A FEW MORE PICASA TIPS & DON’T FORGET TO ‘SAVE’ THOSE CHANGES

FIERY AUTUMN WINDOW REFLECTIONS…BEN MILLER, ONTARIO

 

EXAMPLES OF COMPOSITION & LOOKING FOR A PHOTO WITHIN A PHOTO

Had us a cloudy overcast day with cold winds. One of those days I prefer to stay inside where it's warm & toasty. Also a good kind of morning to be inside having coffee with one of my two best friends. Met Jim at a Tim Horton's coffee shop in Clinton this morning for a four & quarter hour coffee. Now that is a long time to sit on a hard plastic seat without getting up. Of course we once again solved every one of life's little problems…..with no problem at all. This was my second coffee blow out this week. Wednesday night saw my other best friend, Richard & I spending nearly 4 hours once again discussing all the infinite details of life. Should mention that 'coffee blow-out' is an old term. Jim doesn't drink coffee at all anymore, I only have one de-calf & Richard might have two coffee's at most. I generally see my way clear to gobble myself down a carrot muffin at these events as well. The term 'coffee blow-out' comes from the old days when Jim & I would spend hours together in coffee shops hashing things out over multiple cups of coffee & endless packs of cigarettes. Both Jim & I gave up cigarettes many, many, years ago as did Richard:))

  

ORIGINAL ON LEFT… ‘STRAIGHTEN, HIGHLIGHT, FILL LIGHT, SHARPEN’ & ADDED A HEALTHY DOSE OF YELLOW ‘COLOR TEMPERATURE’ TO GIVE THOSE PINE NEEDLES THEIR TRUE COLOR

Couple important things to remember if you use any of the Picasa tools to edit your photos. You have to remember to 'SAVE' those changes. If you do not ‘SAVE’ the changes the photo will revert back to it's original state when you close the program. To ‘SAVE’ changes to an individual photo just right click on the photo with your mouse & click ‘SAVE’. To ‘SAVE’ changes to a bunch of photos all at once just go up to Edit & click. From the drop down menu chose Select All, right click on any one of the highlighted photos & click SAVE from the drop down menu. Remember, if you don't SAVE your changes, you will not be a happy camper. Also know that you can easily undo any of your changes & don't worry about screwing up your pictures. You can easily un-change any changes you have made to your photo.
  
ORIGINAL PHOTO ON LEFT IS 300mm FROM INSIDE OUR SUNROOM…USED, ‘STRAIGHTEN, AUTO CONTRAST, CROP, FILL LIGHT’ & ‘SHARPEN’ TO OBTAIN THE PHOTO ON RIGHT

Donna C from CAVE DWELLINGS in her comment wondered....."When you enter photos into a contest, can they tell if you have edited it with enhancing the colors, etc...We have a photo contest at our county fair..I am always afraid to edit any photo for a contest"………………………. Not being a photo contest person I don't really have an answer for this question except to say that each contest probably has it's own set of 'rules.' I do however, have an opinion about why photo editing is a realistic & integral part of photography.

  

NORTHERN FLICKER WOODPECKER…’STRAIGHTEN, CROP, HIGHLIGHT, SHARPENING, & A TOUCH OF SATURATION’  ALSO USED ‘RETOUCH’ TO TONE DOWN SOME HIGHLIGHTS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE WOODPECKER…PHOTO IS A BIT GRAINY BECAUSE I HAD TO BUMP UP THE ISO UP TO 1600 IN THE AFTERNOON’S FAILING LIGHT

First, the myth.....A camera records your subject exactly how the human eye sees it. Not so. No matter what make, model, or technology is packed into your camera, it does not compare to the human eye. The human eye can instantly take in scenery around you with great detail in the clouds as well as details in shadow areas right in front of you....a camera can't do that with the perfection the human eye can. At least not yet. If you include two thirds bright sky in your photo the camera's meter will adjust for that & give you detail & correct exposure in your sky. If two thirds (rough estimates) of your photo includes darker ground subjects, camera will adjust for that & give you the correct exposure for your ground subject, but.....your sky is likely to be washed out. On days with the exact right mix of of lighting, you can get the proper exposure in both scenarios. These perfect lighting days are rare & unless you are in a studio with perfect lighting, you are probably going to have to do some work on your photo to return it as close as possible to what you actually saw.

 

SOME MAY REMEMBER THIS PHOTO I TOOK A MONTH AGO ON ONE OF MY COUNTRY DRIVES

AGAIN, USING PICASA’S TOOLS I TURNED IT INTO THIS OLD PHOTO… ‘STRAIGHTENED’ &’ CROPPED’ THE ORIGINAL TO IT’S PRESENT STATE THEN INSTEAD OF USING ‘SEPIA’ I CHOSE ANOTHER PICASA TOOL CALLED ‘CROSS PROCESS’ TO GIVE THE PHOTO AN EVEN OLDER LOOK THAN SEPIA WOULD HAVE GIVEN IT… DIDN’T ADD ANY CONTRAST TO THIS PHOTO BECAUSE I WANTED IT TO HAVE A SOFTER FADED LOOK…ALSO ADDED A WHITE PICASA BORDER. 

We all oogle over those great National Geographic type perfect photos & for sure those photographers are just about the best there are. But, they also have the best equipment money can buy & they also have the best photo editing programs money can buy as well. Many, if not all of those great magazine shots do not come straight out of a camera & onto a magazine cover or professional website without first going through a photo editing program to correct for the cameras shortcomings. In my opinion & for me personally, the trick is to edit a photo with the idea in mind of making it look as close to natural as possible.   Just the way my eye saw it & not overdo the editing process & end up with artificial looking colors. Be very, very, careful with those so called...'enhancements'. Now, having said that, may I be quick to add......this is not a hard & fast rule when it comes to creativity. And, photography is all about creativity.

  

WITHOUT & WITH FILL IN CAMERA FLASH…BUT NOTICE THE FLASH REFLECTION IN THE GLASS TOP LEFT OF CENTER

 

USING PICASA’S ‘RETOUCH TOOL’ I TOOK THE REFLECTION OUT OF THE GLASS

Many of we RV’ers have a habit of taking photos through our windshields as we motor our way through the scenic countryside.  That’s fine unless you have a bug splattered windshield.  Nice scenic mountains ahead…..with bug splatters.  Easy fix here when you get onto using your ‘Retouch’ tool.  Just a couple clicks on each bug splatter & it’s gone.  If anyone needs an explanation as to how to use some of these Picasa tools just let me know & I’ll do my best to help ya out…………….:)) 

TAKEN THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD OF THE JEEP

 

TOOK ME ABOUT 10 SECONDS TO REMOVE THOSE SPLATTERS SO IT JUST SHOWS YOU HOW EASILY YOU CAN DO THE SAME

GROANER'S CORNER:(( A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience.. Seeing God she asked "Is my time up?" God said, "No, you have another 43 years, 2 months and 8 days to live." Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck. She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it. After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance. Arriving in front of God, she demanded, "I thought you said I had another 43 years? Why didn't you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?" God replied: " I didn't recognize you."

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