Before & After Shots...Plus...Who I'm Learning My Photoshop Elements Skills From...

Here are some BEFORE and AFTER shots of Hannah (my friend's daughter), so y'all can see, just what you can do in Photoshop Elements 7.  These photos are just some of Hannah's senior pictures, that I've done so far, but I'm working on some more at the moment. (***NOTE: click on the images to enlarge!)

I love this one!  I need to mention that I used Amanda's actions on all of these pics......I LOVE her actions!!!  I also changed the color of the background with overlays in this one!

The original in this one is underexposed!  It was taken in a dark spiral staircase and we tried to get her somewhat close to the top toward the light, but no worries.....I fixed it in Photoshop! Now I just need to add a vignette and try some overlays to change the background a little.  I actually did this one in some brown tones with one of Amanda's actions and it's really awesome and I also did it in black & white, with another one of her actions.

I still have one more thing to fix on this one and then I will be happy with it, but I thought I'd share it anyway.  I need to smooth out her skin on the right side of her face, just a tad bit more, but this is definately a favorite of mine!  I used overlays, to change the colors in the background and I must say, that I LOVE Amanda's Vignette Options action also!

I really love this one, even with those rusty nail thingys, sticking out of the cement wall!  LOL  Oh and I used Amanda's Deep Clean 1 & 2 action on all of these pics.....I can't live without them, plus I also used a texture on this one.

I gave a shout out, for my friend/teacher Amanda recently on my facebook and so I decided to do the same here on my blog. I want you all to know who I'm learning all of my photoshop skills from.....I wanna make sure and give credit, where credit is due! Lol Fortunately for me, I happened upon her blog one day at Photography Haven which then led me to her Everyday Elements online workshops and tutorials where I signed up for her All About Actions online workshop.


I've always wanted to learn how to load actions into my PSE and learn how to use them and Amanda's workshop taught me just that! I joined her Everyday Elements Facebook Fan page  immediately and her flickr group (for workshop attendees only) where she gives a wealth of information and help and even critiques our editing to help us learn more and more about editing in PSE. If any of you out there are interested in learning how to use Photoshop Elements or actions, I encourage you to check out Amanda's workshops and tutorials, I highly recommend them. I actually won her online Advanced Intermediate workshop for free, through one of her giveaways in her flickr group.....lucky me! 

Anyway, to sum this up.....Amanda is very easy to learn from and is a very humble, generous, knowledgeable and an extremely helpful teacher. I just met her online, just before the first workshop I took on June 1st and now I feel as if I've always known her. I feel as though we are kindred spirits and we haven't even met in person, but sometimes you just know, when you've met a person of good character! I really hope and pray I can meet her in person someday, so I can personally thank her for all that she is teaching me and hug her neck, as we used to say, when I lived in the south. She really is a sweetheart, y'all.

26 Blissful Years Together!

Today we celebrated our 26th Anniversary, so I thought I'd share some wedding pics with y'all! 

I'd also like to share something my husband wrote on Unifyer yesterday and I'll also share my response to him.  (Just in case you don't know....Unifyer is a communication tool used by churches and it's awesome.)   ***CAUTION.....YOU MAY THINK THIS IS A LITTLE SAPPY!  LOL

So here is what Andy wrote:

Things I Know About Marriage After 26 Years!

1. Marriage gets better with Age!

2. Love only becomes real through time, trials, and togetherness
.
3. To care for ONE person for so many years is indescribable. You HAVE to experience it.

4. Looking back shows you how far you've come.

5. 26 years is not very long, and I long for more.

6. Life After Kids is Awesome. (I loved having Kids, but they are not the highlight of our marriage)


I know that its a day early but I love my wife now more than I ever could imagine. I know that I have said that throughout the years, but it keeps growing to unimaginable depths. I never realized that love is so unstoppable and it makes me long for what our love will be in 26 more!


How can you have a marriage so full of Love?


1. Forgive one another daily.


2. Desire one another Hourly.


3. Prefer one another every minute. (put the other first)


4. Think of one another every second.


and learn how to do this through the ONE who taught it to us.
Jesus Christ.

Here was my response to what he wrote:

I'm in tears after reading this and I'm almost speechless because words can't even express my love for my husband!  Last night as I laid in my bed not able to sleep, I just watched my Andy, my honey, my best friend, sleep so sound and so calm and it made me smile, as I looked at his face and thought about how much I love him!

He means more to me than life itself and living life with him just gets better every day.  Our love just deepens more and more by the minute and the longing in my heart for him never goes away, in fact it just gets stronger and stronger!  I still light up when he walks through the door and I still want to spend every waking moment with him.

Being married for 26 years is a long time, but to me, it's not long enough!  I long for many more years to spend with my honey and he is so right......marriage does get better with age!  If it's this good now after 26 years......I can't even imagine how blissful it will be in the years to come!

I love you babe and thank you for loving me and for still making my heart go pitter patter, even after 26 years of marriage!  You're the best husband and friend I could have ever dreamed of having!  We were made for each other and I thank God for giving me you!  Happy Anniversary my love!