SIYH

I am so happy to announce I have taken on a few guest bloggers that I know you all will love! They have some great ideas to share as well as fabulous knowledge.

Have you ever found a PS or PSE action and loved it so much that you didn't know how you survived the editing world without it?  Well, that's how I feel about the Sunshine in Your Hand (SIYH) action by Phaunt Actions.  I first heard about this action from fellow photographer, Denise McCabe, who told me that this action was a huge part of her work flow.  Denise uses PS...I use PSE.  So, I thought this would be one of those actions that work on PS only, and I continued to try and find my own work flow.  A few months later, I googled "Sunshine in Your Hand" and found the Phaunt Actions website.  Just as I thought, most of his actions are PS only, including the new SIYH Pak.  I decided before I left the site, I'd check the freebies section (why not, right?)...and THERE IT WAS!  The original SIYH for PSE!!!  Wow!  Free!  So, of course I downloaded it and fell completely in love with it! I use this action on about 80% of my images now.  Let me show you why...

I'll open this image that I took of my daughter (over a year ago - look at her!  sniff sniff).  I've always loved this picture of her...

I didn't circle it on the screen shot, but the white box in the effects pallet is the SIYH action.  After running it, here's what we get...

As you can see, the action has the sunshine layer and a contrast layer.  In this case, I like the softness of the picture a lot, so I adjusted the contrast layer to 50% opacity.  Here's the result:

There are a few things I really like about this action.  One is the nice, even brightness that is added to the photo.  I also like that it's simple and fast:  there's only two layers to deal with.  The sharpness layer really adds a boost.  I find that in some of my photos, it is too much, but that's the beauty of being able to adjust layers.  Some photos won't require nearly as much brightening as this one did, so you can turn down the opacity on the sunshine layer.  Sometimes, you will want even more brightness.  In that case, you can simply run the action again.

If I had to change one thing about this action, it would be adding a layer mask to the sunshine layer.  There are many images where you need the brightening in some spots, but not others.  Of course, that is easily fixed with Coffeeshop Rita's Layer Mask action!  

This is a great action for any photographer to have in his/her pocket!   I hope that it can help improve your work flow as it has mine  :)

P.S.  Just a side note for the PS users out there, Phaunt Action's original SIYH action is also available for PS for free! 

Guest blogger is Corrine Corbett of Timeless Blessings, is a stay at home mom and photographer wielding a Sony Alpha 500. As a guest blogger she hopes to teach you all things that will take the frustration out of photography and leave you more and more satisfied with your art. Her current eye candy comes from Morgan Kervin, Denise McCabe and Isabelle LaFrance. 

"I have learned so much from other photog bloggers out there.

I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to pay it forward with anything that I learn! :)"

Website: http://www.timelessblessingsphoto.com
Blog: http://www.timelessblessingsphoto.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Timeless-Blessings-LLC/111893465500196