My first try at Actions...

No, not an action shot... the word "action" is actually an editing term. It's simply means a short cut to editing photos... what would normally take several steps to achieve a specific look you get with 1 step when you apply an "action". A definition taken from the web: "Photoshop actions allow photographers to automate common sequences for increased efficiency." You can get "actions" from all over but I found the ones I'm posting today at The Coffee Shop Blog. By the way, I turned down the opacity of most of the actions... I don't care for the "over edited" look!

Here's my original

(very simple edits were applied to this... like sharpening, vignette, contrast)

Here's the 1st action

"Velvet Truffle"

2nd action

"Tea Party Hazy"

3rd action

"Butter Cream B/W"

2nd Photo Original

"Velvet Truffle"

"Tea Party Hazy"

"Butter Cream B/W"

This is Amber, my sister-in-law, who just had Baby Taylor. We were shooting my other sister-in-law (I'll post those pictures soon) at a family birthday party and I asked if anyone else would like to have their picture taken. Because Amber is... well... AMBER... she jumped at the opportunity! Again, this was my first time using actions and I think they all look nice... I might be using them more often!