Perhaps some of us have assimilated a bit too well to Indiana . . .
Don't worry, though. There are smocked overalls waiting in the wings for Christmas. We're all about balance here.
If you're the type that interested in all things photo related, I've been having a great time using Picnik as an editing tool for my pictures. It's a free site for uploading and editing pictures. I received a 3 month subscription to their premium service at BlogHer, and I think I might be hooked. I have Photoshop Elements as well, but either it has a really steep learning curve, or I'm dumber than a box of rocks. My use of Photoshop entails manual books, online tutorials, at least an hour per picture, and a whole slew of swear words. And with all of that I still can't figure it out. For what I need now, I can do it quick and easily in Picnik – like the rounded corners and 70s color effect in the photo above.
If you have experience with photo editing programs, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Which programs are awesome? Which do you hate with a passion? I'm about over Photoshop unless someone can convince me it can be mastered.
Until then, we'll be here doing Hoosier-y things. You know, riding tractors, playing basketball, and eating pork tenderloins as big as your head.
Well, Photoshop can be mastered, but it’s also technically possible to win eight gold medals, build rocketships that go to the moon, and create a search engine that sift through a billion billion words of text in a fraction of a second.
Photoshop is way too much for most applications. You don’t need a congressional oversight committee to decide where to have lunch. You don’t need Photoshop to make simple edits to pictures of your kids for your blog
@robbyslaughter
Maybe I could show you some things sometime. What I love most about Photoshop are the excellent editing tools for RAW files. Since I shoot entirely in RAW, it makes editing a breeze, albeit tiresome b/c I take so many photos. I don’t use most tools they offer b/c I have no need to turn my son’s red sweater into a blue one, etc.
Next year I would love to upgrade to a program (like Photoshop Lightroom) that will allow me to edit batches of photos at once. Take some images in RAW and then see how easy it is! I could show u tomorrow if you want. CUTE COAT on Eli!!
As Ms. Jen mentioned, Lightroom may well be the right answer for you (or Lightroom 2 or 3). I run Lightroom 2 for most of my stuff… Why I like it? Workflow, really. I manage imports, I keep the files on a network drive, I have a plugin that lets me upload to Flickr directly, I use keywords on Lightroom that then show up as tags on flickr. That, alone, is probably the most important thing.
Edits, then, are pretty easy as well… The things I use easily are cropping, exposure, vignetting, and spot removal. Yes, when I’m printing picture, I go remove snot, etc, from faces… Am I creating an irrational perception of beauty? No, because snot simply isn’t beautiful.
Really, a lot of this can also be done via a free copy of Picasa… I don’t think that’s a bad option either, but Lightroom does a bit more (and more than I can figure out how to use…)
I just downloaded Picasa since it’s free, I haven’t messed around with it too much yet, and I don’t really know much about photo editing, but so far I like what I see.
LOVE that picture of Eli. I love the 70’s color effect, it goes so well w/ the coat.
how awesome is Picnik!! i love it 🙂
you photo is just so cute… my son would love a tractor like that !