photo trick : action

i'm one of those lazy ones. if there's a shorter way to somewhere, i'll take it. i'm not the road less travelled kinda person. it's highway all the way. so, photoshop action is my highway when it comes to getting outstanding photo effects. i just have to click 'play' and i'm all set. it's like watching a dvd! and it saves a lot of time.

you can achieve the cross-processed, lomo, black and white, vintage, polaroid, colour boost, colour adjustment, high dynamic range (HDR), infrared (IR), smooth skin and buttloads more. more than you thought possible to manipulate an image. which is why i don't worry much about the technical aspect of taking a photography. ask me about aperture, shutter speed and lighting and you'll see me draw a blank face. if my photo is noisy, i can turn it into a pretty vintage or b&w picture. if my photo's too dull and underexposed, i can adjust the level and exposure in photoshop. there's really nothing to it. and for me, photoshop actions is the best thing ever since the invention of wings on sanitary pads.

i have a slew of collection of actions. my favourite place to get the free action would be from here, and here. the actions that i would highly recommend for you to have in your set would probably be Aly's Vintage and Lomo. but you can download a few and try them out, see what you like. most importantly, have fun. oh, and always REMEMBER to save as a new file because you don't want to regret losing your original one later, believe you me, i have been there countless of times.

here are some samples which i've tried out.