ACR Presets – Sky Set

I've been tinkering around with the idea of learning how to create ACR presets. (ACR is Adobe Camera Raw, the program I use to tweak my Raw files before pulling them into Photoshop.) I've never really used them before and have always manually tweaked my photos in the program. Lately, if I do a tweak that seems to apply an effect, I've been saving it as a preset to test on other photos I want to have that effect. So far, it's rather trial and error as to whether or not something's going to work on ...

Friday Finds Feedback: Warm Fuzzies!

This afternoon I received such a nice, thoughtful response from one of the photographers whose work was highlighted in yesterday's Friday Finds: Macros. Here's a closer look at his completely amazing photograph followed by his email (published here with his permission): I'm fixer11 on flickr, and want to say how much I appreciate the time you put into your group "Friday Finds". I'm a new member, and was pleasantly surprised to see my "pinky frog" picture in the gallery. I know we all need a bit of kind words, and comments to keep our spirits high, and keep clicking, but ...

Friday Finds: Macros

This week's Friday Finds is going to be a little different. Since I've been so involved in the Problogger 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge, I haven't done my usual rounds of photography and photo editing blogs. For those on my Photographer's Blogs feed, I'm truly sorry I haven't been visiting and commenting on your sites this week. I am so ashamed to admit that I haven't even opened up my personal feed reader in days! So instead, I'll bring you some great posts of fellow participants. To make this relevant to my blog, I'm ...

Four Fabulous Free Action Resources

In this article, I share with you some of my favorite free actions and where to download more that are just as powerful. 1. Pioneer Woman - Photoshop Only What You Get Free Actions: 24 actions in two sets of 12. Download: Pioneer Woman website More Examples? My Pioneer Woman tag includes entries with at least one photo edited with her actions.If you're a blogging photographer and haven't heard of Ree Drummond, you've probably been living under a rock. She's created two sets of powerful actions which will give you a tremendous amount of versatility in your workload. Doug at Totally Rad ...

5 Ways to Use Textures in Your Photography

If you're unfamiliar with textures, they are very easy to apply if you have Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Picnik or any other editing program that allows you to paste images into new layers and set their blending modes. Below are five before and after examples of what free textures can do for your photographs! By default, you will see the SOOC shot, but mouse over it to reveal the photograph with the texture(s) applied. (If the mouseover doesn't work, just click on the photo to see it with the texture applied.) 1. Salvage Meh Photos I liked the idea ...

Close-Up Macro Lens Filter Set

My Close-Up Filter Set arrived! Before I move onto its greatness, I want to share some shots I took for Faith's Simplicity eCourse. The second assignment this week was to take what we've learned about focus and depth of field and apply it to photograph a flower! Flower photography is something almost everyone enjoys both doing and viewing! Here you'll see the difference changing aperture will make. I almost always shoot in Aperture Priority mode because I love being able to choose my depth of field right off the bat. A lot of people don't ...

Introduction to Actions and Textures

I've shelled out a lot of my hard earned cash to purchase action and textures, however there are a plethora of free resources on the web. Over the next couple of days I'm going to share with you some of the truly awesome yet FREE actions and textures available for anyone to download. Before I get too far ahead of myself, I want to make sure you know what these things are. If you like editing photographs or you're interested in knowing how, both can make a huge impact on your work. If you're already familiar with actions ...

Managing Your RSS Feeds with Google Reader and Feedly

Very little of my time is actually spent on photography. I'll go out and shoot and maybe take 30 minutes tops. Usually it's a picture here and there and of course, unlike some of the other stuff I'm about to mention, I can do it while living my life. The time I get to myself amounts to a few hours a day. During that time, I'm editing photographs, writing blog posts (yeah, I actually put some thought into these things!) and reading blogs. I may spend more time reading blogs than the other two combined. Truly, ...

Welcome!

Lynda Giddens is an amateur writer and photographer living in Fort Worth, TX with her husband and two young sons. In 2010 she is participating in Project 365 while chronicling her adventures learning photography and photo-editing.

Her website is a personal photographic scrapbook which also features a variety of photography tips along with easy to follow editing tutorials.

Learn along with her and be inspired to start or continue your own creative path.

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Photo Stories

I like to take pictures of my family and the things I do. This section is just a personal family blog with lots and lots of pictures!

A Busy Week

Jul

Reading time: 9 – 14 minutes The mall we went to over the weekend was gorgeous! IR…

Toy Story 3 Review

Jul

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes On Saturday we took Elias to Toy Story 3 in 3D. We usually…

Nothing Special

Jul

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes I’ve been having a hard time accessing my site lat…

4th of July Weekend

Jul

Reading time: 6 – 9 minutes On Saturday, Mark invited a few friends over for a barbec…

Sweet Roses and Childhood Memories

Jul

Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes We’ve been letting Elias jump on the couch. I know…

The Digital Darkroom

I use Photoshop CS3. I’d love to upgrade soon, but money is always an issue. I’ve just started learning some of the advanced techniques and will write here about my adventures in photo editing.

ACR Presets – Sky Set

Jul

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

I’ve been tinkering around with the idea of learning how to create ACR presets. (ACR is Adobe Camera Raw, the program I use to tweak my Raw files before pulling them into Photoshop.) I’ve never really used them before and have always manually tweaked my photos in the program. Lately, if I do a tweak that seems to apply an effect, I’ve been saving it as a preset to…

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Photography

I consider myself an amateur photographer with a lot to learn! Here I’ll be writing about tips and techniques, inspiration and creativity.

Friday Finds Feedback: Warm Fuzzies!

Jul

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

This afternoon I received such a nice, thoughtful response from one of the photographers whose work was highlighted in yesterday’s Friday Finds: Macros.

Here’s a closer look at his completely amazing photograph followed by his email (published here with his permission):