In a perfect world all the photos we take would look inspired SOOC (Straight out of camera). Photography is an art form. When I take a photo of a family or child I try my hardest to capture their laugh or a particularly telling look that reflects the essence of their personality. Most of the time my SOOC shots are not doing the captured moment justice and could use some artistic touches from Photoshop. This is why I’ve decided to do a series of before/after shots for inspiration. Post processing images can be very time consuming which is why I have invested in a couple Photoshop action sets. Actions allow you to perfect your images MUCH quicker then doing each subtle change to the image from scratch. My absolute favorite actions of all time are the ones from Paint The Moon at http://paintthemoon.net/blog/ . I’ve invested in the The Essentials, Fresh, Blessings, and Moxie sets. They range from standard photo correction actions to fun actions that can turn any photo into a beautiful piece of art ready for framing. A lot of the actions allow the photos to be more artistic which works great for printing on canvas. Another good set is the Totally Rad actions at http://www.gettotallyrad.com/ .
I’ve chosen 6 images for my first set to highlight. I always love looking at before and afters so feel free to share your own on our facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/portfoliositez
SOOC Original
PTM Super Sharp, Totally Rad ProRetouch, PTM Brighten and Tone, PTM Simple Pop, TRA2 BurnOut
SOOC original
TRA2 Punch Out!!!, TRA2 Claire-ify
SOOC Original
Totally Rad ProRetouch, PTM Brighten and Tone
SOOC Original
Totally Rad ProRetouch, TRA2- Claire-ify, PTM Brighten and Tone, Adjusted Vibrance and Saturation, PTM Heist
SOOC Original
Totally Rad ProRetouch, PTM Brightness and Tone, PTM Ambience, PTM Hushed Softness
SOOC Original
PTM Recover Highlights, PTM Heist
PTM Recover Highlights, PTM Skin Friendly Color Enhance, PTM Pop My Flare!, TRA2 BurnOut
The last example was how to create a different feel with the image depending on the post processing. The first processed one would be great for a white matted frame. The second with the pops of color would look excellent printed on metal as more of an art piece.
If you’d like to see more just let us know. 
