One Photo Six Ways.....or, One Wild Saturday Night

J's sister Shawna snapped this shot of me and SS, which I love. It came out just a little out of focus, which led to me playing around in Photoshop with some of the Pioneer Woman's Photoshop Actions. I thought it would be fun to post all the edits - the different moods and color tones cast by each Action and the resulting qualities are so interesting to me. Yes, editing and comparing these is actually my idea of fun - on a Saturday night. I am one wild mother. 

the Original

Heartland

Well, first off, the word "heartland" immediately invokes visions of the prairie, which in my idealizing mind is utopia (nevermind the cholera), so I get warm fuzzies before the actual edit even pops up on the screen. I usually like my photo color tones on the cool side (and I feel like my camera tends to shoot a little warm), but the warmth from this action comes out just right for me. It just looks a little dusty, not overly sepia-ed.

 Seventies

UGH, I love this one. Could be my favorite edit. My mom had this brown wicker basket filled with photos in her bedroom that I would look through, and this edit reminds me of that basket, of photos when there was still film and prints. The Action is cooler-toned, which I prefer, and I like the aging and contrast in teals and yellows.

 Sunshine

Golden happiness. Reminds me of sunset light, and of the Robert Frost poem Nothing Gold Can Stay. Which is actually somewhat apropos, considering the fleeting nature of babyhood (and childhood).

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay.

B&W Beauty

Classic black and white.

Soft & Faded

This is like a slightly warmer-toned version of the Seventies edit, which I love. This one makes the photo look like it has been hiding in a drawer for a few years, or like it sat in a frame in the sunlight for a decade - it makes the photo look well-loved. 

Believe it or not, these are just my favorite edits, NOT all the edits I played with. WILD, I tell you. I'm sure my neighbors will be calling the cops on me any minute for disturbing the peace with my out-of-control Saturday night photo editing antics.