[mummy26]

I've been liking the look of some of the "Paint the Moon" actions. Does anyone use them? What do you think of them?

[FiveAus]

She is on my Facebook newsfeed and I see a lot of her stuff pop up there. I've not used them but dogs are more my forte, not children.
I'm in two minds about them.....some are sweet, some I don't like at all but overall, I think they're maybe more suited to advertising and commercial work rather than family photos.
I'm not a huge fan of the partial desaturation, wishy washy colours and eyes like hard glass marbles. Aussie kids are generally more colourful, brighter and more "snappy" than her actions would make them.

[raven74]

ALi I've had a good look through and I have a fairly comprehensive set of LR actions (pre-sets). Paint the Moon is much better IMO. Also, you have to make the photo suitable for an action, you can't make an action suit a photo.
I love that eye popping soft skinned kid thing though.
Do you have time to create your own actions? Because all you are paying for is creative editing?

[mummy26]

Yeah I know, I'm lazy at editing people photos (crap at it actually). I know getting the light right in the first place is half the battle and I know how to make my own. Just got to pull my finger out and get them done. Ive got so many that are not right lighting wise. I also love that eye pop, soft skin look too. I struggle with getting skin tones looking good . I think that's why I gave up taking people photos

Thanks Raven74, you've convinced me not to buy them

[raven74]

I highly suspect Ali that your crap people shots would make most of us greeeeeen with envy That look is really easily acheived with a few tweaks, so you probably won't even need to create your own actions. The vital part as you know, is the light!
ME, I can't do what you do. Useless at that creative stuff. Oh, I have grand ideas - too grand for my experience

[mummy26]

I'll work on a few of them and convert the rest to B&W Thanks Raven

[rbat]

Ali, I have used them in LR and I find them overblown. Portraits are all about the light, find it and there is magic in the eyes. I think you are being very hard on yourself as all your people shots are fantastic! What type of image do you want to achieve that you are not getting? Look on Flickr at the amazing portraits, check out the settings - send messages about what processing they used to achieve it. Most people are happy to share what they did. I'm sure we are talking about tweaks here

[Sweet Chilli Phi...]

I use a few of them but very particular about the ones I use. If you want to see some examples, let me know and I can PM you some links. I particularly like in the PTM Luminosity - The Essence range - Petal Soft (Rich and Matte) but I only use it with a subtle touch.

[mummy26]

Thanks SCP, its like most actions packs, most you wont use probably. I don't use the ones I've got much so I've got no idea what I was thinking I'm trying to do a few at a time but I find I'm tweaking all night with one