What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography

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What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography

As I mentioned in last week’s edit, I love photographing wildlife.  My go to lens is the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS through I am hoping Canon will release a new version of the 100-400 (and I will have my name on a wait list).  While I never hunt, I did call a friend and said “I shot a deer and I may hang its head on my wall.”  She knows me too well, and replied “with what lens…”

On my quest to get out from behind my computer more, I plan to photograph nature and wildlife in the upcoming months.

Editing Wildlife: What Photoshop Actions are Best?

Most of our Photoshop actions and Lightroom presets work equally well on outdoor nature images and animals and wildlife, as they do on portraits.  I get emails all the time from pet photographers who use the Eye Doctor on every dog image.

Below I will demonstrate how our Photoshop actions can impact a few deer images.

My Go-To Photoshop Actions for Outdoor Wildlife Images

  • This edit was super fast.  I’d say that I had two color versions and a black and white version in less than a minute.

deer-in-the-snow-35-web-600x4551 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

For the first color edit, I wanted to maintain the subtle tones of winter. I used MCP Four Seasons Winter Whirlwind base action + Barren and turned off the black and white layer. I also ran Hemispheres at 25% to add light contrast and used Burn Me Up to darken selective spots in the background. The winter whirlwind base is amazing at pulling out detail from the image.

deer-in-the-snow-35-color-600x4101 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

 

To get the B&W version, I just toggled the B&W layer I had turned off back on. Literally one click.  I made snapshots of both and saved both.

deer-in-the-snow-35-600x4101 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

 

I decided for fun, and to show you an alternate look, how you could make this photo look like it was a late Autumn snow versus mid winter.  For this edit, I used the Autumn Equinox Base (also in the Four Seasons actions) and the look Jenna’s Jewels” on top of it to pop the color lightly.  I then used the Fall Foliage action with a 30% opacity brush and selectively painted on a few of the tree limbs to alter the color tones further.  It is a richer edit but less wintery.

deer-in-the-snow-35-jenna-jewels-fall-foliage-burnt-firewood-600x4101 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

I ended up taking the Winter looking versions a step further. I cropped in a bit more.  Do you prefer the original or closer view?  And I cloned out the branch that was in front of the deer’s neck.  Here is the results.  The cloning took about one minute using both the clone and patch tools.

deer-in-the-snow-36-fav-600x4101 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

deer-in-the-snow-36-600x4101 What Photoshop Actions To Buy To Edit Wildlife Photography Blueprints Photo Sharing & Inspiration Photography Tips Photoshop Actions Photoshop Tips

If you are interested in seeing more edits on wildlife and nature, please add a comment and let us know.  We’d love to hear which color you prefer or if you like the black and white version.

 

 

MCPActions

No Comments

  1. julie on April 5, 2013 at 10:31 am

    I really like the color version and the close up of the deer. They are both great edits. But I prefer the color!!And yes, I’m interested in wildlife edits!!!!

  2. Joyce on April 5, 2013 at 11:08 am

    I like the one you used the Autumn action on plus the 2 close up ones. The close up one in B&W pops more than the other B&W. Thanks for this post and I too am interested in editing wildlife.

  3. Veronica on April 6, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    What a lovely photo I like the color ones better

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