show {off} your shot

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this shot, taken by my friend, Stephanie.  She makes the rain look not so bad, huh?

<center><a href="http://andthenshesnapped.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="and then, she {snapped}" src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j52/drexgal/winbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

This week I'm talking about actions. Have I talked about actions before? I love them, so it would make sense if I had. Actions, in case you're not familiar, can re-create in one click the process of a whole dozen (or more!) steps in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.  You can purchase actions from numerous sites, but I have gotten almost all of mine for free from the Pioneer Woman and from the Coffeeshop Blog.  Actions can run in either Photoshop or Photoshop Elements (but can only be created in Photoshop).  They can be a little bit tricky to load in Elements, but there's a pretty good step by step found here, and also, once they're loaded, they're loaded. Here are a few of my favorite actions: 

{unedited}

{coffeeshop 2020 at 50% opacity}

{coffeeshop golden vintage}

{coffeeshop ice pop}

{coffeeshop velvet truffle}

{pioneer woman seventies}

{pioneer woman heartland}

{coffeeshop lomo}

Most actions are sort of heavy handed, and need to be reduced (through lowering their opacity) quite a bit before printing, but I sort of like the effect on the web.

I also use coffeeshop rounded corners ALL. THE. TIME. like on pretty much every photo I post on this here blog. 

So what are YOUR favorite actions?  I could always use some new ones.  : ) 

Now it's your turn!  What tip can you share this week?

Rules Guidelines:

~One photo per person, and the photo must be taken by you.

~Blog about your photo and share something about how you took the photo, or how you edited it.  (Please don't skip this part, because it is so fun to be able to learn from one another).

~Add my button (below) to your blog post...(text links are ok too, but please do link back to me or I might cry)

~Link up to your blog or Flickr page, (but please link up to your specific post and not just your blog homepage...if I can't tell what post you are linking up I will have to delete the entry).  

If you have ANY questions, feel free to email me.

I can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

<center><a href="http://andthenshesnapped.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="and then, she {snapped}" src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j52/drexgal/101014_2456_centuryfont.jpg" /></a></center>

Ready?  GO, and  show {off} your shot!