There are so many actions, lightroom and presets available to buy these days my news feed is constantly tempting me to part with my hard earned cash! Without actually trying them on your own work, it’s so difficult to know which ones to buy. To help, I’ve written a little post on
The Greater Than Gatsby Newborn Collection II Photoshop Actions. https://www.greaterthangatsby.com/
I bought the Newborn Collection I (formally known as Newborn Essentials) about 4 years ago and although I used some of the actions, I always felt there was something missing or that I wasn’t using them correctly. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been experimenting with the Newborn Collection II photoshop actions. This set feels so much more advanced, complete and compatible with my work. Of course there’s a price difference between the two, but if you are going to invest, then in my opinion the extra pounds are definitely worth it.
The first action I absolutely loved was the SIMPLE AND SUBTLE FOUNDATION which is part of the ‘One-Click Foundations’. These ‘One Click Foundations’ are where you start. There are 5 to choose from, generally smoothing the babies skin and to form a foundation on which the other actions will run. I used to run Portraiture which would take up valuable time when applied to all my images, these new actions mean I can now save this time to concentrate elsewhere. Portraiture also costs $199, compared to more than half the price for the Newborn collection II. So, if you’re just starting out, there’s no need to buy Portraiture Imagenomic as the ‘One Click Foundations’ will do the job just as well, or in my opinion, even bette, as they’re specifically designed with a babies skin in mind.
Following this you move onto the ‘Retouching ToolKit’ actions. Every babies complexion is different. Some might have really red skin, some purple, some grey, some jaundiced. You name it, with these set of actions, you can remove or reduce to your hearts content. I loved the ‘CREAMY GLOW’. I use this action to paint over the babies cheeks, forehead, arms etc to give the skin a warm glow which I loved. The rosy cheeks and lips has always been an all time favourite action of mine too. You can run all of these actions with one click of a button, taking just seconds to load, allowing you to quickly choose which ones you’d like to use on each image. You can of course change the opacity on all of the actions too.
Next are your ‘Organic Tones and Mattes’. This is where you can become creative and choose a finish you think appropriate to your style of work. I often run ‘Play them all’ which allows you to view how each action appears on every picture, allowing you to then make a decision based on those results.
Then finally I always add a vignette, I love a vignette and almost add one to most of my images. For me, it’s the finishing touch and can change an image dramatically, drawing your eyes into the subject. The Newborn Collection II has nine different vignettes to choose from, I'm in heaven!!
Lastly there’s also five black & white actions great for newborn images, movable window light and even resizing and sharpening for FB, and not forgetting all the ‘Diaper Bag Helpers’ which include colour pop, underexposure corrector, whiten white backdrop and loads more.
The Newborn Collection I is $49.00 and The Newborn Collection II is $89. In my option the extra $40 is so worth the investment. Just for the ‘Simple and Subtle foundation’ alone its worth it. For $89 you are definitely getting your money’s worth, with this set of actions you will have all you need to start creating stunning professional pictures for your clients.