad we didn't describe in detail how the edit's were done. Oh and with which editing software was used as well.

I just love the expression on the little girl, the more I look at it the more it make's me want to giggle.... I love her eyes too! Thanks for saring you photo with us.

[katodog]

I used Paint Shop Pro X2, and did exactly this:

Automatic Saturation Adjustment - set to "More Colorful" and "Strong"

Unsharp Mask - set to Radius = 1, Strength = 75, Clipping = 0



There you go, two clicks and done. Although now that I look at it again I'd probably drop the saturation on her lip, it's too colorful. Otherwise, that's it. Two clicks done.


And just for the record, whoever belongs to that kid, she's a beaut.

[thran]

I did what i could, i added some boosted contrast to her eyes if you dont mind :).

Hope you like.

edit: fixed exposure.

[agresbach]

little more dramatic effect but this is a muted kind of effect I like to use. also through in a b&w version for you cause i thought it made her eyes pop

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4885219455_9b20e0337d_z.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4885219501_a6692f4c84_z.jpg

[cdifoto]

First things first: fix your exposure. You're under, probably by a stop or two.

[delmama]

here is my take on it.

[dizim]

THANK SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT FOR HELPING!!! It was so interesting to see everybody's fixes. They all definitely beat the original and my own edit (I only sharpened the eyes, b/c I don't have the eye for the exposure and colors yet).

FSTOPMIAMI, you met my style exactly! It has such clarity and I just want to touch her skin! What did you do??? And you said I can do it in PSE8? HOW???? :)

Paul: Thanks for the advice. I switched my camera to RAW later that day. I will keep it there from now on! How can you tell what mode I was in and what f-stop I was at? I kept switching from AV mode to Auto mode to portrait mode that day to compare things. I don't think I was in Program or Manual mode, because I am just now getting the hang of that metering line for shutter speed adjustment. (I feel like I conquered it in the past two days!). Maybe I was there, who knows!

I don't know much about exposure and colors, etc. My skills are more in the layout area (digital scrapbooking on PSE8), and I'm just getting into exposure, color, etc. (and learning to use my camera the right way!).

I'm still interested to see what Sarah Wilkes would do to this photo? I saw a before/after photo of hers on this forum and was sooooooo intrigued by her style! Sarah, you reading this??? :)

I would love to see some more before & afters on these forums. Is there already a thread for that? I love this site!!

[dizim]

Ok, now you guys probably all think I'm the smiley face queen! I didn't realize this site would turn my question marks into smileys or my number eight into a smiley...

[misssassylassy]

THANK SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT FOR HELPING!!! It was so interesting to see everybody's fixes. They all definitely beat the original and my own edit (I only sharpened the eyes, b/c I don't have the eye for the exposure and colors yet).

FSTOPMIAMI, you met my style exactly! It has such clarity and I just want to touch her skin! What did you do??? And you said I can do it in PSE8? HOW???? :)

Paul: Thanks for the advice. I switched my camera to RAW later that day. I will keep it there from now on! How can you tell what mode I was in and what f-stop I was at? I kept switching from AV mode to Auto mode to portrait mode that day to compare things. I don't think I was in Program or Manual mode, because I am just now getting the hang of that metering line for shutter speed adjustment. (I feel like I conquered it in the past two days!). Maybe I was there, who knows!

I don't know much about exposure and colors, etc. My skills are more in the layout area (digital scrapbooking on PSE8), and I'm just getting into exposure, color, etc. (and learning to use my camera the right way!).

I'm still interested to see what Sarah Wilkes would do to this photo? I saw a before/after photo of hers on this forum and was sooooooo intrigued by her style! Sarah, you reading this??? :)

I would love to see some more before & afters on these forums. Is there already a thread for that? I love this site!!


Bless you ha-ha so so busy way behind in session but i will have a quick go for you :eek:

[mguffin]

For what it's worth...

Less is more...

[JoShAdKa4]

"FSTOPMIAMI, you met my style exactly! It has such clarity and I just want to touch her skin! What did you do??? And you said I can do it in PSE8? HOW???? :)"

This is my favorite edit so far!

I too would love to see what Sarah can do with it, I am such a fan of hers.

[l7s4]

dizim...that info is the exif data which your camera encodes on each exposure. I usually import images from a card reader into Zoom Browser, then I switch to DPP for the initial enhancements and jpg convesion. Both of these Canon programs allow a right click, select properties to display the exif data.

On the web, I use the FXIF plug in for Firefox. This allows right clicking on a posted image, EXIF Data. There are several other plug ins that offer this function and you may want to search on POTN to see what others are using.

At first, I was shooting jpgs and using an adobe quick fix enhancement. Then I went to jpg + RAW. I would occasional go back to the RAW image when I needed better enhanceability. Now I shoot RAW and spend some extra time in DPP because it gives finer control of the exposure. After the jpg conversion I will use PSE especially for its merge function on group shots...great fix for closed eyes and turned heads if you remember to shoot several frames at the same focal length.

I have used the auto mode for that once in a lifetime shot when I was learning the camera. Then I found that the old 35mm training generally produces better shots because you control the depth of field/shooting speed better than a generalized program. It's the difference between a snapshot and an exceptional image.

And I must thank POTN for aiding in my digital education. It was a resource for me back in '03 when I was purchasing my first digital cam...the G3. It has been a terrific resource for the dSLR both on the hardware side and on the PP side.

Good luck, Paul

[FstopMiami123]

THANK SO MUCH! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT FOR HELPING!!! It was so interesting to see everybody's fixes. They all definitely beat the original and my own edit (I only sharpened the eyes, b/c I don't have the eye for the exposure and colors yet).

FSTOPMIAMI, you met my style exactly! It has such clarity and I just want to touch her skin! What did you do??? And you said I can do it in PSE8? HOW???? :)

Paul: Thanks for the advice. I switched my camera to RAW later that day. I will keep it there from now on! How can you tell what mode I was in and what f-stop I was at? I kept switching from AV mode to Auto mode to portrait mode that day to compare things. I don't think I was in Program or Manual mode, because I am just now getting the hang of that metering line for shutter speed adjustment. (I feel like I conquered it in the past two days!). Maybe I was there, who knows!

I don't know much about exposure and colors, etc. My skills are more in the layout area (digital scrapbooking on PSE8), and I'm just getting into exposure, color, etc. (and learning to use my camera the right way!).

I'm still interested to see what Sarah Wilkes would do to this photo? I saw a before/after photo of hers on this forum and was sooooooo intrigued by her style! Sarah, you reading this??? :)

I would love to see some more before & afters on these forums. Is there already a thread for that? I love this site!!

Color correction
Dodge the eyes
Masked the eyes
Softening layer using Neat Image 20%
Drop shadow frame

Armando

[forevercha]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/forevercha/Hailey20pout20resized20for20web.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/forevercha/Hailey20pout20resized20for20webbw.jpg

I used a clarifying action, an 's' curve pop action....i warmed it up a bit...increased exposure....i also did an eye action and i sharpened slightly....then i did a bw conversion....

[forevercha]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/forevercha/foreverchaedit.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y288/forevercha/foreverchaeditbw.jpg

I re-edited them...pretty much the same but i think i overexposed them slightly before....

[dizim]

forevercha.......NICE!!! You made her skin look so soft and touchable! :)

This has been so much fun. Can I post another one soon?

(btw, I taught her that look, so it doesn't work on me! But Daddy is another story. lol)

[misssassylassy]

Here’s my play
I opened in ACR upped the brightness just enough so the background didn’t blow
Used the adjustment brush to up the exposure on her skin
Opened in PS
Did a midtone boost in curves
Ran my colour pop action
Added a vignette by adding a multiply layer and inverting using a soft white brush around the edges
Used mcp eye dr on her eyes
Thats it


http://i37.tinypic.com/2l9h55u.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/iqy9p5.jpg

[JoShAdKa4]

Sarah, these are so lovely! I love both of them, but the black and white is my favorite. I like the vignette, good idea. Thanks for taking the time to edit, I see you've been busy yourself.

[dizim]

Sarah: that was quick! You are so great!!!! :) When you get a chance, show us some more before and afters of your work please.

[bulldogg7]

Nik Color fx tonal contrast in color blending mode

[AbPho]

My turn.

[noxcuses1]

Here's my try.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/4955138542_c7132363b9_o.jpg

[RebeccaChristine]

Oo I really like some of these, if you still want an action for photoshop, I sometimes use Coffeeshop perfect portrait or Coffeeshop Color Pop for cs2
This is an example of perfect portrait, takes less than 2 mins for everything to load and then you just brush on the bits you want!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs655.snc4/61501_436277682569_822237569_4971916_850919_n.jpg

p.s. and i added a warm photo filter after since it's a beach shot :)

[zazou]

I loved to saw all the take on the picture!

Dizim, you don't need CS5 to play with action. I wanted to show you one action called 123 Pop by Isabelle Lafrance photography (google her). It's free on her blog (look at June 19 and June 17 posts). I run it directly on your photo and play with the layers.

Sure I would have done a better job if I had color corrected first and dodge the eyes and sharpen a bit, but since I wanted to show you how the action can improve the picture, I decided to run the action directly on it without other improvements.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y195/zazou2/Isabelle_action.jpg

hth,

[MomTo2]

here is my edit

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/sfbullygirl/Photography%20file/Hailey20pout20resized20for20webcopy-1.jpg


so hard to choose, but I think this one is my favorite edit. The eyes look a tiny bit over done to me, but I love it.
One question... someone said that they would rather learn how to correctly take the picture than to "fake it" in photoshop, but seriously... how do you get a pic like this straight out of the camera? I would really like to know because I HATE spending time editing... I'd love to just have pics like this straight out of the camera. Is it really possible?

[FstopMiami123]

Digital photography is a combination of both,don't let anyone tell you any different. Practice both and as you get better in either your photos will show.
Have fun and remember if it looks good to you its good enough.

Armando

[bulldogg7]

Straight out of the camera is either pre-processed in camera or a RAW file.

[TwoCreativePhotographers]

I am new to this site and I have to say this one photo is amazing it all different ways. I would love to know steps on a lot of these! One I am going to try tonight when the kids go to bed!

[windpig]

Cute little girl. 3 clicks and a little sharpening in CS4.

[shidesha]

Here we go, this is the simple photoshop colour pop action I have, it's rather subtle but still effective.

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac318/__lol__/Haileypoutresizedforweb-2.jpg

But IMO (and Maybe I like to over do it) this is what I got with 3 mins of tweaking in Lightroom:

http://i911.photobucket.com/albums/ac318/__lol__/Haileypoutresizedforweb.jpg

Maybe a little too dramatic, but that's just my taste.

[LeesaLan]

here is my edit

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/sfbullygirl/Photography%20file/Hailey20pout20resized20for20webcopy-1.jpg

I love this edit!!! I would loooove to know how it was done.

[stu46]

I'll take a stab. Since you wanted an action, that's what I used for these as a starting point. If you like these I can layout what I did.

http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/7311/testqv.jpg

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/1834/test2mq.jpg

[howzitboy]

http://i53.tinypic.com/72573d.jpg

added a bunch of them...

[Thumpa]

he's my try in elements 8486023

[Marzunia]

here is my edit

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y165/sfbullygirl/Photography%20file/Hailey20pout20resized20for20webcopy-1.jpg
This one definately my favourite. May I ask you Ir0868 what processing has been done here or what actions have you used?? Thanks.

[dizim]

stu and howzitboy, your pics aren't loaded all the way so I can't see the edits :( (stu, the black n white shows up but not the top one). Maybe it's just my internet acting up today?

THANKS to everyone who played with my photo! I haven't checked this post in awhile, so I was surprised to find some more edits. I am learning a lot on these forums. Now if only I can apply these new tips!

[Mhappy]

I love this edit!!! I would loooove to know how it was done.
I'd love to know too!!!!! <3

[Michelle Brooks Photography]

Tho there are lots of great edits on this thread, this is my favorite. Could you please explain more about how to do the last 2 steps in your process? I have CS4 but am really in a learning curve still. I know how to make a new or duplicate layer on/for an image but dont know what a "multiple layer" is. Also, did you just convert the color version to a b&w or use a different action?

Here’s my play
I opened in ACR upped the brightness just enough so the background didn’t blow
Used the adjustment brush to up the exposure on her skin
Opened in PS
Did a midtone boost in curves
Ran my colour pop action
Added a vignette by adding a multiply layer and inverting using a soft white brush around the edges
Used mcp eye dr on her eyes
Thats it


http://i37.tinypic.com/2l9h55u.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/iqy9p5.jpg

[MarineManiac]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/5161736792_15231b5b7c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30025457@N07/5161736792/)
Hailey pout resized for web (http://www.flickr.com/photos/30025457@N07/5161736792/) by MarineManiac (http://www.flickr.com/people/30025457@N07/), on Flickr

[FreezingRose]

My version

[4-ever-blessed]

I like this one seem more natural and real could be a tad brighter though it might be my screen

Here is my 2 minute elements 7 edit. 1/8 the cost of CS5 http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab330/mjf830/Haileypoutresizedforwebcopy.jpg

[4-ever-blessed]

wow heaps of post that i didn't see not sure why there are a few good ones what a great photo I love it well done on capturing it

[Scatterbrained]

A quick ACR edit. I didn't feel like opening PS tonight but wanted to play around with it. I don't like the way the skin looks but oh well.
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m140/volvo-1/Haileypoutresizedforweb_1.jpg

[Tiberius47]

Here's mine.

[mikel1291979]

I gave it a shot.

http://i54.tinypic.com/5nu2kg.jpg

[maryhee]

what the heck, i'll try it too using LR3. all i did was use the eye enhancing thingy and used a color pop preset. took me longer to upload the picture and post it here than it did to do it:
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_2FI1Swi8wis/TPxp2C7iE6I/AAAAAAAAFTI/a8Unn_r7jis/s512/try%20it-2.jpg

[Sereia]

I play too

[Sereia]

Why do I loose color when I post in flickr? in my ps5 it is more colorfull.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5240105678_e447ee959e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55331080@N06/5240105678/)
my try (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55331080@N06/5240105678/) por cantinhodafotografia (http://www.flickr.com/people/55331080@N06/), no Flickr

[kjonnnn]

Used Various selection tools to saturate eyes, skin, swim suit.

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll177/whoami58/Haileypoutresizedforwebcopy.jpg