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Wow I can not believe that we have reached the 70k fan mark! To show our thanks to all our amazing fans, we are giving away 7 of our everything pure sets! That is all of our photoshop actions that we offer! (except the designer sets) We are giving away 7 of them! If you win and don’t use Photoshop, you can choose our new lightroom preset collection! To enter make sure that you are a fan of our page and leave a comment letting us know how long you have been a photographer and what your goal for your photography business is this year! Share this giveaway with your fans! Thank you for an amazing 2 1/2 years! Crystal and Rachel a Rafflecopter giveaway

We’ve been posting for the last couple of weeks about PASS and how much we love it. We’ve been using it since last winter. It was an instant brand make-over for us, as it turned our digital file delivery into a state-of-the-art system, and looked so smooth. We had been using other means of file-sharing with clients, since we did destination weddings and liked having a way to quickly deliver files to our clients who were far away before they got their DVD or USB drive, but our old system was not very sophisticated and didn’t do much to further our brand. Enter PASS. Suddenly, we looked SO cool. We just finished shooting a wedding in Hawaii, and PASS is going to be an integral part of our image delivery. Even though there are thousands of miles between us and our bride, she will have access to her images as soon as they are ready for delivery. But not only that. We LOVE using PASS for our album creation process. Our couples can look at …

PASS Ahhhhh, what would we do without PASS? PASS was by far one of the best decisions we made for our photography business last year. It revolutionized how we gave our clients their images. After many problems with DVD’s going corrupt or computers not reading the DVDs we were giving out, we felt like we needed more options. More professional options. That is when we found PASS. It worked out perfectly for us. Our wedding clients still get a USB with all of their images, but we also use PASS for wedding clients and portrait clients. The new PASS that is being released is even more amazing then the original PASS! Right now it is on an invite only basis, since it is still in BETA. We were lucky enough to be given 15 extra invites for our fans. When your clients see their PASS site, they will see multiple options. One menu is on the left, and one is on the right and so much social media integration it will blow your mind (and …

So you booked that ever-sought-after destination wedding!!! Congrats! It is a lot of photographers’ dream! How amazing is it to not only get to shoot a wedding, but get paid to travel and shoot?! But now the big question…. How do you safely travel with your gear and also protect your clients images while traveling? You don’t get to drive from your house to the wedding, and throw everything into your trunk, nor do you get to drive straight home after the wedding, and download your images. Well, here is how WE travel with ours. Tomorrow we head out to shoot an amazing wedding in Honolulu. We couldn’t be any more excited then we are, but also every time we travel with our gear, we get nervous. (photos taken with our cell phones) We have our two carry-on rolling camera bags that holds the majority of our gear. (Yes, I know a lens cap was missing. I took the lens off of my camera and replaced it with the 50mm 1.2 as I was using …

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Albums are one of the last impressions that you make on your clients. The piece that they get to hold forever tangibly in their hands after their weddings. We wanted an album that was simple, and classic, yet timeless. Enter Flori Color USA We absolutely fell in love with their vintage collection.  This album here is their Boutique Collection in the vintage album cover options. It comes with a hard sturdy box, and the album itself. The box is wrapped in the fabric that you choose for the album, and also has their name engraved. The engraving of the names is timeless and classic. There are multiple colors to choose from for the Vintage collection, but my personal favorite is the light and dark grey. They are made in Portugal and are amazing quality. Their color is spot on, and the quality of the albums and the box that it comes in, is just top notch. Once you get signed up for an account, you will also notice that the price is amazing! Do know …

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When assembling a studio or a place to meet clients, or heck, even your home living room, it is always so nice to have little items that say something about you and are really unique.  Conversation pieces.  But in this world of big box stores, it can be really hard to find things that have that wonderful, unique flair, but don’t break the bank. This stunning metal antique camera decoration sits in Crystal’s home office and serves as an amazing conversation piece and gives her office a sense of who she is and what she loves. So we wanted to offer one of these amazing decorative cameras to a lucky fan.  I know there are certainly friends on our page who would love to have one of these adoring their office or studio.  To enter is simple just follow the steps in the Rafflecopter below.   Please note:  This is not a real, functioning camera. a Rafflecopter giveaway Also remember that our Newest action set Follow your Art Tapestry is on sale right now! Just …

When I first started using Photoshop Elements–back when Elements 4 first came out and dinosaurs roamed the Earth–I was really slow. REALLLLY SLOW. I hunted and pecked and moved all around with my mouse. Things got done, but it was not a very quick thing. But slowly, slowly, I became familiarized with where things were. And then…(cue the trumpets)…I discovered SHORTCUTS. Suddenly, rather than reaching for the mouse, finding the right icon clicking it and then moving back to my image, I would reach over and hit a shortcut and keep right on truckin’! Magic! After what seemed like no time at all, I felt like I was playing a Beethoven concerto on my keyboard as I edited my images. I was much more efficient AND my wrists thanked me too! Since we love you and are here to help, we made some little cheat sheets for y’all. We will write up some more extensive shortcut notes, but for now, just knowing how to access the tools on your tool palette can be SO helpful! …

oh my gosh…. I can’t believe how many of you want to learn your flash this year! I love our flash, and use it almost daily in my house, and at weddings and it has because such a vital tool to my business. Dawn Davis graciously and amazingly offered not only 1 free spot, but changed it to 5 free spots! The 5 winners are Steph Stanger Jamie Stanavige Cortnie Buck Smith Liz DeGraffenried Rowley Megan Kathleen Weber Email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com For those of you that didn’t win, Bob is such an amazing teacher, and photographer. One of the photographers that I look up to and admire not only his work, but how they run their business and just the kind of people they are. Their openness encouraged me when I was down, and I have learned from them, the kind of photographer/business women/christian that I want to be. You should sign up for this course!!!! It is normally $69, but with THIS LINK, you can get 25% off, making the course only $52. …

Not only an amazing photographer but an amazing friend of mine, Bob and Dawn Davis are giving away a spot to their online What the Flash class! over 5 hours of videos and 25 lectures. Bob is such an amazing teacher, and photographer.  One of the photographers that I look up to and admire not only his work, but how they run their business and just the kind of people they are.  Their openness encouraged me when I was down, and I have learned from them, the kind of photographer/business women/christian that I want to be. I was able to check out this class for them, to see if it was something that our pure fans would love.  Within 10 minutes of logging in, I was giddy.  I just knew you guys would LOVE it!!!  So much material is packed into this course, and the price is just ridiculously low! It is normally $69, but with THIS LINK, you can get 25% off, making the course only $52.   There is no code needed. But not …

As a photographer, our gear is our livelihood.  It is what we use to make the money that pays our bills and pays for more gear.  It is one of the most vital if not the most vital possession we have as photographers. Because of this, we need to take all necessary precautions to protect this asset.  Our gear is not cheap. I have known photographers who have had gear stolen at weddings, or shoots.  They turn their back for just a couple seconds, and it is gone.  Gear has been stolen out of cars and houses. What happens if your gear gets stolen? First you need to have Insurance.  If you are taking photographs for anyone, you need to have insurance.  I am sorry but this is not negotiable. Do not think it can’t happen to you.  That you won’t get sued, because you are shooting for free, or only charging $50 or that your gear won’t get stolen. There will also come times that in order to shoot at a specific location your …

We are so so pleased to have photography law and business guru, Rachel Brenke as a guest blogger. Her knowledge is so very valuable and we are grateful to have her sharing her insights on how to run a safe business and how to protect the art you create. Law 101: Protecting Your Art Rachel Brenke, Esq   With the onslaught of social media and digital files/products comes the true reality that ethics and law are not always followed. In fact, while ignorance is no excuse, often the masses are misinformed as to what is allowed in the digital age. The most prominent issues photographers face include the illegal downloading (or screen capture) of unpurchased photographs for print, sharing of digital items, stealing of photographs to pad portfolio and posting of another’s work as an example to clients. What if I want to share someone else’s picture for inspiration? There has been a recent trend where photographers have taken to sharing photographs of photographers that inspire them to demonstrate to the clients their vision for …

The winner is Lacey Main. You have 7 days to contact us and we will get you in touch with Jo Totes. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Have you heard? Pure and Follow Your Art and teaming up. No, not JUST for actions. But now, we’re coming to town with a whole two day, natural light/shooting/post-processing workshop. On March 1st and 2nd, 2013, we will be presenting a technical/artistic workshop, combining both of our successful studios and styles. What will we include? –There will be three shoots in the two days. Two will be evening, golden-light shoots, where one night Pure will take the reigns and show how they get the shot in their ideal conditions. The next night Tiffany from Follow Your Art will show what her ideal shoot looks light. But you know what? Then we will also be showing an indoor natural light session, so you can find the light even when you are indoors. Light is the basis of photography. Learn to master it and love it and let it guide your style. –We will be doing a critique session where we can all learn in a safe, anonymous environment, but where we can all learn and grow. …

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 6th day!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be announced on our blog every day, and the next giveaway started. You have until 430PM MST on 12-5-12 to enter. Next giveaway will start right after that. If you are having problems getting entered here, you can try on our fb page HERE a Rafflecopter giveaway

I forgot to mention the winners from Day 6, so I have chosen 2 winners instead of 1. The winners are Cassilynn Bell Post and Dulce Jimenez You have 7 days to contact us at support@purephotoshopactions.com and let us know if you need Photoshop or elements. Thanks guys!! Crystal

So I finally have an office. A place to keep out my sample albums and have clients look at them and oohh and ahhh. A dream right? Well my 3 yr old happens to think so too lol. Her dream however, is different then mine. Her dream is to paint the house in marker. To add her touch of art. This time she finally found her way to my sample albums. This particular album has a fabric cover. So when I saw this art work, I thought all was lost. A few people suggested I try baby wipes, and I can not believe the difference. I had huggies wipes on hand, and with a little elbow grease it came out. I am still in awe. So yeah…. if you have kids, and albums, make sure that you have some baby wipes on hand. You never know when they will want to add their art to your art. PS don’t mind the cell phone photos lol

The holidays are coming and with them come a lot of photo ops. Want to take them up a notch? How about getting a little star burst on your Christmas tree lights or Menorah candles? This is a fun little trick that will give your holiday photos a little extra sparkle. It is important that you have a tripod for this, as we will be working with longer exposures. You will also need a camera where you can control the exposure, like a DSLR or a bridge point and shoot. Now, in a semi-dim room with candles or Christmas lights lit, position the tripod where you would like it. Now we fiddle with the exposure. My usual starting place is f/16, ISO 200, shutter speed 15 seconds–see why we need the tripod? I also will put my camera on a 2 second delay, so when I hit the shutter, it isn’t affected by any movement of the camera when i push the button. (If you do not own a tripod, you can also set your …

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 6th day!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be announced on our blog every day, and the next giveaway started. You have until 830PM MST on 11-28-12 to enter. Next giveaway will start right after that. If you are having problems getting entered here, you can try on our fb page HERE a Rafflecopter giveaway Also remember that we have a sale going on right now!!!! Ends tonight!!!! Let your friends know!!! Everything is 40% off in our store!!! No discount code is needed. We don’t do this large of a sale normally, so make sure that you grab your action set while it is on sale! Just click the image to be taken to our store! Starting …

is BrieAnn Davis Schmidt You have 7 days to email us at support@purephotoshopactions and let us know if you need photoshop or elements. Congrats!!!

Have you seen Jo-Totes? If you haven’t, you are missing out! If you have, then you know exactly what I am going to be talking about. I bet you’ll even be nodding your head right along. We are SO so excited to be able to offer our fans a chance to win a Jo-Tote of their choice. These are such stylish options for carrying your gear. They are very secure and well-padded, to keep your gear safe. They are roomy enough for a camera with a lens attached, a few lenses, and a flash, and even an iPad, which is super convenient. And they are stylish enough not to look like a boring old camera bag. You WILL be getting compliments on your bag when you carry one. Believe me. I know a lot of you guys are thinking that this bag is not for you, but hey, think about the points you’ll be getting with your significant other when you give this awesome bag for Christmas. Right? Absolutely. I am pretty sure a cute …

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 5th day!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. That is different this time then last giveaway and gives you TONS of entries if you do (we often will send out special discount codes not advertised on our page just to our subscribers). You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Then you can use the amazing 40% off sale we are having right now to pick up those designer sets! Also if the winner that is chosen, has purchased any actions during this sale, those will be refunded! You can’t go wrong!! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be announced on our blog every day, and the next giveaway started. You have until 830PM MST on 11-28-12 to enter. Next giveaway will start right after that. If you are having problems getting …

Trisha is the winner of Day 4. Email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com and let us know if you need photoshop or elements. You have 7 days to email us to claim your prize.

Winner from the Day 3 everything pure set is Rose Linstead You have 7 days to email us and let us know that you won and if you need photoshop or elements. Thank you to everyone who signed up to win!

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 3rd day!! For the next 3 days, we will be giving away 7 Everything Pure Bundle Sets! That is one every day! You can enter the contest each time, and have a chance to win!!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. That is different this time then last giveaway and gives you TONS of entries if you do (we often will send out special discount codes not advertised on our page just to our subscribers). You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Then you can use the amazing 40% off sale we are having right now to pick up those designer sets! Also if the winner that is chosen, has purchased any actions during this sale, those will be refunded! You can’t go wrong!! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be …

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 3rd day!! For the next 6 days, we will be giving away 7 Everything Pure Bundle Sets! That is one every day! You can enter the contest each time, and have a chance to win!!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. That is different this time then last giveaway and gives you TONS of entries if you do (we often will send out special discount codes not advertised on our page just to our subscribers). You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Then you can use the amazing 40% off sale we are having right now to pick up those designer sets! Also if the winner that is chosen, has purchased any actions during this sale, those will be refunded! You can’t go wrong!! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be …

Our winner from Day 2 is Casie Geuin You have 7 days to let us know if you need Photoshop or elements for your everything set. Email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com Thank you to everyone for entering. Day 3 is starting now.

It is giveaway time!!!! This is the 2nd day!! For the next 6 days, we will be giving away 7 Everything Pure Bundle Sets! That is one every day! You can enter the contest each time, and have a chance to win!!! Make sure that you join our mailing list. That is different this time then last giveaway and gives you TONS of entries if you do (we often will send out special discount codes not advertised on our page just to our subscribers). You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Then you can use the amazing 40% off sale we are having right now to pick up those designer sets! Also if the winner that is chosen, has purchased any actions during this sale, those will be refunded! You can’t go wrong!! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be …

Marinda you are the winner!!! You have 7 days to contact and let us know if you want photoshop or elements for your action set!!

It is giveaway time!!!! For the next week, we will be giving away 7 Everything Pure Bundle Sets! That is one every day! You can enter the contest each time, and have a chance to win!!! You will want to enter every day to have a chance at the drawings every day. Valued at over $400, this will give you all of our actions except the designer sets! Then you can use the amazing 40% off sale we are having right now to pick up those designer sets! Also if the winner that is chosen, has purchased any actions during this sale, those will be refunded! You can’t go wrong!! Here is where you enter It might take a few to load… hang tight. Winner will be announced on our blog every day, and the next giveaway started. You have until 5pm MST on 11-23-12 to enter. Next giveaway will start right after that. If you are having problems getting entered here, you can try on our fb page HERE a Rafflecopter giveaway Also remember …

Last July, we found out about Copper River Bags Company . We had the chance to sample one of their bags and get a feeling for it, and then offer one as a giveaway. Wow. We really liked their bags. They are very different from many on the market and have a very very luxurious feeling. They look great, and we’ve gotten compliments on the bag wherever we take it. It is sturdy and weather proof and has protected our lenses well. (I’ve used it as a lens bag at weddings for the last few months and I really like it. Easy to use, and I like that I can also snap it shut, so it feels safer.) The giveaway was also one of the very biggest, entry-wise, that we’ve ever had. So, when Copper River wanted to do another giveaway, we agreed happily. I just wanted to give an update on the bag I’ve been using, because, I always want to know how things hold up. I have been really pleased with the bag. …

So we joined Instagram!! @pureactions FOLLOW US HERE So to celebrate we are having our first instagram contest!!! Win an action set of your choice! (excludes designer sets) Show us where your “magic” happens! Where would you be using your new action set? We will pick 2 random winners on Monday the 22nd of October. Upload your photo to your instagram feed and use the hash tag #pureactions when you type your description so we can find your photo!! Show us your “space”. Big or small… Fancy or not… We love to see where you create your art! This is where my magic happens.

I really do love to cook. It is something that I look forward to doing. However, I didn’t cook for the longest time. With having just moved, things have been crazy and hectic. We are finally coming up for air, after a crazy couple of weeks, and a couple of weeks of eating out. If I don’t see another fast food restaurant again, I won’t cry lol. However, with that said, some days I don’t have tons of time to dedicate to a huge meal. Today was one of those days. After spending all day cleaning and unpacking the basement, everyone was hungry, and I looked at the time, and it was 530. Ooops! After looking at what I had in my fridge and pantry, I opted for Grilled Cheese. BLAH!!!! Such a boring meal. My kids love it though! As I was getting all the ingredients together, I saw I had some avocado and tomatoes. That is when I decided to make some adult grilled cheese. I knew my kids wouldn’t eat it, so …

For the longest time we have been looking for something to give our clients as a gift after the wedding and engagement session that was fun quirky semi nerdy like us and still photography related. We could never find anything that perfectly fit the bill. UNTIL…… Yes… I squealed out loud when I found these online. I just seriously died a little bit inside when I got them today!!!! I cant NOT wait to incorporate these into our business! We have plans to give these to our clients after their engagement session with the viewer and reel, and after their wedding, they will get a new reel with 7 of their wedding images. They come in a cute little white box which is perfect for our branding and we can brand the inside with our colored tissue paper. Sigh… my heart is happy and content now lol. ♥ You can find out about the viewer and reels and where I got them HERE

We are so so excited to announce the winner of the amazing Rogue Lighting Portrait Kit Giveaway. Katie Schetter is the lucky winner. BUT!!!!! Guess what? Expoimaging is so amazing that you are all winners, because even if you didn’t win, you get to use the code PUREROGUE12 to get 20% off at http://www.expoimaging.com/all_products.php good thru the weekend. We are THRILLED with this. (We’ll be stocking up on more light benders and diffusion panels.) This code ends–Midnight, Sunday, August 5th. Thank you all!!

We love light. We love natural light. We love flash. We love making flash look like the perfect natural light. And because we love light so much, we ADORE Expoimaging’s Rogue Flash products. They are amazing. You can go totally 100% dramatic with snoots and grids, or you can just add that kiss of hair light with their gels or add a little diffused light with their flash benders and diffusion panels. And because we love these products SO much, we are thrilled to be able to bring this amazing giveaway to you. Expoimaging is giving away a Rogue Portrait Kit – $149.95 value. The Rogue Portrait Lighting Kit contains: 1 x Rogue Large FlashBender Reflector 1 x Rogue Large Diffusion Panel 1 x Rogue Bounce Card / Flag 1 x Rogue Universal Gel Kit 1 x Rogue 3-in-1 Honeycomb Grid This is a TON of good stuff to help you take your portraits and images to the next level. So how do you enter? It is SO easy. Just like Expoimaging, like Pure, follow …

I know everyone wanted to win this amazing bag, but now you know where to get them! So if you didn’t win, head on over and check out their bags and find the one you want. But, if you are Lori Hendricks, then get in touch with us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize!

Have you heard of Copper River Bag Co.? We were so excited to learn of their bags. I just got mine the other day and when I opened it, I was really awestruck at how well-made this bag is. I mean, I expected it would be well-made, since it has a 100 year warranty. (Yep, that is one HUNDRED years, not a typo.) The bag is weather-proof and with the camera inserts, it is incredibly sturdy. The insert is not super spongey, but it is solid. If weight is put on the top of the bag, it doesn’t give at all. The leather is thick and supple and soft, and it feels very smooth to the touch. All of the hardware have such a pleasant heft to them. They feel very solid. They kind of sit at this fun junction of vintage style and rugged construction, which is a unique thing. Also, stylish camera bags tend to be targeted to women, but this bag reminds me of all of my professors (male and female) during …

I just wanted to clarify a few things. Thank you to everyone who understood what I was saying in my post below! Say you do a session for $100 with a cd of all the images. AWESOME right??? You just made $100 bucks right??!! Score!!!! Lets break down that $100. Say you shoot 4 of these sessions in one month. $100 received for session $30 off the top put aside for taxes leaves $70. The cost for your website is $16 a month (Through portfoliositez). If you shot 4 sessions that month that is on average $4 a session to pay for it. You are down to $66. If you get insurance (to protect yourself and your clients) at an average of $40 a month over 4 sessions That is $10 a session. You are down to $56 The cost for the CD and case $1.00 You are down to $55 10% towards new gear savings and replacements like batteries and such $10.00 You are down to $45 $4 for gas to and from your …

We’ve probably all been there. Everyone is smiling perfectly. The light is gorgeous. The family is dressed to the nines. But Junior just WILL NOT LOOK AT YOU! We have a trick for that. (We shared it in our jpeg2RAW podcast, but we are going to quickly do a visual tutorial.) PEZ dispensers. You fit them into your hot shoe and say “Look at Mickey!” (Or whoever happens to be residing in your hot shoe.) First you need a Pez dispenser. Then you will need to trim off a bit of the rounded edges at the top of half of the bottom part. (See, aren’t you glad I’m showing images here?) If you leave those rounded edges on, it won’t fit into the hot shoe, which defeats the whole purpose. So using a pair of sharp scissors, carefully trim off that overlapping edge. One it is snipped, it is ready to go! Insert it into your hot shoe! Don’t really set your camera like this often. I am just showing where it goes. Ta da! …

The winner is….. Joanna Watson Donahue Please email Jo Totes at jototes@gmail.com to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered to win these amazing bags! We just love their bags so much!!!!

Ok, admit it. You love cute camera bags. (Ok, maybe you GUYS don’t, but I bet you know ladies who do!) Well, we do too! Sure, when we go to a wedding and have to schlep around 50 lbs of gear, we have huge, ugly suitcases with rollers. But what about going to a quick family shoot? What about going to the park with the kids? What about going to an amusement park? WHO wants to drag 50 lbs of gear AND a suitcase that looks like they’re moving in? So, this is where we LOVE our Jo-Totes. In fact, I (Rachel) am going to Disneyland in about a month and I just ordered a new, adorable magenta Gracie bag from Jo-Totes to take. Why? Well for a lot of reasons. 1) I look stylin’. 2) It holds my SLR safely, along with a spare lens (because I HAVE to have a good wide angle and a decent zoom, right?) and at least a flash and I have room to spare. 3) (And this is …

We will be releasing our very-requested Damask Letter templates again, for a limited time. Our clients LOVE this wall grouping, because they can show off lots of their favorite images, and they can do it in a really unique way. The lines are clean though, so it looks pulled together and classic, not cluttered. The templates come black and white damask and with your choice of letters to make any words you wish. But you can also quickly and easily change the colors of the damask. Damask Letter Templates for Photoshop or Elements $20 normally During the limited time release it will be 40% off!! The code that you need to enter is “damask”.

We have our 2 winners!!! here they are along with their comments that I found in the comments after their number was selected. You have 1 week to email us at support@purephotoshopactions to claim your prize. If we don’t hear from you, another winner will be chosen!!! Thank you so much to everyone for entering!!!

Curves. Color Balance. Selective Color. Levels. Photo Filters. Those are just a few ways of dealing with troublesome white balance. And they all DO work. But it can take some doing. Even with our actions (which are awesome, we think) fixing really wonky white balance can be tedious at best. So what can you do to free yourself from hours of drudgery in Photoshop? Custom White Balance. And to be specific, use an Expodisc. Now we are not being paid or compensated in any way by Expodisc, but it is a product we use ourselves and love. So we wanted to pass this information along to all of those who follow us. But really, WHY would a company that sells actions tell you how to get away with using your actions less? Because we really believe that the cleaner of straight-out-of-camera image you start with, the more the actions can help you achieve your artistic dream, rather than just try and put band-aids on image boo-boos. And we are all about that. We really and …

where you are on your photography journey, there are times you just need a little reminder that you are doing great! The only photographer that you should ever compare your work to, is the photographer that you were last week, last month, or last year. That is the true gauge of your progress. All to often, we get caught up in how awful we are, because we compare our work to someone’s else. We are not taking into account how long that photographer has been practicing, the sweat, the tears, the gear, the experience or anything into account when we compare our work to theirs. We simply dismiss ourselves as good photographers, because we are not as good as someone else. Remember, that we all start somewhere. With that said, never stop learning… and never stop trying! Look at the pictures you took today, and figure out what you can do to improve your craft next time. Look at where you were last year, to see just in fact how far you have come on …

The winner is Courtney Schrader Congrats! You have 1 week to email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered! Our next giveaway will be starting soon, and it will be an amazing one!!!! You won’t want to miss it!

Donna Wallace Heather Schults You are the 2 winners of the Canon 70-200mm lens CUPS!! You have a week to claim your prize. Please email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com with your address that you want your cup sent to! Thank you to everyone who entered!!! This promotion was in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. We hereby release Facebook of any liability. Winner(s) will be posted on our blog within 48 hours after the giveaway ends. If you have any additional questions – feel free to send us an email! Support@purephotoshopactions.com

Where do I start? I have a bulky luggage type of camera bag. While I LOVE it, and it is big enough for all of my gear, there are times that I won’t use all of that gear, and I don’t want to look like I am moving out of my house. I am sure that the neighbors think funny things, when once a week at least, they seem me walking out of my house, with a piece of luggage, throwing it in my car and driving off in a hurry. There are times I just want to carry a cute bag. I mean, I may be a photographer, but I am also a woman!!! I want style people!!! That my friends is where Jo Totes comes in! When I found their bags last year, I was IN LOVE! SERIOUSLY… it was love at first sight. I quickly bought a bag and have never regretted it for one second. Not only are their bags just down right amazingly gorgeous, but the price point for these …

As a photographer, I love lenses! As a photographer,I love shock value! As a photographer, I just plain love cool stuff! What better embodies those 3 categories then a Canon 70-200 lens CUP!!! Can you imagine walking into a coffee shop handing over this cup and having them look at you like you are mad!!! Or do what I did, and call your husbands name and throw it to him, and purposely miss, and then say “Oh my gosh I can’t believe you didn’t catch that”. The look on his face was priceless! The look is priceless when people see you drinking from it! It is a GREAT conversation piece! We are giving away 2 of these nifty little buggers! I mean I know I can’t be the only photographer out there that think these are the coolest thing ever! lol How do you enter? We have a new nifty little entry form to enter our giveaway! We are NO longer doing comments as your entry form! (PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THE BLOG POST) …

The winner is ………. Morgan An email has been sent, and you have 1 week to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered… and keep and eye out for our next giveaway!!!

42. The answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. Ok, now you know all that you need to about that. But, in answering emails in our inbox, we have noticed that there was a lot of interest in us, Crystal and Rachel. We’re a little perplexed by it, but we figured we’d write up a little blog post answering lots of emails about us and the ways we do things. Who are we? We’re Crystal and Rachel. We’re both photographers in Utah who specialize in weddings and portrait sessions. We shoot both natural light, as well as studio light and also off-camera flash. We just love light and we’re light-junkies, so we shoot any kind that we can. What do we shoot with? We both shoot Canon. Crystal started with a Nikon d70, but then moved over to a Canon XSi, and then moved to a 40D, and is currently shooting a 5D Mark II with a 60D backup. Rachel started with a Canon XT and used that baby for quite awhile, before …

Our winner for our Photoshop Elements 10 is Les Groesbeck! Please contact us at support@purephotoshopactions.com within 7 days to claim your prize! Be sure to enter our current ongoing giveaway of a Wacom tablet and watch for our giveaway next month of an iMac!!!

We just love you guys! Have you figured that out yet?!! We are so grateful for all 42k of you, that we love giving back. We love sharing the things that make our jobs easier, and we believe will make your jobs easier as photographers. That is where the Wacom Bamboo Tablet comes in. Once you get past the learning curve, you will find that you are editing much faster, and more precise then before. I don’t know how I ever edited with a mouse! So this weeks giveaway is a Wacom Bamboo Create Tablet! Pen input 1,024 pressure levels Multi-Touch input Four programmable ExpressKeys Wireless compatible 2x working space It is an amazing tool to have at your disposal! How do you enter? We have a new nifty little entry form to enter our giveaway! We are NO longer doing comments as your entry form! (PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THE BLOG POST) Please use the form below! Each point that you get, equals one entry. You can do some of the entries more …

The winner of the T2i is Teresa Garrett-Martin Shoot us an email at support@purephotoshopactions.com from the email that you provided us during the giveaway….. and we will get you all set up with your New Canon T2i. As with all giveaways, you have a week from today to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered. We got a much larger response then we expected, and are looking at the next camera that we can give away!!!! Thank you for your understanding and patience as we figure out how to best work our giveaways!

We’ve been hanging out tonight, painting our set for our bridal fair and laughing our heads off at America’s Funniest Home Videos and eating Cafe Zupas. It’s been a fun night. We’re also tabulating the winner for the giveaway of the camera too. (We are expecting a winner tomorrow! It is just taking a bit to get everyone into Excel.) But while we were having a fun night, we figured we’d do a quick giveaway for Photoshop Elements 10 and a set of actions of the winner’s choosing, just so everyone can share in the fun. (Hey, when you’re with friends, even waiting for paint to dry is fun!) How do you enter? You know the drill! —-Make sure you are a fan of Pure Photoshop Actions first. Because we love you and want to have the chance to interact! —-Then post here that you entered and that you shared this giveaway with whatever social network you use. (leave the link to where you shared) —-Make SURE that you leave us a way to contact …

ok so I am putting myself out there with this post. I think it is important to ALWAYS remember where you started! I also think its important to never think that you have “arrived”. The image on the left was the very first wedding I (Crystal) shot. The image on the right, was from a wedding we shot last month. There were so many times that I wanted to quit photography, and I even did for about 6 months. I just felt like maybe I wasn’t meant to be a photographer, but during that 6 months, I felt like something was missing. so back to photography I went. Now, 3 1/2 years later since I got back into photography and only 2 1/2 years later since Rachel and I started shooting together , when I think I haven’t made progress, and I get down on myself because of all of the amazing photographers out there, I look at this side by side image, and remind myself that while I may have a long ways to …

THIS IS WHERE YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! The other blog post has so many comments that it keeps crashing. DO NOT enter if you have already commented on the other blogpost. We will be pulling all the entries into an Excel file, and picking a random number from there. EVERYONE will get a chance. If we see that you entered twice (we will check)… you will get disqualified. The ONLY way you can have 2 entries, is by pinning to pinterest and sharing on your social media network. We’ve been having such fun with these last few giveaways that we thought we would up the ante a little. The New Year is here and we know a lot of people set goals for what they want to learn, do, accomplish and become as 2012 moves forward. Learning new skills and honing the ones we already possess are top goals for many people and photography is often right up there with skills to learn and improve. And you know us. We’re people-pleasers. We love to help. …

THIS IS WHERE YOU ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! The other blog post has so many comments that it keeps crashing. DO NOT enter if you have already commented on the other blogpost. We will be pulling all the entries into an Excel file, and picking a random number from there. EVERYONE will get a chance. If we see that you entered twice (we will check)… you will get disqualified. The ONLY way you can have 2 entries, is by pinning to pinterest and sharing on your social media network. We’ve been having such fun with these last few giveaways that we thought we would up the ante a little. The New Year is here and we know a lot of people set goals for what they want to learn, do, accomplish and become as 2012 moves forward. Learning new skills and honing the ones we already possess are top goals for many people and photography is often right up there with skills to learn and improve. And you know us. We’re people-pleasers. We love to help. …

We’ve been having such fun with these last few giveaways that we thought we would up the ante a little. The New Year is here and we know a lot of people set goals for what they want to learn, do, accomplish and become as 2012 moves forward. Learning new skills and honing the ones we already possess are top goals for many people and photography is often right up there with skills to learn and improve. And you know us. We’re people-pleasers. We love to help. So, we want to give away a camera. Yeah, that’s right. We would like to help you up your photography game with a Canon T2i DSLR camera. Why are we giving away Canon? Because we shoot Canon and love Canon to pieces and this is a sweet little camera. Amazing still images at 18 MP, HD video, impressive noise handling and a lot of bells and whistles. This camera will be a boon to someone looking to learn or improve in their photography. The winner will get a …

Awww, sometimes you get a little smile when randomness turns out to be familiar. Gregory Cash is the winner of the calibration software. When his name popped up, I was smiling ear-to-ear, because Gregory is one of those Pure family members who posts on the wall all the time, who participates and is kind and helpful and you can almost feel the smile and friendly handshake in his posts. So, having Gregory win this giveaway is really wonderful for us. We could not think of a more awesome winner. Yay Gregory! And if you did not win this giveaway, please don’t let it stop you from calibrating your monitor. It is one of the best things you can do for your business. Even if you are not in business and just print your family photos, but you edit them at all, monitor calibration will make life so much easier and better.

With the New Year upon us, a lot of people have a goal of making a business of their photography hobby. It is SO exciting to see people so passionate about making images that they want to make it their life’s work. It is a thrilling career that mixes business with a passion. But make no mistake, it IS a business once you start charging. I really want to write this blog post in the spirit of being helpful, but I think there is a fine line I will be treading as I go along. I don’t want it to be overwhelming either. But I think sometimes the path to a business that is set up legally is just not clear. I want to point out important points of starting a business. I don’t claim that it is the exhaustive list of everything, but it is a good place to start and some food for thought. Why is it important to set things up legally and safely? I mean, wouldn’t it just be more profitable …

Losing weight. Getting out of debt. Exercising more. Making sure your image’s colors aren’t crazier than a drunken circus clown. You know, those New Years’ resolutions that we all make each year. What? You have never resolved to make sure that your color is completely accurate? Oh well, you really need to. And we’re here to make that resolution one that will actually be kept! Wahoo! Color Management is something that a lot of people don’t even realize is an issue until they have a problem, but we are here to alert you to the issue BEFORE you have a mishap. Most computer monitors arrive from the factory in a rather imperfect color state. Most PC monitors are BLUE. They make every image look cool and dark or overly bright and icky. The contrast is often off too. This image for example. Same exact image. However I would assume if I was on my non calibrated monitor, that my image was over exposed and needed a lot of warming. However if I darkened the image …

The winner of the Flash giveaway is Taryn from Taryn Lewis Photography! Please email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone for entering! you are all amazing! We are getting ready to start our next giveaway so stay tuned!!! As with all giveaways, you have a week from today to claim your prize!

I think it’s no secret that we love all of our FACEBOOK FANS! We really do. We really REALLY do. We are so excited that our new Purely Studio set is almost done. (We are going to launch it in just a few hours! We are just getting our cart and website ready.) But, in the meantime, to tide you all over, we want to share some cheer, since it IS Christmas and Chanukah! One of the biggest questions we get on the page, aside from action/Photoshop questions would be questions on lighting. One of the biggest keys to our studio lighting and even some of our outdoor lighting is getting our flash off camera. So we wanted to help someone get started with getting their flash off of their camera. So, we will be giving away a Canon 430 EXii flash and a set of Cactus triggers v2. This is how we started with seeing light off of our camera. If you shoot Nikon or another brand, you can still use the 430 exii …

Wow, what a hard choice. But the winners are Shaun Shroyer and Jennifer Norch. Please contact us at support@purephotoshopactions.com

Maybe you read about Crystal’s “Pay It Forward” experience today? On her way home from shopping, she swung by McDonald’s for a quick soda. When she reached the window to pay, someone had covered the tab for her. Immediately, her day was brightened and her heart was touched. She chose to pay for 2 cars behind her, as well to spread the joy further. When we asked on our page about experiences like this, we were overwhelmed by the number of people who either had experienced the kindness of a stranger, or been the giver. Our hearts were touched! So we thought we would do a giveaway today. For an EVERYTHING set. The whole action shooting match. But, here’s the catch. You need to nominate someone you think deserves to win. It can’t be you. Who do you know who could really benefit? Why? Post in the comments below. We will pick one random winner AND one winner where the story touches our hearts. Also, make sure that you give us a way to get …

It’s winter. I know, seriously, I was not ready for it either. It’s not like I LOVE shooting in 102 degree weather in July, but really, when it is 20 degrees out, it is just hard to get pumped to go shoot. But yet, it is really kind of a great time for photographers, because so many people want to get a great family portrait for Christmas cards, as well has just to have hanging above the mantle when they have all of their family gatherings. So it is understandable that we still have to go out and shoot. For the photographer, can I recommend that you invest in a comfy, nice-looking neutral wool coat if you live in a place where the elements will be an issue? Why? 1) It looks really sharp and professional. Projecting professionalism is important if you want your brand to be taken seriously. 2) A neutral black, white, or gray coat will not project any color casts onto your clients while you shoot. Also important. You don’t want to …

We want to thank Dustin of Dustin Izatt Photography Designs (and illustrious co-brand with Pure) for hosting the fun album giveaway for those who purchased the templates over this Black Friday sale! What a COOL giveaway. I know we ALL want to win the KISS 20 side album with the adorable little mini KISSes, but the big winner is Katlin Endris of Mary Katlin Photography!! So Kaitlin, shoot Dustin an email at dustin@dustinizatt.com to claim your prize!

The holidays are coming and with them come a lot of photo ops. Want to take them up a notch?  How about getting a little star burst on your Christmas tree lights or Menorah candles?  This is a fun little trick that will give your holiday photos a little extra sparkle.   It is important that you have a tripod for this, as we will be working with longer exposures.  You will also need a camera where you can control the exposure, like a DSLR or a bridge point and shoot. Now, in a semi-dim room with candles or Christmas lights lit, position the tripod where you would like it.  Now we fiddle with the exposure.  My usual starting place is f/16, ISO 200, shutter speed 15 seconds–see why we need the tripod? (If you do not own a tripod, you can also set your camera on a table or s chair or the arm of a couch. Just make sure that wherever you place it, it will remain 100% still, and is also 100% safe!) The critical …

Our album templates were designed to help you increase your sales and to save you time with album design, and this weekend you have a wonderful opportunity to do both. Not only are we having a killer Black Friday sale of 35% off all of the album templates, we are holding a contest, anyone that purchases any of the album templates (from when the sale went live until Monday night 11:59 PM) will automatically be entered into a drawing for a prize of epic proportions. One random lucky winner will receive a 20 side custom album design from your images designed by Dustin Izatt valued at $200. But wait… There’s more, not only will Dustin custom design a 20 sided album for you, he will also order you an 8×8 KISS wedding flush mount sample album valued at $200. This could be a wedding album or family album, or even a memory book of your own photos. That’s right, just make an album template purchase this weekend and you could win a custom 20 sided …

With it being Newborn Safety Week, we figured that we would take the opportunity to show you how we achieve the “chin in the hands” pose. This is not a reflection of our current style, since we don’t shoot newborns that often, and we prefer natural newborns to posed like this, but we used to do this often. We figured that since we had a rare newborn to shoot today, we would take the chance to show how to safely achieve this ppose, for those who are unaware of the correct way to do it. Babies are humans. I know I sound ridiculous saying this but they are not props. It should go without saying, but sometimes people get excited about a pose and this fundamental truth goes out the window. They are families every dream, desire, and hope. They are loved more then words can express, and you have taken the opportunity to document this fleeting moment in their lives. Please take that responsibility seriously. Treat that baby as you would your own. Be …

People ask us ALL the time how our business has grown SO fast in only a little over a year. Obviously, there are a lot of aspects to growing a business, but one aspect we believe has really helped Pure is Facebook marketing. Custom facebook apps, engaging our fans with tips and discussions, highlighting before and after photos with recipes, and most importantly the free downloads have worked amazingly well for us. Showcasing our portfolio on facebook has also been huge. More and more often, the first interaction a client has with a business is through their Facebook page, and that is huge. What does your Facebook page say about you? Why wouldn’t you want them to go to a custom facebook page that showcases your work, shows that you put time and effort into even branding your Facebook page? We have tried out a couple of companies, and finally found one that we love. We just had to share it with you. Ripe Social has officially become the cure to all that we were …

Shannon Clinard, please email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize!

Facebook is making alot of changes right now…. and it seems that even the fans who said they visit our page every day are missing key updates from us. not seeing our fan page updates? Not finding out if you won a prize or finding out about our sales? This will help make sure you always have quick access to our udpates! We have awesome giveaways going on right now, and sales….. and we are worried that even our top posters aren’t seeing them…. Watch this video… and it will show you how to add our fan page and other of your favorites to a “list”. How to make sure that you still get updates from your favorite fan pages! You can also subscribe a different way too! Through RSS and Text messages! Do you follow blogs too? You can add us to your google reader… Also…. We are having a one day sale on Just a pinch……. starting right now….. 30% off… no code needed…. only on Just A Pinch set…Just a Pinch Action …

In the last giveaway, I mentioned all the reasons that you want to find a fabulous company to help represent your brand. Obviously, you are a huge part of your brand. It is your eye, your talent, your time, your post-processing, that create the images. Those images will be a huge factor in determining your brand and how people perceive you. But say that you take those beautiful images from your calibrated monitor and print them at a wonderful professional lab–and then you tape them with cellophane tape into a college-ruled notebook and hand them to the client. Um…fail. Your brand, even if you are the next Ansel Adams, will suffer GREATLY. Now, obviously, no one has ever taken bad presentation THAT far. (At least, I really really hope not.) But the presentation of print or an album after all of your hours of work really WILL play into how your work is perceived. So, why not present a totally AWESOME, unique, beautiful album? Oh yes, Loktah will be giving away one 8×5 album of …

Michelle Stayman Eppley of Iron Orchid Photography, you are the winner of the 15 DVD/CD cases from Loktah! PLEASE email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to get in contact with us and claim your prize!

When I first started using Photoshop Elements–back when Elements 4 first came out and dinosaurs roamed the Earth–I was really slow. REALLLLY SLOW. I hunted and pecked and moved all around with my mouse. Things got done, but it was not a very quick thing. But slowly, slowly, I became familiarized with where things were. And then…(cue the trumpets)…I discovered SHORTCUTS. Suddenly, rather than reaching for the mouse, finding the right icon clicking it and then moving back to my image, I would reach over and hit a shortcut and keep right on truckin’! Magic! After what seemed like no time at all, I felt like I was playing a Beethoven concerto on my keyboard as I edited my images. I was much more efficient AND my wrists thanked me too! Since we love you and are here to help, we made some little cheat sheets for y’all. We will write up some more extensive shortcut notes, but for now, just knowing how to access the tools on your tool palette can be SO helpful! …

Being an action company, we talk a lot about the creation of your product. Our little tips for capturing a great image in-camera, post-processing that image (with our actions, we hope!) to bring out the best image possible from your original image, lighting, posing, etc. But just as important is the output portion of getting your images to you clients. Making sure your screen is calibrated so that the image on your screen matches the one that arrives from the printer. Choosing a reputable lab. And, of course, presenting the final product to clients. Choosing how to present the end product of all of your hours of work can seem tricky. Crystal and I want to make sure that the packaging we deliver to our clients reflects just how much we value our brand and our product. Because if you show that you value your brand, then your client will more likely follow suit. One of the companies we just adore for albums, CD presentation cases, and fine art prints is Loktah. They are a …

So another great giveaway has come to a close. (But don’t despair if you didn’t win this one, there just might be some more chances to win some awesome prizes this week! Keep an eye peeled!) So, the moment of truth has arrived…are YOU the winner? The winner of the Lastolite 12 inch EZ Balance White Balance Target is Angela Mitchell and The winners of the Mennon White Balance Cap (we will be sending the largest size, so that the winner can use it on ANY of their lenses for WB) are 1) Mary Gajda 2) Amy K 3) Laura Dilley 4) Roxy Tomkinson 5) Jessica Woolwine 6) Claudia Arguelles Contact us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prizes! And those who didn’t win, please look into white balance tools anyway! They are well worth the money.

We’ve been talking a lot both on the blog and on the Facebook page about Custom White Balance. Sure, we have lots of actions to help you get color right, but honestly, if you can get your WB close in-camera and then do a couple final tweaks, things will be SO much faster, and that is why we are here. We want you to be faster. We also want your photographs to look as natural and unprocessed as possible, and a custom white balance will help you achieve this. How sure are we that custom white balance is the fast, easy way to getting great color in camera (that you can then make extraordinary with our actions, of course…;))? Well, we are sure enough that we will be doing a giveaway. We will be giving one winner a small Lastolite EZ Balance WB card and another winner one of our pet Mennon WB caps, in the size of the winner’s choosing. We are so sure that if people try a custom white balance, they will …

Does your blog need a little pizazz? It can be hard to keep up on shooting, editing, and then blogging your work, in addition to all the other hats a photographer wears. This is where our blogging templates can help you get your blog looking professional and appealing in no time. They work in Elements and Photoshop. These can also give clients good ideas for image groupings. When you download them, you will find 4 folders. They are named 600 pixels, 700 pixels, 800 pixels, and 900 pixels. You just need to pick which size fits your blog best and use that folder. If your blog is 750, or 650 etc…. choose a set….. and if you want you can resize them yourself. You can also upsize them for printing. (Just do it PRIOR to the images being inserted.) The green and brown boxes are where your pictures will go. We have uploaded a few examples so you can see a finished set. You can only imagine the possibilities. These will also work perfect for …

I am pretty sure everyone is going to be jealous of the winner here! But, Erin LaBotz, please contact us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to CLAIM YOUR PRIZE!! Everyone else, be on the look out for upcoming giveaways!

Time is money. It really is.  Especially when you are trying to turn a profit as a photographer in a tight economy.  There can be a lot of pitfalls to staying on the right side of the time balance though.  One of the main ones though is in postprocessing time. There are a lot of ways to streamline this.  A good, efficient RAW workflow.  Great actions that speed your Photoshop time.  ;)  And finally, one of THE most important things…a strong straight-out-of-the-camera (SOOC) image. Obviously, we could go on and on about how to get a good SOOC image (and really, we like to talk camera, so we probably WILL get to a lot of things in future blog posts.)  But the topic of the day is custom white balance and the hows and whys. First off…what is white balance?  White balance is color of your image.  Light has lots of different colors.  Shady light is pretty bluish.  Sunset is golden.  Indoor tungsten lights are orange.  Fluorescent lights are almost green.  Choosing a correct white balance …

Have we told you lately that we love you? Have we told you there’s no one else above you?? Um, ok, so just be glad you could not really hear us serenading you. Because that would have been painful. But, we really DO love you guys! One thing we have noticed cropping up on our wall a lot are people who are so excited about getting into photography for their kids or their families or who love the idea of digital scrapbooking…but don’t know where to start. They want to use our products, but don’t have the software for running it. Photoshop CS5 is AWESOME! We love it bunches! But we also know that not everyone can afford to buy the latest version of Photoshop–an industry-standard software–when they will be using it for a hobby or a small part-time business Enter Photoshop Elements. Photoshop Elements is Adobe’s answer to this situation. It has so many of the amazing features of Photoshop, but it is at a far lower price point for the new consumer of …

I have had many jobs in my life. I have been a telemarketer, a cook, a Taco Bell employee, a Target cashier, a mental health counselor, and a photographer. As different as all of these jobs are, one thing seemed to be similar through all of them. They all seemed to trash talk other people in the same industry. From … “Did you know that she didn’t make her monthly sales goal… I mean really how hard is it to sell 1 package?” To “Did she really think that would taste good? My 3 year old can cook better then her.. geeze”…. To “Look at that crappy picture! Man she stinks…..I hope she isn’t charging and calling herself a photographer”. When I found photography, I found my passion. I really stunk it up at the beginning too. I won’t lie. I knew that I wasn’t the best that I could be, but I also knew that there was no way to grow unless I practiced. There was no way that I would just start off …

Our Newest Pure Family member of the week is Cailin from Calin Powell Photography (Make sure you go visit her fan page and say hi… and drool over her work!!) She has been sharing tons of pictures on our wall and that is when I first found her page! I was quickly drawn in by her gorgeous pictures! The tones she gets are amazing…. and the posing natural and inviting, and she herself is just an amazing person. I have loved watching her grow!! When I asked her what she loved about photography and how she got into photography, she said this: It took me years to realize photography was my passion. I always loved beautiful pictures. Pictures with gorgeous light and beautiful women. Staring at these photos I would wonder about who took them, how they learned how to make these photos, could I ever do something like this. Moving on to college, getting married, having my first child I had let go of my passion or ever trying to really figure out what …

The first images captured on film only had the option to be black and white, so it ought to be an effective medium for any image, right?  Eh, not so fast there buddy. Obviously photography is somewhat subjective in terms of what works, but there are some good guidelines for creating an effective black and white image.  Many times color gives an image the subtle visual clues the image needs to convey everything to a viewer.  But there are times when a black and white will really sing. I love this image in black and white.  It was in the hospital, with hospital lighting.  The baby is newly born and the vernix, and whatnot on the baby can be rather distracting in color.  The blue of the mother’s hospital gown (it was me, actually), the blue and green hospital bracelets, the doctor’s hand in the background, mom’s red glasses, all make for distractions in this image in color.  But in black and white the background, the lighting and distracting elements melt away and it is …

We are SO excited to share the work of our next Pure Family Member of the Week!  Allison Peck of Glow Portraits, located in Charlie Lake, British Columbia. For those who are not familiar with Allison’s AMAZING work, do yourself a favor and check out the simple, elegant way that she captures newborns and children and mothers-to-be.  Her work is based on amazing light and beautiful colors.  She truly flatters each of her subjects and brings their unique personalities to the forefront with her work.  Her style is classic and simple.  It is in style now and will be stunning and lovely 50 years from now.  I always find myself drawn to Allison’s newborn images.  They are so clean and so engaging. When I asked Allison to tell me more about her style, I think she said it best. Allison said of her work, “I truly love the miracle of pregnancy and capturing how beautiful a woman is during this time. But the highlight of my work is snuggling the newborns and capturing those precious …

I think I intend to make this a series, so I will keep it in manageable chunks. The whole reason that I (Rachel) started into photography was because my oldest two boys are autistic. It was almost impossible to get a decent family portrait. For almost a decade we went without because the harsh flashing of the chain studios and the bewilderment of those taking our photographs just was impossible to overcome. As our family grew, I became more and more restless about this state of affairs and got a camera and started to voraciously learn all I could about photography so that I could capture our family’s memories and HOPEFULLY get a family portrait. Last year, the portrait was realized and I am overjoyed. Crystal took the images and I did some head-swapping and it hangs proudly in my home.  I have since also gotten an image of all 6 kids (below) after my youngest was born.  So I am doubly-blessed now.  I also have realized the importance of having images of my family …

We are so excited to announce the winners of the 4th of July contest. July is such an awesome, patriotic month and these pictures were amazing. There really were some heart-tugging ones too. Gosh. It was super hard to choose. SO without further ado, the 4th of July Representation winner is Melissa Mowrey with Daddy Going Away. Sheesh. Tears. Gorgeous image. What the 4th of July is all about. The image has it all. And the Firework image winner is 49 Boom, Boom, Boom. If this is your image, please contact me and let me know. Will the winners please email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com? Thank you!

This weeks pure family member of the week is Julie from Julie Paisley Photography! This girl is so sweet it hurts!  We spent WPPI together this last year, and she is going to be shooting my families pictures this summer.  This girl is beyond talented and one of the most genuine people you will ever meet.  With a heart of gold and desire to help other photographers, she has grown leaps and bounds since I met her, and continues to amazing me every single day!  When I asked her why she loved photography and pure photoshop actions this is what she said Why do I love photography A year ago I would have never dreamed that photography would take me where I am today! I have always loved taking pictures but when I received my first DSLR, I was smitten! I am completely self-taught and I have poured my heart and soul into my business. I thank God everyday for giving me this wonderful opportunity, I am truly blessed! Photography has brought the most amazing …

We are just so so happy with how well the forum is going. There is so much helpful information being so kindly shared, we know this is going to be a great forum for a long time to come. But we want to thank the top posters with a little something. Their selfless posting is really helping things get off the ground. SO, we want to give each top poster a single set of their choosing. Without further ado, our top posters are: For Always Photo – 201 mimibelly – 195 stephanie – 192 Lngra99 – 161 Jess – 153 Ashley6943 – 141 Shoot me an email at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize! Let me know which set you want and if you are Photoshop or Elements.

July is Jessica Drossin’s birthday month and she has teamed up with our fans to do a self portrait challenge for the month of July!  Go on over to her page and join in the fun!  I know I am going to be part of it!  I can’t wait to see what pictures our fans can come up with! This girl produces some of the most amazing texture packs around!  We reccomend her and only her!  Check out her Textures HERE      

We posted earlier this week and asked our fans “If you could win one action set” What would it be? We were amazed at the amazing comments and feelings you shared! We chose a random winner Winners email us at purephotoshopactions@gmail.com   or use the contact us tab on top of this webpage   Darryl Felton Wow, nice actions. I haven’t tried any of them yet. I found your FB page from a friend of mine. I like the “Pinch” actions from the description, looks like just what the doctor ordered. “Take the picture and add a ‘Just a pinch’ of ______”   BUT…. because of the overwhelming amount of comments and amazing things that were said…. we decided to choose 2 more winners! Kaylee Labor Pure Seasons!!! I’ve been drooling over Indian Summer since I first found you guys AND   Kelli Hoffman Photography I would love to have the Black and White set. I am a sucker for black and white photos and find that I usually edit my favorites in color and …

In honor of the upcoming holiday, we are offering a sale! We will be offering 1 day sales on 1 set at a time! 30% off!! Discount is taken off automatically when you add the item to your cart! June 29th – June 30th         JUST A PINCH FOR PHOTOSHOP AND ELEMENTS June 30th – July 1st             SET 1 FOR PHOTOSHOP AND ELEMENTS July 1st – July 2nd               SET 2 FOR PHOTOSHOP AND ELEMENTS July 2nd – July 3rd             SPRING FEVER FOR PHOTOSHOP AND ELEMENTS We hope that everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday!  Remember to thank those around you that have served this country!

PHOTOSHOP   ELEMENTS

What would it be? Leave a comment here… with what action set that is…. and why you want it……. and we will pick one lucky winner on Friday If you have em all….. you can easily say any future set… or donate a set to a friend If you want a second entry…. then share this post on your fb wall…. with the share button…. at the bottom of the post…. and leave a comment that you shared it…. no pressure Hugs and smoochies to all our fans!!!! Edited with Just a Pinch set (A pinch of warming, a pinch of color) and our upcoming set Just a Touch of Pure Haze

Our new Pure Family member of the week is Rebecca Hickey Photography! What can I say about Rebecca, other then I just love her guts!  I have known her for years… gosh its been a long time… and we both ventured into this photography world together.  At times, cheering each other on, when the other thought of quitting.  I have seen this girl grow leaps and bounds, and I am amazing by her everytime I look at her pictures! Now I will let her talk for herself haha This is what Rebecca said when I asked her why she loved photography and pure actions!  Make sure you go check out her fan page and tell her hi! Rebecca Hickey Photography! What do I love about Photography? Photography has been something that has been a part of my life since I was little. As young as I can remember I had a little Kodak 110 camera that I carried around all the time with me. It was pink and I loved it. As I got older, …

A question Crystal and I get asked ALL the time is how we like working as a partnership. At first glance, it seems that most photographers work solo, so it is a natural question. There are a lot of really great teams out there (Bobbi+Mike, Jasmine and JD, the Sallees, and Bob and Dawn Davis, just to name a few) but they tend to be husband and wife teams, so how do friends fare? I think that the team question is a very personal one. It depends a lot on the personalities of the people involved. Both Crystal and I are pretty laid back personalities. We like to have people be happy, so we both are pretty slow to get upset (I don’t think we have ever had a fight) and pretty quick to try and see the positive in what the other is doing. So that right there has given us a big advantage. We also have really complimentary “talents.” Crystal is a veritable FOUNTAIN of creativity. It just pours out of her. She …

You are the winner of our Color Inc. giveaway! Please email us at support@purephotoshopactions.com to claim your prize!!

Get our new freebie! Showcase your before and afters!!!

Amy Cook Photography What can I say about her? When I found her on facebook….I just loved what I was seeing on my screen! I instantly fell in love with her photography, and most importantly who she is as a person. She seriously is one of the nicest gals you will ever meet! So stinking sweet it gives me a toothache So this week it only makes sense to have her our fan of the week! When I asked Amy why she loved photography she said this…. “I think what I love most about photography, although this will sound completely cliche, is being there to capture such heart-wrenching emotion forever-so that it’s not just a memory, but it’s always there, tangible, to pull out and remember, and relive, whenever you want. Whether it’s an aunt hugging a groom, congratulating him and telling him how proud his parents would be if they were alive (photo attached) or a smile from a baby so big that you swear you can hear the giggles and squeals just by …

Our New set is launched and available! Just A Pinch Because sometimes just a pinch is just right. Not to much, but not to little. Including actions Film Noir, A Pinch of newborn goodness and 14 other amazing actions! Available in the store by clicking here CLICK HERE FOR JUST A PINCH For a limited time the actions are going to be 40% off! AND… BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! Everything else in the store is 25% off!!! NO CODE NEEDED… discount will be taken off as soon as item is added to the cart Actions included: 1. Just a Pinch of Light–A very very gentle brightening action. 2. Just a Pinch of Warming–This warming action is just genius. Wait…did that sound conceited? Dang. Well, let us assure you most humbly that it really is. 3. Just a Pinch of Old School–Do you like those fun vintage photos, but find the vintage actions too heavy for your editing style? This is such a gentle vintage action that even at 100% it won’t overpower the …

We get asked a lot by fans who we personally go to for printing our images. We are not shy about telling people that we just love Color Inc. for our images. We love that what we get on our screens is what we open in our packages from Color Inc. No surprises, just consistent quality and great color. Well, we are lucky enough to share some fabulous new product from Color Inc. with you! Color Inc. will be giving away one studio mount to one of our lucky friends! You know you want one of these. What are studio mounts? “Our solid wood 3/4” ready to hang Studio Mounts are a great way to creatively showcase any of your favorite family, wedding, newborn or senior portraits! Each Studio Mount is professionally finished with a smooth black laminate beveled edge and your choice of one of our 4 quality finishing options. Additionally, each piece will arrive with a pre-cut keyhole slot on the back, ready to hang straight out of the package! Print Finishing Options: …

So you love our actions…. and you love free money?!! Here is your chance to win a $50.00 credit to the store. All you need to do is go to our product page…. CLICK HERE TO GO TO PRODUCT PAGE Find the product that you either love the most, or want to get with this $50.00 credit and like that product. Come back here and comment what product it is that you liked. And you are done Contest ends on Friday June 17th We will pick one random commenter to this blog to win a $50.00 credit to the store If you already have all our actions…. .keep the credit for yourself for when we release our new upcoming set “just a pinch” or give it to a friend! Smooch!!!!

  So We are sharing once again our websized action for free!  You can change the size of the picture by changing it from 900 to whatever width you want.  We have found that facebook prefers 800x whatever your other dimension is to keep your picture proportionate.  However if you have a smaller blog, you can enter in a smaller number This action works in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements We work hard to keep giving our fans these freebies….   so if in return … if you could like this post… and share it with your friends or you fan page…. it will make giving more free things….. even easier You can get the action by clicking this link purely for the web

What if your image is too cyan and looks frigid? Too yellow and looks jaundiced? How do you quickly fix this in Photoshop? Lots of people thing that they just need to desaturate that particular color. That actually is not the best idea. Desaturating that area will simply make that whole color in the photo gray. Ick! Rather we need to balance the color with it’s opposite color. Let’s quickly run down what the opposites are. We’ve all heard of RGB and CMYK, right? This makes it easy. Red’s opposite is Cyan. Green’s opposite is Magenta. Blue’s opposite is Yellow. (K stands for black. He’s a loner.) So, RGB is buddies with CMY Sooooooo If an image is too Red, what color adjustment should be made to correct it? We need to add Cyan If an image is too Green, what color adjustment should be made to correct it? We need to add Magenta If an image is too blue, what color adjustment should be made to correct it? We need to add Yellow There …

We are so pleased to have a guest blog post by Matthew Kees of MLK Studios. Matthew provides online photography education that is second to none. Matthew has also kindly consented to offer a SUPER sale for our readers. Using the code “pure” at MLK Studios you can get the entire comprehensive eight week photography course for $199. (This is an incredible savings.) This is a great way to take your images to the next level. Without further ado…here’s Matthew. Using a Gray Card Whether you shoot film, digital or both a gray card is a very important tool to own and use. The older style gray cards, made by Kodak and others, are designed for setting exposure. A camera’s exposure meter (aka “light meter”) is based on a standard. If it weren’t then we’d have to experiment with every camera and meter to figure out what the meter was really telling us. The standard that was agreed to many years ago, is called 18% “reflectance”, or 18% gray or “middle” gray. ** ** 18% …

Ohhhh snap we just released 7 free Easter and Spring cards for our fans!! Make sure to go snag yours while they are available!!!! Thank you for being such amazing fans!!!

Photoshop users! We now have an upgrade that allows you to adjust the opacity of your action all at one time. Elements uers can not have groups, so we made all of our actions without groups to start off with. However in an effort to save our Photoshop users time, we have changed the Photohop version of the actions to include the groups for free. If you have purchased your photoshop actions from us, and want the new actions with the upgrade please email us at purephotoshopactions@gmail.com include your paypal email address that you used to purchase your actions. If you already feel established in your workflow, then don’t worry about this update, as it doesn’t affect the overall functionality of the actions. Or if you decide to just do it once in awhile in an established workflow, simply click the top layer and the one just above the background layer (while holding down the Shift key) and then click ctrl. (command on a Mac) + the G key and it will make a group. …

You’re our big winner!! Amanda wrote: “I absolutely love your actions and would LOVE to win a set of these actions for myself. As a foster parent, I try to capture memories of the kids that come in to my care.Each child whether with me a week or a month or longer, has updated professional photos taken and then candid memories within my home. When the child returns to their parents, I provide the parents an edited CD of the photos of their child while they were in care. I realize the difficulty it is for most parents to be away from their children and providing this CD allows these parents a chance to fill-in the ‘gaps’ from days their child was away from them. It also allows me precious memories of the children that have filled my home and warmed my heart. By choosing me, you will allow me the opportunity to serve these kids, their families, and myself through reduced editing time and GREAT photoshop actions which will provide cherished memories for myself …

Our upcoming Facebook Contest! We used to have so much fun with Facebook contests but then we learned of the restrictions Facebook had put on contests. But we have found a way to run contests within Facebook’s rules and we are really excited! Please check out our Sweepstakes tab on our Facebook fan page. We will be giving away a one-hour Sykpe mentoring session to the lucky winner. We are really excited. (We love chatting and teaching, so this is right up our alley!) We will be running the contest until we get 10k fans, so the sooner we get 10K fans, the sooner there will be a winner! Please make sure to only enter once.

We are so excited to have two template designs in our store currently. One is the set of 20 blogging templates (and 3 printable freebie storyboards) and the other is our highly-anticipated Black Damask Letter templates. Here’s an example of how we’ve used them in the past. This FAMILY collage was printed at 10×20 and mounted on styrene then adhered to the wall with 3 mm strips of velcro. Clients LOVE these unique ways to display multiple images from their session in a very cohesive wall display and YOU will love how simple they are to use. If you’re interested in either of these template options, they are in our store. The Black Damask Letter template is currently on sale until Sunday (the 13th of Feb) for 20% off using the code TEMPLATE. Using templates is a very quick and easy process, and below I am adding one of our tutorials on how to create clipping masks in Photoshop and Elements, so that you can see just how quick and easy it is.

Adding a texture is a quick and easy way to add a fun, unique, and artistic look for your images. There are lots of ways to do it, but if you’ve never done it before, it can seem daunting. Here’s a quick tutorial on how to add textures to images. AND to help you try out your newfound texture skills, we’d love to supply you with the texture from the tutorial…FOR FREE! Hop over to our fan page and check out our new custom Welcome Tab and find the download button and get that freebie texture. Woo!

According to Random.org Maegan Laurie and Tara Willey are the winners of the Pure Blogging Templates Set 1!! We can’t wait to see what you do with them! We’ll be emailing them shortly!

So, we love you all. You know we do. And we want your blogs to be the best they can be! We also want you to be able to keep that New Years’ Resolution to blog more. SO We are releasing our blogging templates AND we are going to give you 20% off. If you purchase the templates and use the code “BLOG” at checkout, you’ll get the discount. But we love you even more than that. We want you to have a chance at a fun giveaway too! So, how to enter. First go to our newly launched Pure Photography and Design Fan Page for our photography. Fan that page and then come here and comment! (If you came from the Pure Photoshop Actions fan page post, and the link is not working, then just copy and paste http://www.facebook.com/PurePhotographyandDesign this link into your browser OR…. right click the link up top and hit view in new tab and it seems to work that way) But when you comment, please make sure to leave your …

We are currently working on bogging Templates…and this is just a sneak peak of the ones we have completed

Man, cameras these days. So smart. There are so many options in making an image with a camera now. You can keep all of the control of the camera (this is what Crystal and I (Rachel) do. When people oooh and ahh over our cameras and say, “Wow, those must take GREAT pictures!”, we smile and say, “Yep, we taught them everything they know!” ), you can keep some of the control of the camera, but let the camera make some decisions, or you can let the camera make the decisions. Each way has pros and cons, and some models of camera will only allow a one or maybe two of these choices. A point and shoot is a good example of a camera that will usually only allow you to let the camera call the shots. Sigh…so that means you have no control, right? If the picture turns out good, it was all the camera? And if it turns out bad, there was nothing to be done? Should we just sit in the corner …

So you’ve gotten a new SLR for Christmas? WOO! Excellent choice! But now, there are all of those knobs and buttons and dials…not to mention the meters. And everything is labeled with enough photography jargon to make your head spin. But! Do not despair! I have a pretty simple tip that can get you making more creative exposures pretty quickly and painlessly. But first off, a jargon moment. No, no, not to add to the confusion, but to clear some up. I remember when I first started wondering about photography. I started Googling and reading and I kept coming across terms like shutter speed, ISO and aperture. Now, I kind of got what ISO was. Because when I bought film (yes, I am old) I chose which ISO I wanted. It was how sensitive the film (and now the sensor) is to light. Ok. Shutter speed seemed pretty self-explanatory. How fast the shutter clicked. I figured the faster it clicked, the less light came into the camera. (There’s more to it for both of these …

#4! I am so so sorry that we had to change the contest location due to the apparent rule change on FB. Thanks for you support. Please contact me us at rachelrenee1@gmail.com to get your free set!

Sorry for the abrupt change of venue, but we just learned of the rule change on Facebook regarding contests that they issued on the 1st of this month. Sorry for the switch midstream, but we want to be sure we are abiding by the rules. I will post the entries below, along with a number. Please vote by posting the number you are voting for. Please, only one vote per person allowed. Thank you for your understanding. The prize will still be one single set (not an Everything set) of the winner’s choice, either for themselves, or to give as a gift. Enjoy and vote! 1) 2)3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14)

Ok, so here’s the scoop on the new contest. Post your before and after photo and in the comments or description post what steps you took to get there using Pure actions. We will select 10 to go on to the next round. Those 10 will be up for voting. The pic with the most votes by Monday morning will win a free single action set (so anything but the Everything sets) to keep for their own or to give away as a gift. Ready, set….POST!

Oh my GOSH that was SO close. There were a ton of votes ALL around but it came down to a neck and neck race between Nicole Watts Photography and Synethia Rosa Photography. You can tell both ladies are AMAZING photographers. But Nicole Watts edged ahead and won. Congrats! Here is the winning image and edit. Check out Set 2, folks.

We love friends. We love chatting. Our blog is sort of slow, because…I guess we’ve been doing most of our chatting on Facebook. It’s a quick way to have a fairly immediate conversation with our friends and customers. We have tutorials for our YouTube channel that we post there. (Click here for our YouTube channel.) We chat, we tell people about other blogs we are featured on or that are doing giveaways with our actions. And we chat. And chat. And chat. Oh and post pictures. And sometimes flat-out giveaways. So I just thought I would mention that, so you could come over and check us out on Facebook, because it really is a ton of fun. Or so we think. (Don’t burst our bubble if you don’t think it is as fun as we do. ) Our FANPAGE of FUN! (Click the link…you know you want to.)

Ok, we’re ready for a new contest! (Doesn’t it seem like we have ADD? Yeah, I think we do too.) Anyone that has the full version of Photoshop is eligible to enter! Pure Photoshop Actions Set 2 is going to be released soon, and we want to do some before and afters with our fans’ SOOC pictures! You will upload a picture to our fan page and on Saturday we will pick the best 3-5–maybe more if we have a huge turnout–depending on how many entries we have! We will do a before and after with those pictures and then it will be open for voting. The person that gets the most votes will win Set 2! (Set 2 is not elements compatible at this time, so that is why we are only doing this with the full-version of Photoshop.) So how will people vote for your image? The person with the most comments under their image on our Facebook Fan Page will be the winner! So if your image is selected and edited by …

Karina Vaanderin of Goldenview Photography. Congrats! You win a HUGE prize package worth over $1K! We are contacting you as we speak! Since she was referred by one of our vendors (Dustin Izatt Photography), we have drawn a second person for the $40 credit to Pure Photoshop Actions and that is Brooke of A Thousand Words Photography. We will be emailing you your code! Wooo! A BIG thank you to all of our participants! Keep on the look out for our next big giveaway.

Nov 12th, 2010: Thank so much for the interest in the freebie! The time has expired, but there will be more in the future! Nov. 11th, 2010: Well, the run on the action maxed out the cart pretty quick. We’ve moved them to a free file host for the remainder of the freebie time. I’d like to thank everyone for being patient.

You’ve been waiting for it, and here it is! Our Black and White action set. We have not only included 13 different black and white actions, but we also have 3 customizers, so you can really take your black and whites in any direction you want. Some actions will work best with certain images, while others are more universal. Our “flagship” b/w action is the BW Wonderbaby and we love this action. It is simple, clean and rich. There are brighter black and whites, and moodier ones, even ones with a “film grain” look. Try them out and see which will end up as your “signature.” Here are some examples of different actions and how they work on the same photo. Original Faded BW (one of my favorites!) BW Film Star Golden Grain BW Wonderbaby Sweet Sepia at 100% BW Mixer BW Wonderbaby plus Warming BW Wonderbaby plus Warmingx2 Easy-Peasy Batch BW (simple and perfect for batching) Easy-Peasy Batch BW plus our BW customizer, darken Wonderhaze There are even other actions, including a few more …

We love love love alex michéle photography. We are so excited to be doing this giveaway with her and her awesome fans. Remember our last SUPER ginormous giveaway? We thought it was pretty much the hugest, coolest giveaway ever. I mean we had actions. We had prop hats. We had prop beds. It was made of awesome! (Am I right here? Can I get an amen?) Well, forget all that. We have such a HUGE giveaway going on right now that it blows our last one out of the water. I am sure it goes without saying that we will be giving away our Everything Pure set. Which, yes, that IS super awesome, we agree. But wait, there’s more! If you win, you will get: 1) Our actions. Oh yeah. A set of Everything Pure, which is every action we have for sale. A $100 value. 2) A complete online photography course from MLK Studios valued at $495. I (Rachel) took this course about 2 years ago, and it was AMAZING. Matthew is such a …

A tilt-shift lens. So cool. So trendy. So stylish. SO expensive. Well, how about saving a few bucks and hook yourself up with this fun action. You can get that wonderful tight focus on a small area with the amazing blurring of the edges. It is a mask action, so just paint with a soft white brush along the areas you want to be blurred. And here is the awesomeness. It is FREE to the first 100 downloads. And really, after that it is only $15. I mean…how much cheaper is that than a tilt-shift lens?? I know! It is such a bargain! You could even afford to get ALL our actions with the money you saved. Gosh…what a thrifty day! Here is a quick tutorial on a few ways to use this action. Both with brushing and gradients. Check it out!! This free download is now over, but we always like to have little surprises, so it’s a great idea to fan us on Facebook. If it is gone, then head on over to …

The BIG winner of the AWESOME giveaway with the props, the bed and the actions is A. Cooper of A. Cooper Photography! Please send an email to chrissymae@gmail.com or rachelrenee1@gmail.com to claim your prize!!!

Sooooo, it is time for our first giveaway, and this one is amazing!!! First, there will be 5 possible entries to this contest! Make sure you leave a comment for each thing you did!!!!! Up for grabs: 1) Entire set of Pure Photoshop or Elements actions! Actions ranging from warming up pictures to sharpening, skin smoothing to fun cross processing actions, hazy actions to color pops! Everything you need for your workflow is in one place!! The action layers are left open so they are completely adjustable, and they do not overpower your pictures. The actions preserve the integrity of the image and don’t muck it up and make it look over-processed!! Pure Photoshop ActionsYou will get Set 1, Hazy Days Baby, Cross-Process That Baby, and Pure Seasons! All are compatible with Elements, except Cross-Process That Baby. If you win, just let us know what editing platform you are using! Retail value of $120.00 2) The Paxton bed from Picture Me Props Their quality is absolutely amazing, and you won’t be disappointed at all! Retail …

We have made our golden hour photoshop action available for free!!!! Here is a before and after picture of this action. This picture was also edited a bit with Red rover from our action set available to purchase in the previous blog entries. This is photoshop and elements compatible!! Enjoy!!! CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD GOLDEN HOUR BABY ACTION FOR FREE!!

Woo hoo!!!! We have finally decided to launch our workflow as a set of Pure Actions!! We are super excited about sharing these with you and we hope that you find these in your normal workflow. The Pure Action Pack 1 includes 20 actions. From sharpening for print, some fun hazy actions to color pops, to 2 black and white actions. It also includes some basic color fixes for images that are too warm, and too cool. It has actions to raise shadows and burn and dodge tools. Here are some before and after images!! The possibilities are endless!! You can layer them on top of each other and have tons of fun with them! The actions in the set are as follows 1) Soft and Sparkly baby — an eye pop and skin smoothing action!!2) come out of the shadows baby — an action to lift the harsh shadows of a picture3) Cool down that baby — if your image is too warm use this!!4) Lookin sharp baby — print sharpening and a subtle …

Thank you so much for signing up for our newsletter! We will use this newsletter to do many things. We will send our tips and suggestions for photoshop. We will send our links to tutorials and we will also send out discount codes to subscribers only!!! Thank you so much for signing up!!!