Today’s review will feature the film shift & signature film shift actions from Red Leaf Studios.  And please read through to the bottom for a chance to win a copy of either the film shift or signature film shift actions from Red Leaf!

Our good friends Richard & Amy McDowell from Red Leaf Studios from Victoria, British Columbia are the masterminds behind these photoshop actions that allow current technology to dip back in time to recreate the classic elegance of film. It is nothing short of incredible how similar the tonality and range in these film shift action sets by Red Leaf Studios mirror what we have come to be familiar with from images of the past when film was the only option.

One of the major attractions for me with film imagery is the raw emotion that speaks volumes I view them.
The film shift and the film shift signature series actions found at the Red Leaf Boutique pull from their viewers this same emotional response.

I have had the pleasure of exploring  these actions for the past month or so and I have to admit that they are by far my favourite and now “go to” method of processing all of my sessions. They work well for wedding photography as they do portrait work. The common thread to me is that they evoke emotion, something which resonates with clients and photographers alike.

I wanted to share some images too, some straight out of camera(SOOC), as well as a couple of processed images.

I especially love that these actions remain fully adjustable as they have their own layer in the  layer palette.   The most important thing however is to begin with a well exposed image.

The black & white actions resonate most for me as that is where my love of photography began back in highschool grade 11 photography class with the old Ilford paper and film.   Although I love the colour too though, it’s hard to pick a favourite.

Let’s get to it and see some images.

Here is an example of the actions used in a portrait session.  The change from the SOOC image to the colorplus process image is so subtle, but I adore it!  The black & white, well it takes my breath away.

Thank you Jennifer Armstrong for the use of this gorgeous image!

This above image was provided by Jennifer Armstrong  from Jennifer Armstrong Photography

This engagement series were taken by me Patti Miller; Patti Miller Photography Inc.   As much as I tend to prefer black & white, I prefer the cyan hues shift action for this set.  Just really brings the photo to life.

This next set is an example of the the film shift action used on an image in a studio setting.

The highkey setup that Cheryl Johnson used is perfect for these actions to give that old film look.

This image was provided by Cheryl Johnson from Feel Good Photos

Here are a couple of examples from wedding images.

These wedding images were taken by me Patti Miller; Patti Miller Photography Inc.

These wedding images were taken by me Patti Miller; Patti Miller Photography Inc.

This above image was provided by Jennifer Armstrong  from Jennifer Armstrong Photography

This newborn image was taken by me Patti Miller; Patti Miller Photography Inc.

This newborn image was taken by me Patti Miller; Patti Miller Photography Inc.

I hope you enjoyed travelling through these fully customizable series of Photoshop Creative Suite actions created by Red Leaf Studios.  Be sure to check out their boutique to see more examples of their work and to grab up  the other actions that they sell!  Be sure to join their facebook group here to stay up to date on all they offer.

Richard & Amy have very generously offered us a set of Film Shift OR the Signature film shift series actions to give away to one very awesome blog reader.

How do you enter???  Just leave us a comment below here on the blog!  This contest is open to all, forum members as well as non forum members.   We will randomly draw a name next week from all who have commented on this post and give you a set of these brilliant actions!

Fear not if you do not win this time as there will be another set to give away for forum members only. We are  launching  our way-cool-so-much-fun-contest-with-so-many-incredible-prizes next week!!!   The grand finale prize worth over $700!!  This contest and of course the aaaaahmazing prizes will be available to forum members only!   We are actually going to have 2 grand finale prizes one for current forum members, and one for newly joined members!!  SO make sure you come and check it out!  www.beyondjustimages.com

cheers & until next time!
patti.

Here are some images I tried with the presets. I found them very easy to tweak, though the one drawback I have with lightroom is you can not make adjustments and then add a preset on top of them, you revert to the presets settings… if anyone knows how to stack them please let me know!

Fixing these issues are one of the hallmarks of a great photographer, but the take time.  In addition each case is different as each client’s skin type and the color of the cast will be different.  Recently though, Jodi of MCP Actions created two product that will dramatically cut down on yuor processing time for color casts.  They are a color fixing workshop and a color fixing set of actions.

I first took her workshop a year ago, and though I knew the basics of color correction this workshop opened my eyes to tools and tricks I had not thought to try before.  This is a great starting place for understanding color correction and how to fix the issues associated with color problems.

To go along with her workshop she just released a new set of actions MCP’s Bag of Tricks and I was lucky enough to be asked to test them out and give her a bit of feedback.  Well, just like all things she does, they are amazing.  Her actions (all of them not just Bag of Tricks) work by creating editable layers on each image.  I love that they truly do give you control over what you are doing so that it’s really not a one size fits all.

I found them very helpful for a recent session where the wind and cool day made for very rosy checks and faces.  I used her sunburn action (I know who would have thought ) but it worked wonders on the image below!  MCP is a sponsor here at Beyond Just Images, so please check out her blog and actions!  It’s worth the trip.

Until the next time!
Shannon