As stated in my planned programming this year, I will revive my intentions of posting more about photography with the hopes of providing resources as well as discuss technique, trends, or gear with anyone interested. I want to start this year of photography posts highlighting one of the best tools a photographer can use (that will also save you a ton of time).
When I first became acquainted with the Digital Wedding Forum, I quickly found out by a photography pioneer by the name of Kevin Kubota. Though his photography is excellent in its own right, probably what Kubota is best known for is his workshops and resources. There are several resources worth mentioning, but I would like to draw your attention to his software and actions. Now, it must be stated, that although actions can work in Photoshop Elements, if the desired action is not available with that particular edition, the action will not work. Therefore, it is best to get the full version of Photoshop to benefit from the resources and software.
For a brief explanation, an “action” is simply a series of steps designed to work with one click of a button. For instance, there are burn actions which give you the vignette you want; there are actions dedicated for contrast, sharpening, adding borders, converting to B/W, sepia, or cross-processed, etc.; there are actions for color correction, WB adjustment, and backlight. You name it, and there probably is an action somewhere that you can download and save you a ton of time from having to do each individual step to get the look you want.
That brings me to Kubota’s actions. While there are other places that you can download actions, such as Action Central and Actionfx, the best actions I have found on the Internet are from Kubota. He is a professional photographer who knows what his peers need and want. I have only purchased the first volume of artistic actions (there is also volume 2 and volume 3), but I can tell you that the price which looks steep has been an investment that has paid for itself and much more. Kubota also has a volume of actions for sloppy borders which are also worth a look, especially if you plan on posting images online. Finally, there are CD’s to help you in the digital workflow as well as working with RAW workflow (which is how I work).
When you download the actions, you simply install them into the PS folder dedicated to actions. While I do not use them all of the time, when I am editing several hundred photos for print, these actions really come in handy. If you are not a photog enthusiast or see yourself making any money, this investment may not be for you (after all, it is $100 per volume you buy). But if you are looking to produce and maybe even publish photos, these resources would be a great help for you. If you have any questions or would like to discuss these resources further, leave a comment, and I will attempt to share what I know and how these could be a worthy tool in your photography toolbox.