So I made these Actions and I think they are pretty darn good!  I don’t mean to gloat at all, but when you create an efficient beast that cuts off up to 50% post processing time on the average HDR image, you deserve that honor!  Have you ever used Actions in Photoshop?  If not you are really missing out.  These little life savers are awesome once you get them setup.

So what are Actions anyway?

They are common processes that are recorded, fine tuned, and used on any other photo brought into Photoshop.  For instance, there are 6 things I do to Every HDR images I drag into Photoshop:

  • Levels
  • Curves
  • Hue/Saturation
  • Brightness/Contrast
  • Noise Reduction
  • High Pass Sharpen

Instead of doing them every single time, I created an Action.  I simply drag any photo into Photoshop, I find my Post Processing Action in my Tidbits of Awesomeness Set and I press play.  After several seconds and limited editing, the process is complete and I am free to move onto bigger and more nit picky post processing.  The Actions are really only good for global adjustments, those that effect the entire image, tricky dodging and burning still has to be handled on the local level, areas that need special attention.  However, I save immense amounts of time running my post processing Actions prior to getting into the more picky stuff.  Between my Post Processing Action, the Dodge and Burn Action, and the Vignette Actions, I save about 3-5 minutes per HDR image. Yes I said 3-5 minutes, let’s do some math:

  • Little Timmy has 15 HDR images that he would love to Post Process.
  • It takes Timmy an average of 8-10 minutes to process a single image.
  • How long will it take Timmy to get them all done?
  • 120-150 Minutes or 2-2.5 Hours.

However!

  • Little Timmy just bought Everyday HDR’s Tidbits of Awesomeness Actions set which saves him 3-5 minutes per photo.
  • How much more time will Little Timmy have to do other things that Timmy loves?
  • He will have 45 Minutes- 1.25 Hours to do other things that he loves instead of redundant post processing.
  • That’s 37-50% more time Timmy has!
  • In Timmy’s business time is money folks!
  • All Timmy paid was $40.00 for this epic time saving Actions set.

So if you are ready to play through your processing, head over to the Actions page in the EverydayHDR Store.  Still not sold?  Check out this shot of my son, Michael, the whole image was created in about 4 minutes using 5 Actions from the set:

  • Start Post Process Action
  • 1 Click Black and White Action
  • High Pass Sharpen 6.0 Soft Action
  • Dodged Soft Focus Action
  • HDR Contrast Enhance Action

 

Blake Rudis
f.64 Academy and f.64 Elite are the brainchildren of Blake Rudis. While he is a landscape photographer, he is most passionate about post-processing images in Photoshop and mentoring others.

For Blake, it's all about the art and process synergy. He dives deep into complex topics and makes them easy to understand through his outside-the-box thinking so that you can use these tricks in your workflow today!
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