My Journey into Photography...

MCP Actions

2011-03-29T21:07:00.000-04:00

The MCP Actions blog is celebrating their 1,000th post! I've enjoyed following that blog over the past couple of years. I would say the post that was most pivotal for me was the Soft Proofing post by guest blogger Phillip Mackenzie. When I was first learning Photoshop, one of the aspects I really struggled to wrap my head around was colour management. This blog post gave me one of the first "a-ha!" moments regarding this confusing realm. I even linked to it in this blog post.

Thanks, Jodi, for providing photographers with valuable information for the last 1,000 posts. Here's to 1,000's more!

More Flash Fun

2010-12-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

This is a really cool example of the power of off-camera flash. This kind of stuff gets my pulse racing! :)

Embrace the Flash!

2010-09-11T18:00:00.017-04:00

A lot of people prefer to term themselves as "natural light photographers" since they don't use flash in their photography. Natural light does afford dramatic colours and creamy, natural colours. However, there are times when flash is just necessary. If you call yourself a professional, you need to be able to provide a light source if you come into a situation where you really need one.

The pop-up flash on your camera body just doesn't cut it. It's head on (casting harsh shadows behind your subject) and virtually impossible to manipulate. An external flash is the way to go - look on kijiji or craigslist for one if you can't buy it new.

OK, so you have your flash now. But what in the world do you do with it now?

For on camera flash techniques, this book comes highly recommended by many photographers: On Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography by Neil van Niekerk. I personally have not read it yet, but I am eagerly awaiting it's arrival to my mailbox (my local library didn't have it - booooo).

For off camera flash techniques, there are lots of great online resources. Have a look around YouTube or read this fantastic series of how-to articles at Inspire Me Baby:
Off Camera Flash, Baby!: Lesson 1, Get You Flash Off Your Camera!!!
Off Camera Flash, Baby!: Lesson 2, Exposure
Off Camera Flash, Baby!: Ambient Light

MCP Actions Blog also just ran a great series on flash (both on and off camera):
PART 1: Flash, the natural light photographers “dirty word”
PART 2: What Equipment You Need to Get Your Flash Off Your Camera
Part 3: Control Light and Get the Look You Want Using a Flash
Part 4: Ready To Start Shooting With a Flash? Here’s Where to Start!
Part 5: Avoid the “Flashy Look” ~ Learn To Use Fill Flash

Another excellent source for off camera lighting techniques is Strobist's blog.

For Nikon users, there is the Creative Lighting System you can use to get your flash off camera without the use of Pocket Wizards or third party triggers. Here is a great article by Scott Bourne outlining how to do this.

Enjoy learning and experimenting!

And just for fun, here are some I took today as I was experimenting:
Danielle before lunch:

Rachel & Danielle after lunch. They had Zoodles. Can you tell? :)

Actions??

2010-08-25T16:21:00.000-04:00

OK, so you bought Photoshop. And you want to get straight on to editing your photos all nice and pretty. But where do you start?

**DISCLAIMER: Before buying any action sets, always make sure they are compatible with your version of photoshop, especially if you are buying for photoshop elements. There are photoshop action sets that cannot work in PSE.**

The first place I would send you is The Coffeeshop. Rita has a host of free actions from Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users. For actions specifically for editing photos, see the "Retouching" section.

After you've downloaded those actions, watch the second video on this page of tutorials by Kylie Banks entitled "Deconstructing Actions." This will help teach you how to use actions to teach you specific aspects of Photoshop, for free!

Once you are more comfortable and are ready for something more, it will be time to maybe purchase some actions. There are actions for may different things, from basic retouching steps to creative editing to preparing images for the web.

For retouching actions, I can recommend My Four Hens. She has two sets called The Photographer's Tool Box and The Photographer's Tool Box II that will get you well on your way. For $16 each, they are a steal!

Another retouching set I can recommend is The Essentials by Paint the Moon. This set will definitely cover all the basics.

If you are a Photoshop power user, you will have a regular editing workflow that perhaps could be more automated. Then you'll want to look for actions that have specific purposes for your workflow. For power users, you cannot go wrong with any of the sets from MCP Actions or Totally Rad Actions. Both are very pricey, but very high quality, time-saving action creators.

Focal Length

2010-07-22T09:06:00.000-04:00

Do you have a zoom lens on your dSLR and want to know more about the different focal lengths? Focal length can make a big difference in portrait making. Generally speaking, a longer focal length is more flattering. Here is a great article from the MCP actions blog about focal length, which includes some great examples for us visual learners!

Textures AGAIN

2010-07-01T14:23:00.000-04:00

Well, you all know how much I love textures:) I just came across another great tutorial on applying textures to your images in photoshop.

And, just for fun, here are two recent favourite images with textures applied:

De-mystifying Lenses

2010-05-13T22:32:00.002-04:00

I was asked a while ago to do a post about lenses (don't worry, I didn't forget, Jody!) but haven't made time for it yet. I just came across a great article that deals with some basic lens knowledge that you might find helpful --> HERE.

As for personal preference, I like the 28-70mm f/2.8 zoom. It is a versatile lens, and affords me the much-needed zoom capabilities with preschoolers. I also love the 50mm f/1.7 as it gives the really shallow depth of field (blurry background).

If money were no object, I would buy:
1. 24-70mm f/2.8 in the camera brand (i.e. Sony/Nikon/Canon - NOT a third party lens manufacturer brand like Tamron or Sigma, although these are still solid, cost effective alternatives).
2. 50mm f/1.2 or f/1.4 in the camera brand
3. 85mm f/1.4 in the camera brand

I will keep dreaming:)
Let me know if you have specific questions in the comments section!

Paint the Moon Textures

2010-04-30T16:17:00.001-04:00

So, you all know I love textures. I don't buy many, but the ones I own, I LOVE. These are no exception. They are from Annie Manning of Paint the Moon, and it is the Texture One Set. They are high-res, high quality textures, and the icing on the cake is the amazing action set included. One action will help you apply the texture to your photo quickly and efficiently, and the other will allow you to brush away the texture from desired areas (like your subject) - without losing colour! A lot of times, a texture will change the colour (temperature) of your photo, especially once you use a blending mode on it. And then when you mask out your subject, it looks funny because the colour change is far less natural. This action is a HUGE time saver and it makes for a fabulous end result. By the way, you can also use these actions with any other textures you have.

Here are some before and afters for you to take a look at. Enjoy and make sure you check out Paint the Moon if you're in the market for textures or actions for Photoshop or Elements.

Getting Comfortable with Selections

2010-04-06T20:40:00.001-04:00

I'm sure you've heard these words before: "oh, I'll just photoshop that out later." But how many of us can actually do a good job of that? That is why advanced selecting is a very good skill to acquire on your quest to becoming a photoshop "power user."

There are many ways to do this, but I suggest becoming friends with the pen tool. It's a tricky tool - probably one of the most difficult to master - but once you do, you won't go back. Here is a great YouTube tutorial on the pen tool. Elements does not have the pen tool, but the Magic Extractor tool can get you most of the way there.

And here is an example of how using advanced selection methods can take your photo from a snapshot to a work of art!
Before:

After cropping, selecting with the pen tool and using masks & cloning:

Fix It Friday

2010-04-03T13:39:00.000-04:00

Time for another edition of Fix It Friday (or in this case, Saturday).
Here is before:

Here is after:

Steps:
I used actions from the MCP Actions "Bag of Tricks" set.
a) Magic midtone lifter - but changed it to an "s" curve to add a little more contrast while brightening it up.
b) Magical clarity - masked out her hair and the dolls hair as it looked too "crunchy"
c) Magical contrast - lowest setting
d) Magical color finder brush (vivid) - set my brush to 50% and brushed over everything except skin. Then went over it again, brushing everything except skin & hair (also avoiding the doll's hair).
e) Opened Patti Brown's Watercolor Vignette 2 texture from The Gallery Collection and desaturated it using a hue & saturation conversion layer. Brought it onto the photo, resized and set the blend mode to soft light and masked out the girl with a soft brush at 100% opacity.
f) Finished off with a texture from Emily Powers' Photology v.6 set. I duplicated the texture. The bottom one was set to hard light and 60% opacity. Masked out the girl with a soft brush at 100% opacity. The top one was set to soft light and 100% opacity. Masked out the girl with a soft brush at 50% opacity.
g) Then flattened the photo, and did a very slight sharpen.

That's all! Thanks for visiting:)

Digiscrapping Freebies!

2010-04-01T16:27:00.001-04:00

Sunshine Studio Scraps is having another blog train with their store designers, plus a lot of cool friends! If you're interested in downloading some freebies, go check out the Easter blog train blog post.

Dramatic B&W

2010-03-29T00:35:00.001-04:00

This week's contest at I Heart Faces is about black & white photos. This is my first time participating in the photo contests there. But the judge this week is none other than Tara Whitney, and I couldn't NOT play along!

This is my entry - a photo of my brother and his girlfriend:

Fix-It Friday

2010-03-26T01:57:00.001-04:00

Time for another Fix-it Friday with I Heart Faces!
Before:

After:

Steps:
Curves adjustment layer - lifted midtones & added slight "s" curve.
MCP Actions: Magic Clarity & Magic Contrast (no adjustments)
MCP Actions: Magic Color Finder Brush {Vivid} - applied to taste, on everything except skin & snow.
Cloned out the snowflakes on her hat & hair.

Easy peasy!

BIG Announcement!

2010-03-26T00:39:00.001-04:00

I'm am THRILLED to tell you about what I've been working on for the last few months... building a photography business! I've created a website, started a blog, even made a Facebook fanpage. Oh, and I redid my logo to make it more simple and user-friendly. I am so very excited about this new venture. Please go take a look around!

I've been asked more than once "why the name Asher Images?" Here is an excerpt from my bio:
Why the name Asher Images? Four years ago, I had the privilege of carrying and giving birth to triplets. One of our sons, Josiah Asher, was taken into the loving arms of our Saviour during an in utero laser surgery treating twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). The name Asher is Hebrew for “blessed and happy.” I can think of no better name for a business!

So this is the main reason why this blog has been so quiet the last couple months. I'm excited to finally be able to share it with you!

Drop Shadows

2010-03-18T12:57:00.000-04:00

Drop shadows are a really important part of any digiscrapping page, but often get overlooked. They are also a little hard to get used to, especially if you are new to Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. And to top it off, there are several different methods of doing them!

There are no hard and fast rules, but today I was introduced to a FABULOUS tutorial on drop shadows by Peppermint (yes, that is really her name!). Thanks, Nicole, for pointing it out! Can't wait to apply what I've learned to my next layout.

Enjoy!

Organization

2010-03-03T12:17:00.000-05:00

I sometimes get questions about how I organize my digital scrapbook supplies. Sooner or later, if you're really into it, you'll collect too many things to keep track of. Organization is KEY to getting the most out of what you have (instead of buying more just because you can't find what you need in your stash).

The Daily Digi has done it again - an excellent, thorough article on organization. Go read it HERE!

Go{4}Pro

2010-03-02T23:16:00.000-05:00

Recently I stumbled upon Leah's Go{4}Pro blog. She is a wife & mom who is running her own photography business and uses this blog to share helpful info with others who are in her position or want to learn more about the entire package that is a photography business (i.e. knowing how to market and bookkeep as well as take fabulous photos).

I've been learning a lot and am enjoying her honesty! Check it out at http://goforpro.blogspot.com/ My fav post so far has been this one - for those of you who know me personally, you'll know that I can totally relate!

Joyce Smith

2010-03-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

One of the photographers I want to be like when I grow up is Joyce Smith. She is hosting workshops this year - and they are even a drivable distance from home. For her birthday, she is giving away a spot in one of her workshops and I for one would love to go!! You can check out more info on the workshops HERE and how to get in on the contest HERE.

Batch Processing

2010-02-01T23:37:00.003-05:00

There's no question that learning how to batch process saved me TONS of time, especially with resizing photos for my family blog.

Here are two great tutorials on batch processing for PSE:
Digital Photography School
Jessica Sprague

Chrissy W News

2010-01-11T16:15:00.003-05:00

There are a couple of exciting things going on with Chrissy right now! The first one is that she is guesting with Miss Tiina! She has a couple template packs on sale there right now, so check them out (images linked) and go to her shoppe to see the others.

And here are some pages I've made with them:

The other exciting thing is a chance to get published! If you have the set Liftin' Kellie (if not, it's 25% off), then make a page with this layout and submit it to Chrissy:

Here's my layout with it:

Sugarplum Paperie Sales

2010-01-05T12:37:00.004-05:00

Two Dollar Tuesdays are back at The Digichick! And today, two of my favourite Sugarplum kits are on sale for only $2 each! (images are linked)

And here are two layouts I've made with them:

FREE Photography and Photoshop Learning in January!

2009-12-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

This promises to be quite amazing! I've watched some of Kylie Banks' (Phaunt, herself) free webinars, and she is an amazing teacher. I've learned a lot so far, and hope to build on that knowledge with this free event:

Come join Phaunt for our first ever Learning Palooza. You will receive the Month of January for FREE as our very own forum members dedicate their time to giving back to our Photography Community! You will also automatically recieve $10 off of an annual forum membership.

We will be discussing the following 5 subjects:

DSLR Camera/settings
Basic Photoshop
Lighting
Business Basics
Websites/online presence

Registration for this FREE event begins December 28th and will end January 8th. Make sure to get signed up right away so that you can take advantage of all that the Phaunt Forum has to offer! To sign up go HERE.

The CoffeeShop

2009-12-11T15:46:00.002-05:00

Well, if you've been hanging around here long enough, you know how much I love The CoffeeShop blog. Rita has crafted TONS of actions for Photoshop Elements and for Photoshop and they are all free! She has also been a wealth of knowledge, especially when it came time for me to play around with my blog template. She has recently opened up shop with her sister to market her custom blog designs and a watermarking action. Go and check it out!

DST Featured Scrapper

2009-12-04T22:51:00.002-05:00

Back in October, I had the honour and privilege of being a Featured Scrapper at digishoptalk.com. The latest edition of the DST Insider just came out today and you may see a familiar face in there, too... Go download it - it's free (but you do need to register a free account).

Self Hosted Blogging

2009-12-02T16:11:00.003-05:00

Lately I've been teaching myself more about websites and hosting, etc. While I wouldn't self host a blog (at least not now), this series of videos at Become A Blogger have been really helpful in teaching me the basics. Very interesting stuff (if you're a tech-geek like me)! Check it out, watch some videos and maybe learn a new thing or two.

Stealing Your Photographer's Images

2009-11-25T20:06:00.002-05:00

A great article on The Do's and Don'ts of Stealing Images from Your Photographer.

Scalloped Borders

2009-11-17T12:29:00.005-05:00

Jennifer asked a great question in the comments yesterday:
How on earth do you get that "doily" look on some of your papers? The rounded edges with the tiny holes? You use this type of paper in your "our room" layout (directly beside the maroon paper) - but without the tiny holes. Is it a simple cut-out or do you have to edge the paper yourself somehow?

Just for reference, this is the layout Jenn was referring to - you can see the acrylic scalloped border on the right hand side:

As always, there are a couple different ways you can do this. In the above layout, I used the scalloped border that was already in the template I used by Chrissy W:

I "clipped" the brown paper to the scalloped border, and then simply put the acrylic scalloped border from It's Clear to Me over top of it to give it some more dimension. If you are unsure on how to use a clipping mask, here are two great tutorials by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie: Make Your Own Clipping Mask & Using a Clipping Mask. Important: if you are using Photoshop 7 (not to be confused with Photoshop Elements 7), you only need to press CRTL+G to create your clipping mask.

And then there is this layout, which uses a scalloped border with holes in it, more of the "doily" effect Jenn was asking about:

I used this kit for my page. See the short little turquoise border piece? I simply duplicated it many times over and put them beside each other to make my border.

This tutorial by Misty Cato shows you how to create your own scalloped border clipping mask using brushes, as does this one by Di Hickman. Then to take this one step further, use a small, round, hard-edge brush with your eraser tool to "punch out" the little holes on each scallop.

Hope this helps!

EXCITING!!!!

2009-11-16T09:42:00.002-05:00

Chrissy has a new freebie out today - and she made it from one of my layouts!

She turned this:

Into this:

So go and download it, scrap with it and show me what you made! :) And don't forget to enter the challenge in the Elemental Scraps forums if you are into that sort of thing.

sigh

2009-11-14T14:35:00.003-05:00

This is soooooo far out of my league, but wouldn't it be so fun to go on something like this someday?

Happy DSD!

2009-11-07T14:19:00.003-05:00

It's Digital Scrapbooking Day today in digiland. EVERYONE is having a sale and giving away freebies in honour of this event. There are also tons of contests going on - it's crazy out there!

Where do you start?
Well, of COURSE you need to go shopping at the stores I design for;) Here are the sales they have to offer today:
Chrissy W has a tiered sale going on at her shop. If you spend $5, you get 30% off, $10 = 40% off, $15 = 50% off.
Nicole of Sugarplum Paperie is have a 35% off sale on everything is both of her shoppes: Sugarplum Paperie & The DigiChick. Nicole will also be offering some freebies on her blog later in connection with her 2nd anniversary with the store so check back!
Gina of Weeds & Wildflowers Design is having a storewide sale ranging from 20%-75%. Plus, if you spend $20 or more, you get and extra $5 off your purchase using the code DSD5OFF

If you're looking for more great sales, you need to check out this thread at DigiShopTalk.com and as for contests and giveaways, try these threads here. Enjoy and have fun!!!

Blogger Tutorials

2009-10-31T23:02:00.002-04:00

You may have noticed that I finally figured out how to display my images larger on the screen. I used to tutorials from the Coffeeshop to accomplish this:

Making Your Blog Wider
Fooling Blogger and Loading Large Images

Someday soon, I'm going to go through the rest of them. Thanks once again, Rita!

Weeds & Wildflowers Design

2009-10-31T21:51:00.012-04:00

I'm very excited to announce that I've joined another digital scrapbook creative team! I'm now adding Gina Marie Huff of Weeds & Wildflowers to my list of CT "bosses." I've been a fan of Gina's designs pretty much since I got into digiscrapping, and now I get to play with her designs on an "on call" basis. Basically, if I can create her requirements for a kit, I can download, create and keep the kit. If I don't have time to scrap in the time frame she outlines, I can just pass until the next kit comes out. This laid back approach left me feeling comfortable with adding this to my plate (another full time CT position just wouldn't be possible in order to do justice to Nicole and Chrissy's designs). I'm quite thrilled!

Gina has a new collection out this weekend called "My Best Friend."

And here are two LOs I made with them:

Sugarplum Paperie Sales

2009-10-28T15:50:00.000-04:00

Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie is also having some great sales this week!

These three gorgeous kits are all 20% off for Oct. 29-30 (Thursday and Friday) - images are linked. This is her latest release... and it is SO beautiful, don't you think? I loooooove the paper with the hydrangeas on it, and the doodly word arts are right up my alley. In Nicole's words: It's a little bit Summer, a little bit Fall. And I hope it will bring a little sunshine your way! There are 8 lovely plain and patterned papers and 25 unique elements included in this kit.

This is a collaboration kit with Joyce Paul, a designer that Nicole loves. This kit is also very beautiful - their styles compliment each other perfectly.

And this kit is also a collaboration with Fruit Loop Sally (Sandra Edwards). This one is full of fun doodles and rich, vibrant colours!

Chrissy W & $1 Days!

2009-10-26T14:42:00.006-04:00

Chrissy W at Elemental Scraps has some huge sales going on today!

Here are three template sets (among other things) you can pick up for only $1 each in the Dollar Deals section, with a sample layout from me from one of the templates in each pack (all images are linked).

Lightroom 3!

2009-10-22T10:54:00.006-04:00

Adobe has announced the beta version of Lightroom 3! What is Lightroom? In the words of Wikipedia, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is a photography software program developed by Adobe Systems for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows, designed to assist professional photographers in managing thousands of digital images and doing post production work. It is not a file browser like Adobe Bridge, but rather an image management application database which helps in viewing, editing, and managing digital photos (including those on backup DVDs).

I don't have Lightroom, but it is definitely a program I'm interested in. I was going to download the 30 day trial of Lightroom 2, but now I'm really glad I didn't! This beta version of Lightroom 3 doesn't expire until April 30, 2010! All they ask is for your feedback. Get it HERE. And here is an interesting article by Scott Kelby (THE Adobe go-to guy) regarding his top 10 favourite features of this new version.

Free Photo Editing Software!

2009-10-20T19:39:00.004-04:00

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about Picnik. It is free, easy photo editing software. As a Photoshop user, I don't have a need to try it for myself, but if you are wanting to jazz up your photos and don't have the budget or interest in learning Adobe Photoshop or Elements, you should give this a try.

Here are two great articles that explain the basics:
Insanely Easy Photo Editing with Picnik by The Simple Scrapper
Going on a Picnik by The Daily Digi

(Incidentally, these are both blogs you should subscribe to if you're interested in digital scrapbooking on any level).

And this really piqued my interest: you can add digital frames to your photos before sending them off to print. I may just have to try this sometime!

Saving Photos for Web

2009-10-16T16:35:00.005-04:00

I recently had another great question from Jody:
"How do you manage to have your blog photos so clear? I'm assuming that during compression I'm losing my detail. Do you recommend a method (step by step!)? What do you do?"

This is an issue that I've learned about over the past year, and to be honest, there are many different ways to prepare your photos for the web. The key is to always sharpen your photos in order to get the compressed files to appear more clear. Also changing the colour profile to sRGB can help the photo colours stay bright when uploaded to the web.

Back when I had Photoshop Elements, I always used this method as posted by Jessica Sprague on her blog (this is suitable for photos and for layouts).

Now that I use CS4, I recorded an action for myself specifically to run on photos for the web. Once you start using an indepth program like CS4, you also have to teach yourself a little about colour management. This can be a confusing topic, but all you need to know for posting to the web is that your photo should be in the sRBG colour space.

If I've already confused you, take a moment to read these two excellent articles posted by Jodi Friedman of MCP Actions:
Soft Proofing
The Secret to Matching Color

If you would like to learn more about recording actions in photoshop, here is a great article from Epic Edits.

As for me, here is a breakdown of all the steps I recorded in my action.
Go to Image>Image Size
- Set the resolution to 72 pixels per inch (28.346 per cm)
- Check the "scale styles" box
- Check the "constrain proportions" box
- Resample Image should be checked and set to Bicubic
- Click OK
Go to Edit>Convert to Profile
- Under "destination space" choose sRGB
- Engine should be set to Adobe
- Intent to Relative Colorimetric
- Check "use black point compensation"
- Check "use dither"
- Click OK
Hit Ctrl-A (Cmd-A on a Mac) to select the photo
Go to Edit>Transform>Scale
- In the toolbar up top, set the Width and Height to 80%
- Hit Enter/Return to confirm transform
Go to Image>Crop (black edges should be cropped off now)
Go to Filter>Sharpen>Unsharp Mask
- Amount is set to 65%
- Radius to 1.0 pixels
- Threshold to 4 levels
- Click OK
Hit Ctrl-D (Cmd-D) to deselect the photo
Go to File>Save As
- Format is set to .JPEG
- Decide where to save it
- Set Quality to 4
Close photo after save is complete

Hope that helps a little!

Tamsen had a great question: "I have been doing everything you've described here, except in the "convert to" part, I had perceptual chosen instead of relative colorimetric...any idea what changes this would make?"

This delves more into colour management than simply saving for the web, but I'll try to answer as best as I know how!

Relative Colorimetric is the best choice as it will preserve most of the original colours in the image. Perceptual should only be used if there are important colours in shadow areas that need to be preserved (this is more for magazine print/ CMYK stuff). So you should definitely switch to Relative Colorimetric. I would highly recommend converting an image to sRGB using both RC and P, and then use the Soft Proofing method in the link above to really see the difference.

Hope that helps... a little:)

The Savvy Photographer

2009-10-16T16:22:00.002-04:00

There is a great new blog on the block - The Savvy Photographer. They have great giveaways, amazing inspiration and lots of great ideas. Go and check it out, and add it to your Google Reader!:)

Taking Care of Business (again)

2009-10-15T15:20:00.002-04:00

Just posting this regarding posts about the designers I create layouts for:

This policy is valid from 15 October 2009

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we will and do accept and keep free products, services, travel, event tickets, and other forms of compensation from companies and organizations.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated (by way of free products) to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

A set of 4 templates inspired by YOUR layouts?

2009-10-07T15:19:00.003-04:00

If you're a digiscrapper, here is a FABULOUS offer from Chrissy W (one of the girls I create for):

Hey there!
So I had an idea - and this is how it will work...

How would you like a set of 4 templates (made by me) that are inspired by and based on YOUR layouts!??

All you need to do is reply in this thread saying yes! On Saturday I'll pick 1 scrapper - and make a set of templates based on their layouts!

Here's what's in it for YOU if your layouts are the ones picked:

* a $50 gift certificate to my store at Elemental Scraps (you can find my templates HERE) in return for being able to put the set in my store
* 5 coupons for a free set of the templates that were inspired by YOUR layouts (so that you can give the set to some of your scrappy friends)
* credit, of course, to you on the preview and in the store description for your inspiration!
* bragging rights that your layouts were picked to be made into templates!

So - who's interested??

Why I Love Photoshop

2009-10-06T21:59:00.004-04:00

Well, it's no secret that I love to take photos. But the truth is, Photoshop plays a large role in the "finished product." I personally think it is as important to hone good editing skills as it is to learn to get better images straight out of camera. They help define your style as a photographer!

This point was once again driven home while editing this image tonight:

It is a very cute photo (yes, I'm biased), but it lacks luster, brightness and a bit of warmth.

A bit of editing (say 10 minutes or so - I'm fussy), and this is what you get:

This fits into the "style" I'm trying to carve out for myself. This photo is SO much cuter to me now:)

How to Remove Braces in CS4

2009-10-06T20:08:00.002-04:00

I needed to teach myself how to do this and realized there are a ton of tutorials out there on the subject of removing braces in Photoshop. As with most things, there are many different methods to do one task! This is definitely the best one I came across, by tutvid.com

Also, for those of you with an older version of Photoshop (and therefore lacking the patch tool), I also found this method to be very interesting, as well as this one.

Meadowlark

2009-09-29T13:45:00.003-04:00

Nicole's (Sugarplum Paperie) kit Meadowlark is on sale today for only $2.00! (image linked)

I love the softness of this kit, and I use the chipboard alpha A LOT. Here is the first layout I ever made with it:

Anyways, enough chit chat. If you're looking for a fun new kit to play with, go check this out!

I {Heart} Faces - Candid Photo Challenge

2009-09-21T14:57:00.002-04:00

I {Heart} Faces is having a Completely Candid photo challenge this week. This is my entry. Go check it out!

The Savvy Photographer

2009-09-16T22:37:00.003-04:00

Another fabulous Friday giveaway from The Savvy Photographer. Enter to win the entire 2009 Holiday card collection from Beyond Red and Green. Enter HERE.

Video Tutorials

2009-09-14T21:34:00.002-04:00

I am a visual learner, so I really appreciate it when someone takes the time to record videos showing how to do something in Photoshop, instead of me just reading words and trying to translate that to my program interface.

Today I found some good ones. Here is a tutorial on recolouring overlays for your photos. I don't know if this works for PSE, if someone tries it, let me know!

And, I've watched a few of Kylie Banks' (Phaunt) tutorials before (I particularly found the head swapping one helpful), but here is the entire index. I'm going to work through these in the coming weeks, she is very helpful and informative.

Layer Masks

2009-09-12T15:33:00.001-04:00

Are you struggling with using layer masks in Photoshop or Elements? Rita has a fabulous tutorial that explains them beautifully. Go and learn from her!

Fake Tan Photoshop Trick

2009-09-11T15:30:00.003-04:00

This is really, really cool!!!! Check out this simple, quick way to spruce up some white winter skin in photos at Get Totally Rad. This tip is great for Photoshop AND Photoshop Elements!

Another great Jamie Schultz Giveaway!

2009-09-11T15:21:00.002-04:00

Last week I mentioned a site called The Savvy Photographer. They are running another great giveaway for some card designs by Jamie Schultz (of whom I am a big fan). Go and check it out!

Digiscrapping 411

2009-09-05T15:32:00.002-04:00

I just added another link at the bottom of my digiscrapping 411 post for beginners.

Noise

2009-09-04T13:59:00.002-04:00

I really dislike noise in my photos. Noise is the grain that usually what shows up when you take photos in low light, or if the photo was underexposed and you try and brighten it up.

Here is a free action that works in PSE for reducing noise, and another one for CS & up.

The Savvy Photographer

2009-09-02T14:23:00.002-04:00

I just found a fantastic new photography blog called The Savvy Photographer. These just did a feature on Carrie Sandoval, one of my favourite baby photographers. And they are currently running an album template giveaway from Photographer Cafe. Go and check it out!

How to Sharpen

2009-09-01T00:02:00.002-04:00

I got a great question from Jody about how to sharpen your photos in photoshop.

The technique I like to use the most is the high pass sharpen.
Here is a great article on it from Layers Magazine. I'm pretty sure it works the same way in Photoshop Elements, but I did dig up this rather eclectic You Tube video that may help.

You can also use the Unsharp Mask (PSE & CS) or the Smart Sharpen Filter (CS2 & up only), which is explained wonderfully in this article by Layers Magazine.

This is another great You Tube video about Sharpening Basics.

And if you don't feel like doing it yourself, here is a great free action by Jodi Friedman of MCP actions (the High Definition one). This action is for CS & up only.

I {Heart} Faces

2009-08-28T19:06:00.005-04:00

A while ago, I started following a blog called I Heart Faces. I've just been checking it out from a distance b/c it all seemed a little overwhelming. They have a Friday activity called Fix-it Friday, wherein you can download the pic of the week and play with it to your heart's content. Anything goes and it's not a contest, it's just for learning.

Anyways, I decided to play today.
This is the before:

And my edited version, using some textures by Emily Powers:

Why not give it a try?

Angie Monson

2009-08-28T13:36:00.001-04:00

These photos are ridiculously fabulous.

I need to do more of these

2009-08-28T13:32:00.002-04:00

Here is a great tutorial on doing two-page spreads. I've only done a few of these and I need to do more!

ColorInc Gallery Wrap Contest

2009-08-27T19:45:00.003-04:00

The Texas Chicks are holding a fabulous contest - enter to win a gallery wrap up to 16x24! Click HERE to read the review and enter.

If I won, this I'm pretty sure this is the photo I'd choose:

Textures

2009-08-26T21:42:00.004-04:00

I just had a question from Carrie about textures, and thought it would make some good material for a blog post!

There are tons of free textures out there for jazzing up your photos, and one of the best places to hunt is flickr.

If you click on an image in a gallery that catches your eye, here is how you download:
1. Click on the "ALL SIZES" button above the image.
2. In the Photo Download page, click on the "Download the Large size" link.
3. Save the image accordingly.

Some great Flickr resources:
Textures (Volume 1)
Textures (Volume 2)
Free Textures for Layers
Free Textures

ETA: Here is a great tutorial on how to use them.

8 Tips for Mom-a-raz-zo Photographers

2009-08-26T11:07:00.000-04:00

I like this post at DPS.

Retiring Kits

2009-08-25T16:01:00.002-04:00

Nicole at Sugarplum Paperie has some kits retiring soon (all of them are Nicole's except the Krafty Christmas one). I'm sad they are leaving, but exciting for the new things that will replace them! I {heart} her designs:) They are all on sale for $2, so go check them out and snag them before they are gone!

And just for good measure, here are two layouts I've made with the retiring kits:

Sun Flare

2009-08-24T11:34:00.002-04:00

Well, if you follow my other blog, you know I'm a little taken with achieving sun flare for some extra drama in my photos. I've recently read some great articles on this technique.

5 Killer Ways to Shoot into the Sun
5 Tips for Achieving Artistic Lens Flare
Sun Flare for Beginners

My Four Hens Photography

2009-08-20T15:27:00.002-04:00

There is this completely inspirational digiscrapper in digiland who goes by the name of my3hens (aka Sarah Cornish). She is very sweet and has more talent in her pinky than I could ever hope to develop in my lifetime! She just started a new business called My Four Hens Photography (she now goes by "four" instead of "three" since she had another baby). She is also selling actions as part of her new enterprise, and there is a freebie HERE you can download (CS and up only). The Black N Whitish one is my new FAV. It's soooo pretty!

What to do with .rar files?

2009-08-18T15:30:00.003-04:00

Jennifer just asked a great question about .rar files. Sometimes you download a free kit or template and it's zipped as a .rar file, which WinZip doesn't recognize. Enter WinRAR. Download, install and unzip away! Sometimes people use .rar files instead of .zip files since it is able to compress just a little more.

NB: It says it is only a 40-day free trial, however back in my PC days, I used it for over a year without expiring.

Template Challenge

2009-08-17T16:07:00.003-04:00

Chrissy made another freebie template for the template challenge over at Elemental Scraps. It's a bit of a departure from her usual style, but I love it. And I love the LO I made with it:) Go grab it HERE.

Autoloader

2009-08-15T22:56:00.003-04:00

I've been eyeing a cool PS plug-in called Autoloader, as it looks pretty nifty and I've been hearing lots of great things about it. Now, I have a chance to win in over at the MCP Actions blog! Check it out and enter if you're interested. You should add the MCP Actions blog to your blogroll if you're into photography, too. It's a fabulous resource.

6 Month FREE Photoshop Training

2009-08-15T22:22:00.003-04:00

As a follow up to my gushy post about Creative Techs, here is a link to more info about their upcoming 6 month long FREE Photoshop training course. I. Can't. Wait.

And if you have Lightroom, they are also running a 10 week free course on that. Lightroom is on my someday-wishlist.

Actions for PSE

2009-08-07T07:41:00.002-04:00

If you have Photoshop Elements and are sad when so many of the great free action sets out there seem to be for PS only, you need to check out Momaziggy's Photoshop for FUN blog today! She has a gorgeous set available for PSE users.

Also, I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but Rita at the CoffeShop has TONS of free actions, for PSE and PS users alike.

On The Spot Studio

2009-08-06T10:23:00.003-04:00

Tiffany at On The Spot Studio was the mastermind behind my new logo. She just launched a beautiful new site, so you can see everything she offers in one great place. If you're looking to get a new logo yourself, she offers premades and custom design, and she also designs blog headers, splash pages, marketing packages, sells action sets, etc. She is incredibly talented and I love her style:)

New to Digiscrapping?

2009-08-05T14:06:00.001-04:00

I found another great link at The Daily Digi to help those new to digital scrapbooking. This has a TON of info!

Create your own blinkies!

2009-08-05T13:33:00.003-04:00

This is kinda fun. I'm posting these links here so I can find them later when I want to play!

How to Create Animated GIFs Using PSCS3
Creative Tip: Build Animated GIFs in PS

Currently Reading:

2009-08-05T13:26:00.001-04:00

Photographing Children. There's something that will appeal to any level of photographer in this book. I'm thoroughly enjoying it:)

23 Digital Photography Book Reviews

2009-08-05T07:49:00.002-04:00

As an add-on to my "recommendations" post, I thought I'd post a link to the Digital Photography School blog article on books they recommend. They are reviewed briefly (with links to full review) and ranked. Go and check them out at your local library!

23 Digital Photography Book Reviews {ranked}

Where Do I Start? Digiscrapping 411

2009-08-01T11:42:00.010-04:00

I've gotten quite a few e-mails over the past year about how to get started in digital scrapbooking. I was there once - I had NO idea where to begin! It is quite daunting to have to go out there and figure it all out for yourself.

Thankfully, it is becoming more and more popular and that means many more resources. I've bookmarked a lot of great sites and tutorials along the way, and I'll share the best ones with you in this post.

The Daily Digi is really the first place you should check out for all things digiscrapping. They have a great beginner's section (see the sidebar). Designer Digitals has a great FAQ section with tutorials and articles about getting started in digital scrapbooking.
You can download a trial version of Photoshop Elements here, and free trial of Photoshop CS4 here.

If you click on the layouts on my blog, it will take you to my gallery and all the items I've used are listed in the credits. If you Google the designers/kits you will find them!

As for freebies, there are TONS out there if you know where to look.
This blog provides links to blog freebies:
The Digifree blog is a good place to start, although you have to wade through a lot of garbage (in my humble opinion) :) Just click on things that catch your eye for a closer look.

These are some other blogs I check out as they have personal use freebies fairly frequently:
I would start at Shabby Princess. She has some really nice complete kits that are totally free.
Nicole of Sugarplum Paperie has a category set aside for freebies in the footer of her blog, click on that and download away.
Misty Cato has some great freebies and also a lot of tutorials to check out.

I love scrapping with templates, but that is not for everyone. If you're interested in checking them out, Chrissy W always have a freebie in her shop, so check back there often (usually twice a month). The best tutorial I've come across regarding using templates can be found on the Paislee Press blog.

I went crazy with downloading at the beginning, but now I have found my style so I am a lot more selective. If you find you are getting more into it, I'd recommend buying an external hard drive - I store everything on a little 40GB one we got at a Boxing Day sale. Otherwise my files simply take up too much space!

Once you download a kit, unzip it to your desktop, open the folder, and then drag and drop your items into PS or PSE and have fun experimenting:)

Jessica Sprague's blog is a great place to go for info and tutorials on Photoshop/PSE.
and here is the index of tutorials.

Here is another good beginner's tutorial I've come across by Amanda Taylor.

And a great site with all sorts of tutorials is Hummie's World.

I would start there, and also google tutorials specifically for your program (the version matters in some cases, i.e. PSE7 vs. PSE5) - they are everywhere. You can also join a forum like DigiShopTalk or DigiScrapAddicts and ask questions in there and get answers from people (you have to make a free account first). You can also check out their galleries for lots of ideas and inspiration! If you get started and have specific questions, feel free to e-mail me anytime and I'll try to help you out. Have fun with this amazing hobby:)

Added 09.05.09
Another great resource at The Simple Scrapper for beginners.

PRINTING:
I get a lot of questions about printing as well. I print in 12x12 size at Costco, with no borders and a glossy finish. They are $2.49 per page, so if your supplies are free or cheap, this is a very economical way to scrapbook! I have tried a few different albums, but my very favourite ones are the PicFolio Max albums by Creative Memories. They have 12x12 sleeves that you just slide the pages in. Very nice looking albums:)

All day FREE Photoshop Training Marathon TOMORROW!

2009-07-30T21:41:00.003-04:00

Creative Techs is playing back some of the videos from the free 10 week Photoshop course they had earlier this year in an all-day marathon tomorrow! If you've been trying to learn CS through to CS4, you HAVE to check this out if you have some time. You are guaranteed to learn something you didn't before! Jason Hoppe is an excellent teacher, and there will be some live Q&A sessions as well where you can ask questions through GoToWebinar. Very cool. You won't regret it! I've learned a ton from these guys.

You can look HERE for more information.

Primp My Album

2009-07-24T14:41:00.002-04:00

Chrissy posted about a new business venture that she is involved in called Primp My Album. It's an online photo editor that you can make digital scrapbooking layouts and photo projects with. Cool factor: it's compatible with Facebook!

If this is something that piques your interest, they are looking for testers. You can read more about it on Chrissy's blog. Also note that the tester applications are being taken until July 30th (deadline has been extended).

Prop Insanity + Jamie Schultz

2009-07-20T18:01:00.002-04:00

Prop Insanity is having another giveaway! I love designing birth announcements and Christmas cards, but if I were ever to buy any, it would definitely be from Jamie Schultz. Her designs are gorgeous and very inspiring! Go and enter to win one of her card sets here.

Clickin' Moms

2009-07-20T12:34:00.003-04:00

A while go, I posted about a Clickin' Moms coupon. Just a heads up that it expires on July 31.

Google Reader

2009-07-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

Do you have 10 or more blogs in your bookmarks? Looking for an easy way to subscribe to feeds and by notified when those blogs have been updated instead of having to check them everyday?

Start using Google Reader! I've been using for well over a year and it is fabulous:)

Here is a video that shows the basics.

I have a logo!

2009-07-17T14:52:00.004-04:00

Isn't it so purdy?? :)

I decided a while back that if I ever went into business, it would be with the name Asher Images. As you may recall, Asher is the middle name of my stillborn son, and it means "Blessed and Happy." What better name for a business?

A few weeks ago, I won a 50% off coupon to anything at On the Spot Studio in this contest. Around the same time, I also received a healthy sum of US$ into my paypal account, courtesy of the Clickin' Moms affiliate program. I thought about it for a few days and decided to go for it:)

Tiffany was fast and a pleasure to work with. I was detailed about things I like and don't like, and she hit the nail on the head with this design.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on starting up a business anytime soon (or ever), but even if I never use it in a business setting, it's still a great thing to have. Now I'll have an official watermark for my photos, and I chose "photography & design" to encompass any facet of this hobby I may pursue in the future. Since I'm into digital scrapbooking and learning Photoshop, there are a lot of avenues that could be explored to find a different niche. I personally feel that the photography market is a bit over-saturated and would not be interested in throwing my hat in that ring unless I was convinced that what I had to offer was truly a cut above. I have years of work and practice to do before that happens. After all, it was a mere 14 months ago that I was still using a point and shoot!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. In the meantime, I'll keep on dreaming and prettying up my photos with my fabulous logo:)

Love This!

2009-07-16T12:01:00.003-04:00

UPDATE: Enter on this thread for a chance to win it!

This new kit by Nicole Seitler of Sugarplum Paperie is 20% off today. It's perfect for fun, summery layouts and has some great basics in it, including paint strokes and wordart!

Make your own Watermark Action in PS

2009-07-15T13:31:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Rachel Noah of the Verve Life Shop for creating a couple of video tutorials to show how to create a bar shaped watermark, and then how to make a watermark action. Note: watch them in that order!

These are SERIOUSLY cute!

2009-07-13T14:18:00.006-04:00

Prop Insanity is having another giveaway - this time for some BEAU ties by My Bella Bows! These are sooo cute and my son sure would look handsome in one of these:) Go and enter here.

Making an Image Clickable

2009-07-13T07:52:00.002-04:00

This is something I've known how to do for a long time, but when I came across this tutorial, it occurred to me that maybe some of you want to know how, too! So, you can read it here.

Allison actually has tons of great blogging tips on her blog. 58 and counting so far.

Back up your data with Mozy and save 10%!

2009-07-11T14:19:00.005-04:00

Just type in SAVE10 at checkout and save 10% on a MozyHome Unlimited annual or biennial subscription!

View >>

I've been using Mozy to back up my pictures and files online since January and am very happy with this service. My initial backup took forever (months!), but now I know my data is safe if there were to be a hard drive failure, fire or theft. It's also a whole lot easier than having to make DVDs of data to store at an alternate location and remembering to keep it updated.

A couple months ago, I was looking for a picture from last year and found that an entire month was missing from my picture data. I still have no idea how it happened, but I quickly did a Mozy restore and got all my pictures back. If it wasn't for Mozy, those pictures would be totally gone.

Check them out and as always, let me know if you have any questions:)

Recolouring Doodles

2009-07-10T22:38:00.000-04:00

Here is a tutorial by Ellie Lash on recolouring doodles.

Pretty Cool

2009-07-10T13:55:00.001-04:00

Have an action you love using and want to know how to deconstruct it to recreate the steps yourself? Check this out.

$1 Quickpages

2009-07-10T12:27:00.004-04:00

Chrissy W (one of my CT "bosses") is the featured designer at one of the stores she sells at this week (sorry I'm slow on the uptake about this - we were away)! So, as one of her specials, all her quickpage packs (2 pages in a pack) are on sale for only $1! If you like the look of digital, but don't want to put the page together yourself, these are perfect for you. Just plunk in your pictures and go! You can add a title, journaling or wordart, or leave as is.

And don't forget to pick up the latest freebie in her store while you're there. Happy shopping!

Photoshop CS4 and Nikon D80 Giveaway!

2009-07-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

Pioneer Woman has the best giveaways ever. Go enter!

Free Photography Course

2009-07-09T15:06:00.001-04:00

Are you free Wednesday afternoons? Check out the latest offering from Creative Techs. Looks worth the price, if you ask me;)

Recommendations

2009-07-09T12:59:00.001-04:00

I've taken these two courses over the past year and I cannot recommend them enough. They really helped me set off on the right foot, and build on what I'd learned previously. Candice's teaching style is fabulous. If you're looking to improve on your skills or even get started, check out these courses! (don't mind the warped graphics - not sure what's going on there)

Oh Shoot! Beginning Digital SLR Photography
Portrait Photography with Candice Stringham

I've also been doing a lot of reading on photography, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop in the last year on my journey into photography. Here are a list of ones I've found most helpful and informative. Check them out at your local library if you want to keep learning about these great topics:)

Photography:
The Digital Photography Book Vol. 1, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 (I haven't read vol. 3 yet but will request it at the library as soon as it's in!)
Understanding Exposure
Beyond Portraiture
People in Focus

Photoshop Elements:
Find the corresponding book by Scott Kelby for your version of Elements. I read the one for PSE5.0.

Photoshop:
The Photoshop Channels Book (this one is fabulous!)
The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers

And here are some previews of some of these books.

I've read some others, but these were the ones I liked the best. Have fun!

Forced Perspectives

2009-07-02T15:08:00.000-04:00

This is just for fun! Think I might try it someday.

Cropping your Photos into Circles

2009-07-02T14:25:00.002-04:00

This is for you, Jen:)

For Photoshop Elements users, here are some tutorials. The basic principal is using the Cookie Cutter Tool or Elliptical Marquee Tool.
Elements Village
Adobe Support
Techlyzer

For Photoshop users, here are some more tutorials, using the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Sadly, there is no cookie cutter in PS:(
Scrapbook-bytes
Digishoptalk

How To Use A Cute Font For Your Blogger Post Titles

2009-06-29T20:43:00.002-04:00

What fun! Didn't take me too long, and it looks really cute! I want to change my title font, too, but that's for another day when I have some more space in my brain;)

Creative Techs

2009-06-29T12:03:00.003-04:00

When I received my iMac in March, I also upgraded from Photoshop Elements 5.0 to Photoshop Creative Suite 4. Talk about a steep learning curve. Learning a new operating system and a whole new powerful piece of software!

Enter Creative Techs. They were running a 10 week FREE live webinar course on Photoshop. It just so happened that they are Mac users and used CS4 to teach the course. It was perfect for me! Thankfully, the webinars were during the kids' naptime and I learned an incredible amount of information, plus was able to ask questions in a chatbox, that were answered during the class. Right then and there. Pretty cool!

The class is over now, but they are running different free courses for other Adobe applications like In Design, Flash, Illustrator, etc. It is definitely worth checking out if you're trying to learn those programs.

I just read an exciting announcement. Creative Techs is getting ready to launch a free 6 month Photoshop course! It will be broken down into 5-week segments, and it looks AMAZING. Here are more details on what the course will look like.

Of you are a PC user, this is still completely worth it, as the only real difference is substituting the CRTL key for the CMD key in your keyboard shortcuts;) There is also a lot to learn even if you are using an older version of PSCS. There were lots of questions that came up from CS2 and CS3 users that Jason also answered during class. I cannot say enough good things about my experience with the live webinar format. Jason (the instructor) is certified with Adobe and there is virtually no question he cannot answer. Keep your eye on the Creative Techs blog if you're interesting in the upcoming free courses.

Win a Flower Flapper Hat!

2009-06-29T11:57:00.004-04:00

Prop Insanity is hosting another giveaway! Click here to enter win a cute flower flapper hat by Crafting on the Court. My niece Elyse would look awfully cute in that... ;)

On The Spot Studios

2009-06-26T13:36:00.005-04:00

On The Spot Studios is having a great contest!

Tiffany makes fabulous actions, a lot of which she shares very generously in the "Pay it Forward" section of the Clickin' Moms forum. I have several sets from her, but this is an example of her latest.

Original SOOC (straight out of camera)

All the actions in the "Musings" set:

Go check it out (click the poster)! You've nothing to lose:)

Batch Resizing

2009-06-24T07:13:00.002-04:00

I had a question from Tamsen about resizing your images for the web. Photoshop batching makes it soooo easy:) I used this batching tutorial from DPS (another fabulous site, by the way), and I found a free watermarking action at MCP actions under the "try me" category.

For Photoshop Elements users, here is a great tutorial on batch resizing from Jessica Sprague, and a watermarking tutorial from Stampin' Kub.

And speaking of Jessica Sprague, you should sign up before June 28th for her free photo editing class.

Downloads

2009-06-23T20:56:00.004-04:00

Tons of free downloads, from actions to vector shapes to blog backgrounds!

Speaking of blog backgrounds - I found mine here.

Need a Royalty-free song for your Photography Website?

2009-06-23T16:11:00.001-04:00

Stock20.com creates high quality music for media production. Their songs are only $20 and they have a great library. If you click on this link then you and I will both get a free song credit JUST for registering. Nothing to lose! I don't have a photography website, but I love finding cool stuff like this to store away for the "someday in my dreams" future;)

Imagenomic Giveaway

2009-06-23T13:48:00.000-04:00

Visit Jodi of MCP Actions for a chance to win Noiseware, Portraiture and RealGrain PS plugins!

My Journey into Photography...

MCP Actions

More Flash Fun

Embrace the Flash!

Actions??

Focal Length

Textures AGAIN

De-mystifying Lenses

Paint the Moon Textures

Getting Comfortable with Selections

Fix It Friday

Digiscrapping Freebies!

Dramatic B&W

Fix-It Friday

BIG Announcement!

Drop Shadows

Organization

Go{4}Pro

Joyce Smith

Batch Processing

Chrissy W News

Sugarplum Paperie Sales

FREE Photography and Photoshop Learning in January!

The CoffeeShop

DST Featured Scrapper

Self Hosted Blogging

Stealing Your Photographer's Images

Scalloped Borders

EXCITING!!!!

*sigh*

Happy DSD!

Blogger Tutorials

Weeds & Wildflowers Design

Sugarplum Paperie Sales

Chrissy W & $1 Days!

Lightroom 3!

Free Photo Editing Software!

Saving Photos for Web

The Savvy Photographer

Taking Care of Business (again)

A set of 4 templates inspired by YOUR layouts?

Why I Love Photoshop

How to Remove Braces in CS4

Meadowlark

I {Heart} Faces - Candid Photo Challenge

The Savvy Photographer

Video Tutorials

Layer Masks

Fake Tan Photoshop Trick

Another great Jamie Schultz Giveaway!

Digiscrapping 411

Noise

The Savvy Photographer

How to Sharpen

I {Heart} Faces

Angie Monson

I need to do more of these

ColorInc Gallery Wrap Contest

Textures

8 Tips for Mom-a-raz-zo Photographers

Retiring Kits

Sun Flare

My Four Hens Photography

What to do with .rar files?

Template Challenge

Autoloader

6 Month FREE Photoshop Training

Actions for PSE

On The Spot Studio

New to Digiscrapping?

Create your own blinkies!

Currently Reading:

23 Digital Photography Book Reviews

Where Do I Start? Digiscrapping 411

All day FREE Photoshop Training Marathon TOMORROW!

Primp My Album

Prop Insanity + Jamie Schultz

Clickin' Moms

Google Reader

I have a logo!

sigh