A Little Before . . . and After

Have I mentioned lately just how much I LOVE Adobe Lightroom?!!  It's an amazing program where I usually do some minor touch ups for tone and exposure, plus it keeps my photos organized for me so I can find them amongst the thousands . . . (give the free trial of Lightroom 4 a spin . . .)

Then I usually open the current project up and do some editing in Photoshop. I really like to use many of the MCP actions for Photoshop, many of the Totally Rad actions . . . a little Florabella . . .

But today I wanted to feature something a little different!

For all you peeps out there who want to keep those expenses down (and when it comes to photography - WHO doesn't want to keep the expenses down?  Oh the money that could be spent . . .)

I thought I would do a totally FREE edit from start to finish for you . . .

Yes, you can do some LOVELY things without spending any money!

Isn't THAT good news :D

I'm going to feature one of my FAVORITE websites -

Rita over at The Coffeeshop Blog

Rita is the blogger behind CoffeeShop and a stay-at-home, home-schooling Mom to two naughty but adorable little boys (Duke is 7 and Imp is 4), wife to her high school sweetheart, and passionate about all things photography.

And the best part about The Coffee Shop -  Everything on her blog is 100% free!

(although if you LOVE her products like I do - you can kick a little donation her way or

download her MEGA action pack with the works in one download for $49 - one of the best bargains you'll find online!)

So . . . let me take you through this fun edit - from start to finish - all FREE :D


 . . . this would be the unedited start up version . . .




our first edit (left) was a run through Coffeeshop's Perfect Portrait 3one of my personal favorites!Just a little adjustment to the skin softening, I adjusted the opacity down from 75% to 50%then just a little touch up to the whites for eyes and teeth.Knick the sharpen button, then I applied a mask and backed the sharpening off their faces slightly.I also used the soft glow at about 30% to lighten the center of the frame around all the heads and faces to bring some emphasis to that area.
after flattening the image, (right) next I did a minor levels adjustment with the left lever to bring up the blacks just a bit.


I noticed just a a smidged around her mouth that needed softening still - so I opening up the Coffeeshops Powder room 2 just to soften that one spot




Rita has some really amazing actions for effects!It was a cloudy overcast day - so I added in a little sun flare on the left to warm the photo up a little and give it a little more light using Coffeeshops Sun Kissed action.
On the right - a fun action called Attic Vintage - since I had a request for a more vintage look!(the action calls for a scratchy texture so be prepared with one, there isa link to many FREE ones HERE!)All FREE still!  Some inspiring looks!





This one above is one of my favorites - adding a color block to a photo!The action used here is Coffeeshops AutoV Color block action.I should mention Rita's sight will talk you through all the downloads, installs . . .any question you might have!
Also her actions some with complete instructions and many tutorials are available on her website!

On the final before and after shot . . .
(and of course . . . use the Before and After Storyboard action)
 for the after I brought things in a little closer with a crop

and added the the tiniest vingette with Coffeeshops Burn action.

Tah dah!  :D