The Orton Effect

First off, thanks again for all the helpful comments on my camera & lens issues!
Just when I think I've built the perfect Wish List, someone will suggest something else that will send me on the hunt and I'll find something new that I'm drooling over~  It's just not fair.
If any of my desires actually make it from my list to my hands you'll be the first to know!


Second thing...have any of you used the Orton Effect action?
I am absolutely lovin' this action lately!
I know it's primarily used on landscape photos for a dreamy look but I've been using it on my portraits lately to achieve the same effect...soft...daydreamy....~


Here's one that I've recently edited using the Orton Effect.  There's plenty of manual ways to achieve this look in photoshop elements but of course I use the quickest way which requires the least amount of work on my part...a free action from Coffeeshop.


Here's my original....take note that I purposely took this photo upside down.  It's part of the whole artsy, funky, creative thing us photographers do:)  Now this is not to be confused with the Upside Down dilemma I had a few weeks ago that drove me crazy.  No, this one was intentional.

First I lightened it slightly then softened the skin with the Baby Powder Room action from Coffeeshop.

Here's my screenshot for that:

You can see where I used the Smooth Skin layer, Eye Define & Bright Eyes.  

Next I flattened then applied the Orton Effect action to soften the entire photo for that dreamy, hazy look...here's my screenshot:

I took the opacity to 81%on the Orton layer but then erased with a black brush more off of her eyes so they remained a bit sharper.  If you look at the first photo and then the above photo, you can really see the difference the Orton Effect makes.

Next I flattened my image but thought it was a bit too dreamy and wanted to add a little more hardness to it...although I know that makes no sense at all...!

So I applied one of my all-time favorite actions, Pioneer Woman Seventies, which topped it off just how I wanted.  I also darkened her hair in just a few places using the new mcp actions Touch of Light/Darkness action.

Here's my final:

I ended up using this pose in an album I built using the gorgeous Dolce template from The Album Cafe.

I LOVE building albums now but I'll gush on about those later...

I've got more edits to show you using the Orton Effect on portratis ~ Stay Tuned!

ONE MORE THING!!!  The fabulous Patti Brown is giving away her BRAND NEW TEXTURE SET on her site....you must check them out!  I had the awesome opportunity to try out her new out-of-this-world Supernatural set this week and I can't say enough good things.  Her textures truly transform how I edit my images and I believe every person should have them.  

Head over to her blog and see how you can WIN them!  But don't worry...if you don't win those you may just have another chance right here at wayoutnumbered very soon...so be on the lookout for that!