I've recently been looking at purchasing a good set of Photoshop Actions for wedding PP. One set I REALLY like is from Parker J Pfister. Of course, since Parker is an elite photographer, he has fairly high pricing (~$499) for his set.
Can anyone recommend a more affordable action set that they are using?
I'm specifically looking for actions that "age" photos (grain, saturation properties similar to old film, etc).
the "totally rad" actions from the boutwells are amazing.
Many swear by Kubota's actions, and I like the magic sharp, but most are pretty understated IMO.
I think I also have Craigs actions and Itty Bitty actions, and some pack from graphic authority.
Showit effects is pretty cool too, it has a few actions and then combines with your others and makes your PS workflow faster, and really helps if you do onsite slideshow, as not only is it easier and faster than using regular actions, but anything you do to a small jpeg, it'll save and apply to your RAW file when you get home to work on the master
Coreypolis - You THINK you have Craig's Actions?? They're well over $1,000 for all of his stuff. Most people KNOW if they have it or not! Asta maybe?!
Oh, I admire the "Giving Back" section. That says more about you that all the words that can be spoken.
I have the following..
All of Craig's Actions (about $1,200) - The very best, by far, and I use them on almost every single image
All of Parker J - Nice Borders, but I don't really use borders any more.
All of Nicole Van - Nice Textures and some great actions like Essential Color Pop and Soft Color Pop, etc. Her new Retro Actions are really cool and only $40. I just bought those a week or two ago.
Totally Rad Actions ($150) - Very nice, but need to be used in moderation and often more than one at a time at low opacities, but Technicolor Dream World (No Glow) is really nice.
All of Kubota's Actions ($320) - Cool, but many are over powering and ?artsy? if used right, but easy to get carried away! I use his Gmap Grainy BW on almost all of my B&W's..
Itty Bitty 52 - I think they were $100, and I got 3 good ones out of it.
Showit Effects is nice, but the Lomo action is really the only one i use.
So, any time anything good came out, I got it. Of course, I rarely use 90% of them. What I did was drag the best from each into a favorites folder, saved it, now that's what is installed on the computers. I use Craig's newest on almost every image and were well worth the money.
If you can afford it, grab his Portrait/Wedding set and/or the iTones set. I think they're around $250 each, but it's worth buying the 3 part Productions Assistant set. His Shadow soft and Grainy from the Traditional Actions is really nice too. Now they're only around $70.
Makes some of the best actions in the world, though.
Oh, as for actions that will age the photo, take a look at Nicole Van. I mentioned her above, but didn't put a link. Her Retro and Vintage Actions are $40 each and give an old, faded, worn kind of look. Her Urban Actions are great too.
You can easily go in and disable the workflow. Calling them a piece of sh*t is personal opinion. I use them all the time. I take every single image into Photoshop from Lightroom and on most, I run Craig's Port Plus, Port Cool or HiColor. Once modified and certain parts are added or disabled, they are the best, in my opinion.
They don't work well the first day you get them, but most things don't. It takes a lot of time to tweak them to your liking. Then, after the action is run, the image still requires input. It takes a long time to get the hang of them, but disabling all the saves and resizing was a huge start.
GZASINETS,
Which Craig's did you buy?
I see Parker J in your wedding work and it looks pretty good. What else do you personally use? Some of the louder images with some good pop is exactly what Craig's HiColor does for me without needing to correct blown out highlights or way over-saturated blacks. They look good, what are using for the high contrast pop look? Parker J or something else?? Nicole Van's actions work similar to that also.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Edited by J. Consiglio on Feb 18, 2008 at 01:31 PM GMT
I wanted Pfister's actions too, but I didn't have it in my budget. A little bit of GOOGLING got me almost all of what I wanted and needed to get that "film-y" look, and at a MUCH lower price. Seriously.
For my CC I use lightroom, and I found a guy that developed custom lightroom presets that were giving me the look I was going for. I ordered them and spent $26.99. Sweet. Check out Gavin Seim's actions for both PS and Lightroom ( I recommend these!) at http://seimphotography.com/for-photographers-tools-and-resources/
For the "aging" process, I figured out all I need are some good backgrounds/patterns, and a sweet time saving action made by Nicole Van. Her actions: $40. There's even a set w/ a lomo action and a tilt/shift effect. Nice.
Info - http://shop.nicholev.com/?homepage
They come with a few really awesome textures, and after a bit more googling I found a ton of free textures online. It just takes a little "fingerwork."
And lastly, for the worn old edges, I found PhotoFrame by On One Software. You get a TON of frames and can overlap them, tweak them, the works. A steal at $160.
Grand total, $226.99. Much less than Pfister's cost and still getting a similar result. The internet is a wonderful place, you just have to know how to look.
I also like Craigs actions and found him pretty sincere sharing a brew w/ him one night @ Imaging in Tampa. We are not buddies, but I did get to chat w/ him a bit. Parkers also are quite good, but Craigs fits my style and Kevin Kubota has some good stuff, just not as good for me.
Red is correct, if you have the time and talent, diy and MichelleL gives some good info as well..
I see Parker J in your wedding work and it looks pretty good. What else do you personally use? Some of the louder images with some good pop is exactly what Craig's HiColor does for me without needing to correct blown out highlights or way over-saturated blacks. They look good, what are using for the high contrast pop look? Parker J or something else?? Nicole Van's actions work similar to that also.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Edited by J. Consiglio on Feb 18, 2008 at 01:31 PM GMT
Hi Jonathan,
Of course this is my personal opinion on Craig's Actions (i have all of them )
For that price there are so many better things out there. You just think that you get a lot for your buck when you just don't.
In my workflow I use parker, kubota and totally rad.
Those are worth every penny
i like kubota's action set 2 and there is one action i picked up free, called glamblur, that i love...and use often....saturates and softens.....however, with all actions, learn to modify them and make them your own style (well, as best you can) then things dont look the same on every shot!
Lucky_Dog wrote:
Has anyone used the 1-click actions?
I have used them for the past 18 months or so and have gradually added the new sets as they come out and I highly recommend them. I've dabbled with a few others (and wasted some money in the process) but I still think the 1-click are amongst the best out there.
I know there is a certain resistance to actions of any brand but my take on it is that they introduce new ideas that I wouldn't have thought of or wouldn't have known how to implement anyway. Some of the 1-click actions are quite simple (but so are some of Kubota's) but they are still time savers.
The Pfister ones are one set I've not tried though since $500 is out of my price range.
Tagging so I dont lose this thread. I have been wondering about PS actions lately. My processing times are insane! I might get through 20 final images in a day.
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I have been wondering about PS actions lately. My processing times are insane! I might get through 20 final images in a day. 