Angie Muldowney

Instagram-style photoshop actions

Angie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:25:42 +0000

It’s fuh, fuh, fuh-reeeezing today! I did go out for a bit this afternoon but have wussed out of braving the elements any further and have decided to have a play around with Photoshop instead.

Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be

If you fancy giving your images a retro-y, vintage-y, Instagram-y look, then you might like to try this FREE set of Photoshop actions I’ve created (click on the images below to take a closer look at the results)…

They all use adjustment layers so won’t harm your original image – this also means you can fade the layers up and down to adjust the effects (all these are shown at 100%). Oh, and they’ll work on any size image too.

It’s been lots of fun making these (and thinking up the names) – let me know what you think; is this the sort of thing you’d like more of?

Hit the button to download for FREE…

Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be – Photoshop Actions

Enjoy!

(PS – I’ve written a quick guide on how to load and run Photoshop actions, in case it’s new to you).

How to install and run a Photoshop action

Angie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:03:22 +0000

Download and save your Photoshop action (unzip if necessary). You can save it to anywhere you like.
Open Photoshop and then open the Actions palette (shortcut = F9 key).
Click on the small triangle in the top-right corner of the Actions palette.
Select ‘Load Actions’ from the menu, find your downloaded action and press ‘Load’ (you’ll need to do this for each set of actions you’re loading).
The Actions palette should now include you newly loaded actions (and they will be there each time you open Photoshop).
Click on the triangle next to the Action Set to expand it, then select one of the actions.
With an action selected click the ‘Play’ button (at the bottom of the actions palette) to run the selected action.
Ta da!

Now you’re all set to download fabulous Photoshop actions – why not get started with one I’ve created called Four Times The Fun, which is free…

Or there’s this one – to give your photos an Instagram-style, vintage effect…

January Favourites

Angie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:23:56 +0000

I used my Canon 5D MkII set to the very highest 1080p HD quality to film an amazingly professional and informative video – honestly, it was great. Oscar-worthy, even.

Actually it wasn’t that great, but it doesn’t really matter anyway because you won’t be seeing it! I failed to take into account that you need a computer with enough processing power to put a man on Mars to do any actual editing of high res video.

But it’s OK. It takes more than woefully inadequate technology to deter me. I recorded it again using my trusty little Canon Powershot G12 (whilst cooking dinner at the same time)! It only took ten minues to film and 20 minutes to edit – I quite impressed myself with my speediness, I have to say.

It doesn’t look as slick or professional as my previous effort but it does look and feel more me (i.e. trying to do too many things at the same time, completely un-prepared, totally wandering from my train of thought… have you ever seen a badger)?

So without further ado, here it is! I present to you my January favourites…

I’m hoping to do one of these ‘favourites’ videos every month, including (and consider this like the DVD ‘extras/bonus material’) some online favourites…

My favourite dream that I so hope comes true
My favourite photo I found on flickr
My favourite thing I want from Etsy
My favourite music to work to
My favourite blog photos
My favourite video

Have you got any favourites from January?

In with the new

Angie — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:07:56 +0000

This year I have made the decision that instead of just thinking about things and pondering them for weeks and months (and years) and not doing anything I would actually bite the bullet and give things a go.

OK, so far I have started off with smallish things, but I have started – let’s see what sticks. I’m OK if they don’t stick – that will simply mean I can move on to the next ‘big idea’ safe in the knowledge I gave it a go.

1. The diet is going well – 1 stone (14lb) since Christmas, but a lot of that was excess Quality Street which was consumed during Christmas, so doesn’t really count. All the same – something’s working! (And actually, this one’s not optional as mentioned above – this one I have to do or I’ll end up in a documentary on ITV3).

2. My YouTube experiment and the revelation to myself that I rather like the whole video-making process! There should be a new one in the next day or so which I’m quite excited about (the only downside is that it’s a time-ogre – it eats up hours and hours of precious time, but at least you get to rewind and replay the final results)!

3. I decided I needed to stop picking the same genre of book I always, always read and broaden my horizons with something that was 110% different – fantasy. FANTASY! Mythical, magical goblin-y type fantasy (actually, no goblins, but plenty of myth and magic). I am reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin and I am loving it. I love how it envelops you into this magical world, little by little until eventually you are totally submerged. I’m only on chapter five and am already converted. Perfect for the Kindle too as the actual papery version is big enough to kill a man.

4. OK, so it’s still only January and here’s my latest thing – a lifestyle blog. By that I mean a site where I can bang-on about things like make-up, beauty products, books (see above), health products and weight loss tips (don’t buy a giant tin of Quality Street at Christmas because you’ll just eat them all – even the orange cream ones which NOBODY likes)… so basically anything that doesn’t quite fit right on a blog that’s mainly about photography, really. Which I still love bestest of all, by the way.

Polaroid Spectra 2

Angie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:43:42 +0000

This is a great little Polaroid camera if you simply want something you can point and shoot with and not worry too much about focusing or lighting. Whilst it’s quite a big hunk of plastic to carry around, I love the way it folds up and the balance of the thing in my hands – it’s a pleasure to use!

You can watch my video here for all the deets but I wanted to use this space to show some of the photos I have taken with it to demonstrate what this humble beast is capable of:

And finally – and this is a pretty scary photo, so apologies – this is the self portrait you saw me take if you watched the video.

I’ve ensured it stayed as true to what came out of the camera as possible – the yellow line about a centimetre from the bottom of the image; that’s the ‘edgecut’ – hardly noticeable I’m sure you’ll agree. This is Softone film and you can see it’s VERY soft and the colours are pretty muted. I think it should produce better results in lots of natural light (and no flash). I’ll keep you posted!

Artists and the internet – digitally extending your natural self

Angie — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:11:04 +0000

Wow. I love what Trey Ratcliff has to say in this video.

It was in my stack of videos to watch for ages, but to be honest the thumbnail image didn’t really appeal so I kept skipping past it! I’m so glad I didn’t let the HDR sunset and woman’s arse put me off though – the content is EXCELLENT. I promise.

If I had to quickly sum up what he’s saying to try and persuade you to watch it (please watch it) it would be something along the lines of:

Fear and hiding away is demotivating
Aim to project yourself beyond your ‘peer bubble’
Open yourself up and and share what you do
If you make yourself vulnerable, awesome stuff will flow into your life and everything will feel simple.

The video is an hour long but the main speach is only half of this – the rest is Q&As (but they are good too).

Signs

Angie — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:05:00 +0000

I love this time of year – when you get to see little signs that winter might finally be thinking about finishing. Today, in amongst the wintry berries and christmassy robins I spotted catkins AND snowdrops. Yay!

All taken this afternoon with my Canon 5D MkII and 135mm f/2.0 lens

Good intentions

Angie — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:42:56 +0000

The revolution will not be televised

Angie — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:46:24 +0000

Please note: I promise to stop banging on about this soon.

I have a new love in my life. It’s not something I thought I would ever be comfortable with or confident enough to do myself – not in a million years, somehow though I have found myself vlogging and am totally smitten with video.

For a while now I have been seriously addicted to watching videos. People are basically awesome and couple this with my innate nosiness and the fact I can easily access YouTube on my computer, TV or phone – it really is the most perfect way to while away the time.

‘Traditional’ TV is now (at best) in second place in our house these days. We’ve cancelled a lot of the satellite channels we were paying for and are using the savings to increase our broadband limit – that’s how much of an addiction it’s become!

So far I have just done vlog-type videos – straight to camera and virtually no editing. This has been a way of dipping my toe in the water and seeing if I like it. I love it!

It’s like… if all the things I’m passionate about and that interest me were put into a big Venn-diagram, video would be the bit in the middle that is encompasses everything. I think that’s why it feels so exciting!

I talked earlier in the month about my word for the year; STRIVE. This is something I want to strive for.

Here’s a flavour of what I am (more often than not) glued to on YouTube – any recommendations gratefully received!

Oh, and my own channel, of course! Come over and subscribe as I won’t always be mentioning my uploads on here.

And because I couldn’t not include a photo…

Taken with my Hasselbladski – a Zenith 80 and 120 film