Coffee With Morgan: The Color Wheel and Photo-Editing

Colors, they are inspiring. Colors, they are what add depth and life to our images. Colors, they can also make us so sad when editing pictures: Red skin, Green cast and any number or color oops. My favorite way to fix it, going back to elementary art and the color wheel.

So how does this effect photography?

If you have red, add cyan to get a happy medium.

If you have too much blue, add yellow.

Too much green, add magenta.

Vice-versa for magenta, cyan and yellow.

Meet Morgan! I am from a small town in southern Texas, but now live in central Texas, Fort Hood/Killeen area to be more specific. I am a stay-at-home mom and do photography in my spare time. I am married to a wonderful man that I was lucky enough to meet and be able to spend my life with. We have two beautiful children, Payton 4 years old & Amelia 1 year old. The thing I love the most about photography is that you can take an intangible moment in time and make it last forever. I don't have any formal training, I just learn from experimentation and research.
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{Friday Photo Bliss}

Inspired by the SouleMama blog's {this moment}, I am posting one image every Friday, taken that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

Imp drew a picture of me today, and notice the big smile (and rainhat)!!! You might remember this post where I blogged about one of Imp's drawings of me with a huge frown.  Yes, for the last month or so every time Imp draws his mommy she had a huge frown on her face...

Today was the first day that I was able to answer Imp's daily question "are you sick mommy?" with a "not any more!". We are all feeling so much better and even spent half the day outside chasing moths for our "pet" spider, feeding our pet toad, and playing knights on the front porch.  Well, they were playing knights while I was catching up on my reading. 

You know, it doesn't hurt to be sick every once in a while so you appreciate how great it feels to be well.

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Army Guys Adventures: Top Secret Images Released from WikeePunctureIt.com!

WikeePunctureIt.com just released some top secret Army Guy documents.

Reader Warning: These photos may be considered offensive to some people if they hate coffee.

Yes, the Army Guys captured

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Coffee With Amanda: Retouching Under-Eye Circles

I am excited to post a new retouching tutorial written by Amanda. Thank you so much  Amanda!!!  Please go check out her links on the bottom of this post.  She has some amazing editing and blogging resources.  And did I mention she is a PSE expert? 









Today I am going to share how to lessen under-eye circles using two different approaches. The reason I am showing two techniques is because sometimes one works better than the other, and sometimes they work well together too.




Here is my shot, straight out of the camera.

Step 1: Create a duplicate layer

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CoffeeShop Sharpen PS/PSE Action and UnWrapped Tutorial!

There are a million ways to sharpen your images for print or screen, but sometimes you find one method you think works best and just stick with it.

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Blogger UnWrapped: Adding Share Buttons Under Posts!

Blogger just introduced a new gadget that adds share buttons under each post for Twitter, Blog This, Facebook, etc.

So how do you go about adding these to your Blogger blog? It is so easy!

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Color Inc. Gallery Wrapped Canvas Winner!!!

Would you believe our A/C died today? I have a call in, but it is going to be a warm night. Luckily I am frugal and keep it quite high during the summer (82-84), but I like to cool it down a bit before I sleep. And do you know how hot it gets by my computer? Perfect excuse to spend the night in front of the TV instead of the computer. ;-)

Shannon, you are the ColorInc. winner! If you think you loved your test prints, wait until you get your gallery wrap. :-)

I will be emailing you with the information to order your new 16x20 gallery wrapped canvas. :-)

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Coffee With Morgan: Free 5x5 Storyboard Template!

Thank you so much for the suggestions and comments in that post. I noticed that many of you want more storyboards, so I decided to finally organize my storyboard page so you can easily locate the ones I have already made for this blog. Click on the Storyboard/Template menubutton on top of my blog or check it out here.   I actually love to make storyboard templates and actions so I will definitely add more.  If you have specific design requests let me know! And check out Morgan's amazing storyboard download at the end of this post.

There were also some requests for tutorials and actions that I have already posted. You can find all of my tutorials and actions by clicking on the menubuttons on top of this blog. I have so much going on here at CoffeeShop that things get lost.  :-) I am constantly working on improving the organization of this blog, and if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them! Someone once compared my blog to a Category 5 hurricane!!! ;-)

I love hearing your suggestions.  They really inspire me to play!  And I am always looking for new ideas for this blog.  I want to post things you can actually use. 

We are still recovering from mono.  I think Duke and I are fighting off a secondary viral infection, but Imp and my husband are pretty much 100%.  But I do feel so much better.  And luckily I have great friends like Morgan and Amanda who send me amazing guest posts! 

Here is a free 5x5 Storyboard template!

Download the 5x5 image template for free here!

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ColorInc Pro Labs Gallery Wrap Giveaway - CLOSED!

This giveaway is closed and I will be announcing the winner shortly!!!

I just received a beautiful 16x20 Gallery Wrapped Canvas from ColorInc, Pro Labs. This image

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CoffeeShop Vanilla B&W PS/PSE Action!

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CoffeeShop Color Pop LightRoom and ACR Preset!

I am so happy to be able to post a freebie today! If you have been following my blog

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Coffee With Morgan: Beauty Facial Retouching

Another boring sickness update. Kids sick, check. Husband sick, check. Rita sick, two checks. :-) The kids are getting better every day and have pretty good energy and appetite. My dear husband feels like an old man (his words). And I doing about the same as yesterday.

My horrible 3 day unending headache finally ended yesterday. What a relief! However, now that my head doesn't hurt so much I really notice my throat. And I peeked at it with a flashlight today and it has swollen red bumps on it... No wonder I can't eat; I have lost 5 pounds the last few days. This is not a diet I would suggest to anyone...

But even worse is the bronchitis. I go into these coughing fits where I can't breathe! Pretty annoying. And yes, having severe coughing fits after having a few babies is not always pretty.

So I am still miserable. But I feel so much better than I did a few days ago, so I see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank goodness that I have a great mother, mother-in-law, and husband who are helping me out so much right now.

I know you are completely sick about me complaining (my husband sure is!). After all, no one dies from mono. However, you want to die. ;-) And many of you have commented that it took months for you to feel normal after having mono. But I am ok with that. July, August, and early September are brutally hot here in Texas, so hopefully I will be feeling great by the end of September (around my birthday). I couldn't have picked a better time to be sick, stuck inside. :-)

Morgan, bless her, is back with another wonderful tutorial. Make sure you check out her links at the bottom of this post. She always has great tips/tutorials on her blog. Morgan, you can't imagine how much I appreciate you sending me this tutorial today so I can sit in front of the TV eating chicken noodle soup instead of working at the computer. :-)

Beauty facial retouching.

Here we have a beautiful woman and we want to take her to a fully edit version of a beauty shot.

First in ACR

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Imp's Art

We are all still very sick with mono.  My husband is dragging himself to work (he works Sat. until 2) so I get to stay at home and relax...  As much as you can relax with a 3 and 5 year old who are sick yet still have high energy levels.

I have mentioned before I don't like my kids watching much TV.   Yeah, that goes out the window when I am sick.  Yesterday we all watched TV ALL DAY LONG.  Yes, my kids sat in front of the idiot box watching mom-approved television for hours and hours while Mommy watched cable news.  Thank goodness for commercial free Nick Jr and Construction and Farming videos.  I can't read to them because of my throat, severe constant headache, and cough and I don't have the energy to play with them, so they are getting babysat by the TV.  Mom guilt and mono, what a great combo...

Anyway, today Imp wanted to cut paper and draw and he called me into the kitchen to show me a drawing of Mommy.  Sick as I am I cracked up and ran to get my poor dusty neglected camera and took this photo.  Oh my, that is exactly how I feel right now.  Look at that frown!  Oh, I love these two boys of mine.

Thanks for all of your kind supportive comments on my last post.  I am taking your advice and taking it easy.  I am just glad the kids are taking it in stride and doing pretty well, considering. Today I actually feel a tiny bit improved (I only feel 75% like I want to die), so good news!

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Virus Defined (and it has nothing to do with computers...)

So a few weeks ago when I was stressing out about my poor dear computer's CPU crash, everyone in our family was getting sick.  First my husband, then me, then the two boys.  We had fever, sore throats, viral "pink eye", coughs, headaches, and general exhaustion.  I try to avoid doctors at all costs because I am convinced you go in there with one thing and leave with a few new diseases.  Especially when you go to the pediatrician.

However, the boys both had their annual exam (they hadn't been to the Dr. in a year) so I decided to go ahead and bring them in and try to figure out what was going on.  After a quick glance at Duke's swollen eyes and red throat

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The Tale of Two Hens, Part 2

You might remember my story about Blackie and Goldie, the two mother hens who share three chicks.  I just wanted to post an update.

Both mother hens are still taking great care of their three shared baby chicks.  Blackie and Goldie follow their babies everywhere, and usually one mom ends up watching over everyone.  In the image above (taken this morning) you can see Goldie teaching her babies to scratch for food while Blackie stands in the background making sure the coast is clear.

I am amazed how these hens continue to work together to raise their little babies.  Last night they slept in the henhouse with the other chickens for the first time.  I found Blackie and Goldie perched high up in the house with their three baby chicks on the perch, snuggled under them.  It was so incredibly cute!  Chickens might not be the brightest bulbs in the animal world, but they are certainly fun to watch.

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Coffee With Amanda: Using Levels to Lighten Shadows

I am excited to post a new tutorial written by Amanda. Thank you Amanda, for sending this excellent tutorial my way!

Ever have a picture that you love, but one side of the face or body is darker than the other? Sometimes that is what you wanted to happen, to give a dramatic effect. Other times it happens just because of where our subject is positioned. Sometimes we cannot place them in the best position due to various circumstances.

Have heart, though, there is a way to even out the lighting in your pictures, and I'm going to show you how to do it with my most favorite of tools - the Levels adjustment. If you have not figured out by now, I love that tool and work it for all it's worth. ;-)

Here is a SOOC picture of my niece, which has some shadowing on one side of her face which I will use Levels to take care of.





Step 1: Open your image in PSE or PS and create a Levels adjustment layer

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CoffeeShop Magic Sunset Free Action!

Happy 4th of July to all Americans here and abroad!!!  And I am back!  My new computer rocks and the only thing I have left to do is add my extra fonts.  I even have my backup system set up in case my CPU fries again. 

We are still all sick with this virus, but still enjoying our holiday.  My husband is smoking a brisket and we have fireworks planned for tonight (thank goodness we had rain the last days). We can't celebrate with our friends and family because risk of infection, but we are still going to have a wonderful day.  :-)

Here is my newest free action, CoffeeShop Magic Sunset. This action will give you a faux sunset and looks great on portraits (think engagement and wedding), landscapes and still lifes.

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{Friday Photo Bliss}

Inspired by the SouleMama blog's {this moment}, I am posting one image every Friday, taken that week, that really makes me happy. If you end up doing the same I would love to see your photo linked in my comments!

"Mama, do you know how bees make honey? They eat flowers and then poop the honey out!" Imp

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ColorInc Pro Labs Standout Mount Winner!

I am so excited! My new computer is up and running.

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Just a quick update!

The ColorInc Standout Mount giveaway is closed and I will be announcing the winner later today. Thank you so much for entering and your comments! I love hearing what actions are most useful to you.

So it's computer update time. I have my new computer up and running and it appears that my images and files are OK!!!

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