Blueprint: Trash the Prom Dress Before and After MCP Photoshop Actions

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Today’s Blueprint is another sent in by an MCP Actions Fan, Nikki Romero of Everlasting Expressions.

She writes: This was an awesome Senior that blessed me with a Trash the Prom Dress Session… So much fun… The day was very overcast, skies were white, day was gray and rainy, water was YUCKY… But my vision came alive through processing…

I truly hope this Blueprint does not cause any confusion for anyone as I am sure there are easier/better ways of doing some of these things, than what I know to do.. This is how I got this image from the “DRAB Before” to what I feel, turned out to be a “Freaking Awesome After”… Not trying to sound conceited, but with your actions and my little bit of photoshop knowledge, we did a dang good job…..:) The clients were astounded… Ordered a Huge Canvas and said my portrait belonged on a magazine!!!! What more can you ask for…

Here is her image – see below the image for detailed step by step blueprints of exactly how Nikki achieved this look:

nikki-romero-ttd-mcp-actions-900x7201 Blueprint: Trash the Prom Dress Before and After MCP Photoshop Actions Blueprints Photoshop Tips
1. MCP Action “Quickie Collection” Over Exposure Fixer-over exposure layer 100% opacity/glow layer 66%
2. MCP Action Touch of light/darkness layer-painted in water and sky to add depth to all water 100% opacity/lightness layer-painted onto skin 50% opacity.
3. MCP Action “Complete Workflow” Darker/Richer for hair and to add more depth to water 42% opacity, I did paint off Dress and Skin.
4. MCP Action “Quickie Collection” Crackle 75% opacity
5. Created Hue/Saturation Layer to remove some yellow from the skin.
6. Created new Layer set to overlay filled with gray 58% opacity for using dodge tool on areas that needed lightened (under chin and nose)…
7. Created solid color layer set to overlay, using turquoise color, 100% opacity, inverted, and carefully painted back in onto water and sky (which really brought back the details of the water in the sky)… Added a 40% gaussian blur to mask…
8. Duplicated the color overlay layer 100% opacity
9. Duplicated the color overlay layer 31% opacity.
10. Created color overlay group with the overlay layers, added layer mask, and painted the overspray from overlay out of the hair, and edges of skin and dress….
11. MCP Action “All in the Details” Soft Color 8% opacity

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  1. Jill on June 5, 2009 at 9:02 am

    Awesome! I love how the water came alive!

  2. Aimee Lashley on June 5, 2009 at 9:06 am

    WOW! Gorgeous!!! Thanks for sharing! And I agree, it belongs on a magazine!!!

  3. Kim on June 5, 2009 at 9:38 am

    BEAUTIFUL.. as always!!!!

  4. Nelly Soares on June 5, 2009 at 9:39 am

    Wow, that’s incredible! Amazing picture.

  5. Mary on June 5, 2009 at 9:42 am

    WOW! WOW! Illustrates the power of knowledgeable editing!!!!

  6. Teri Fitzgerald on June 5, 2009 at 11:06 am

    Simply amazing! MCP ROCKS!!!! For the love of GREAT ACTIONS… Thanks Jodi – You make it all possible!

  7. LaShawna on June 5, 2009 at 11:26 am

    Amazing!!! It looks incredible!!

  8. heather on June 5, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Jodi, you ROCK!

  9. Laurie on June 5, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Wow what a difference! I love the way you can see the water spray in the after shot and the color is amazing.

  10. Melinda on June 5, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    Wow that is way too cool! I want to do a shoot like this so bad!

  11. Mary on June 5, 2009 at 2:39 pm

    I have read through the steps several times and it’s clear that I have a lot to learn about Photoshop. Can’t figure out step #6…..and how that works with dodge and burn…..I’m so amazed with this transformation!

  12. Rose on June 5, 2009 at 11:27 pm

    beautiful, so much color!

  13. Tricia Dunlap on June 6, 2009 at 12:58 am

    wow! that is amazing! I can’t believe that is the same photo. thanks for sharing so much with us!!

  14. ttexxan on June 6, 2009 at 1:43 am

    CHA CHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MONEY SHOT!! WOW WOW WOW

  15. Beth @ Pages of Our Life on June 6, 2009 at 8:45 am

    This is so awesome!!! Together you both rocked. I hope more people will share their blueprints. This is one of my favorite things Jodi. It makes me want to pick up that complete workflow now. 😀

  16. Nikki Romero on June 6, 2009 at 9:36 am

    You are all tooo sweet…. Thank you so much for your inspiring comments… I loved this transformation so much, I had to share… I had a few more from this session that were phenominal but this one was “THE BOMB”!!! Hopefully I broke down my steps enough to help someone… There really wasn’t much I did outside of using MCP Actions… I am an action/Photoshop FREAK… I have around 500-1000 of them. “I think I have OCD when it comes to actions:)”, and by far MCP is first pick when editing… By the way, if you can convince a senior to trash her prom dress, DO IT!!!!! It was soooo much fun and she was cute to boot…… Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, compradres and share ur stuff, it gives u a bigger sense of worth…..

  17. Life with Kaishon on June 7, 2009 at 9:10 am

    Oh my gosh. Amazing. WOW.

  18. JM on June 8, 2009 at 11:46 am

    And by the time you finished post processing instead of nailing it in camera the profit from this shoot was at or near a big fat zero. Nice. I like to work for free….NOT

  19. Jodi on June 8, 2009 at 11:59 am

    JM – nailing stuff in camera is of course ideal. But for many photographers part of the art is Photoshop. Judging from this photo – I doubt anything you could do in camera would have achieved that rich blue water for example – and that was the look the “artist” was going for.

  20. Nikki Romero on June 9, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    Wow, thanks Jodi, what an angry individual. I don’t know what Mr Jorge expected me to “nail in camera” on such a dreadfully dreary day… No blue skies, no blue water, hmmm. I got it, maybe we should have flown to the coast, and then maybe, I would have been able to capture my vision “in camera”. Oh yeah, but wouldn’t that give me a “Big Fat Zero” for profit too…. By the way, you are not making any profit at all spending all your time making snide comments on what we were asked to submit…. By the way, by the way, this portrait only took me approximately 20 minutes. Not a waste of time to me…Have a wonderful day Jorge…PS, are you on this blog to try to learn more about photoshop? We are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  21. Stephanie West on June 26, 2009 at 1:40 pm

    Before photoshop, when there were just darkrooms to work on post processing with, people always said “He’s a wizard in the darkroom” about some photographers. Using photoshop for our post processing is the same as the darkroom. Some photographers enjoy “nailing it” with the camera, and others ENJOY the post processing with photoshop. For me, and I’m sure a ton of other people, it’s more FUN that way. It’s not work if you’re having fun, which means it’s never a waste of time 🙂

  22. Temecula Photographer Theresa Minnette on December 12, 2009 at 6:40 pm

    Awesome. That water reminds me of the first image that pops up on my website. That green and blue water was a blessing of the day, but I still hand touch every image to add a little pop. I believe in having the technical acumen to nail the shot, but I love the power of photoshop to unlock creative inspiration.

  23. Katrina Flaws on February 11, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    what a beautiful shot! I really need to take more pictures so I can do more experimenting with actions and get more experience! thanks for the mini-tute on actions. 🙂

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