Daffodils in the Woods

Daffodils in the Woods
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

After what I hope is the last April shower, I looked up from my computer and noticed the sun shining, I grabbed my camera and dashed outside to practice using some of the new features.

Enhanced with Picnik, this shot of the daffodil bulbs that are blooming in the woods in our backyard was taken with the zoom feature of this Sony Cybershot DSC W100 camera.

Tomorrow, I'll be singing the May song in memory of my Dad.

'Tis springtime, 'tis springtime, Cold winter is past;
Warm breezes are blowing and May's here at last;
The birds are returning, Their songs fill the air;
And meadows are smiling with blossoms so fair.

Dewy Daffy

Dewy Daffy
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

I used the Macro feature to capture the dewy raindrops on one of the daffodils. The great thing about this feature is that it is a simple press of a button on the camera.

I brought this photo into Corel's Paint Shop Pro X and zoomed in, resizing it to show the full effects of the macro (at 8.1 Megapixels).

I then brought it into Picnik and applied the rounded edge border.

This is a great camera!

Happy Spring!

Picnik is an online photo editing tool for those who either do not have an application they can use to edit their photos or for those who wish to edit their photos using any computer that is online and access their Flickr or Picasa Web Album accounts. You might need Flash 9 installed to make it work properly.

Do we really need PhotoShop or other expensive software manipulation tools anymore? How many of us have struggled to learn these tools in workshops or graduate classes only to learn of their expense? As time is essential to educators, this tool is simple and quick to learn.

Some features are free and some are available now but will be part of the for-pay subscription service. But, the ones that are going to stay free are the ones that educators will need most. It is uncluttered and easy to figure out. It uses a tabbed interface. You can use Auto-Fix to improve your photos, rotate and/or flip photos, crop them to a particular size, eliminate red-eye and ajust the exposure (which is the brightness and contrast). You can save photos back to your own computer or to a Flickr or Picassa account. I have a Webcam and create a photo using that. Web cam photos are not the best but it is fun!

Here are the links I will be using at my session at Tappedin tonight. It will be easier for participants to look for them here than typing them in their browser.

1. Go to a review of Picnik at Extreme Tech
2. Go to Midge's photos at Flickr
3. Go to Picnik
   

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Vignette Crocus

Vignette Crocus
Originally uploaded by midgefrazel.

Since today is the warmest day we have had so far and I am still recovering from pneumonia, I grabbed my camera and went outside to snap a few photos. Here's our first crocus plants to come up.

I used Picnik to crop the original photo and then apply a creative vignette effect. This one darkens the edges of the photo. I set it to a purple color.

I am impressed with the features of this Web site and recommend it to all my friends.

Come to the Picnik!

Picnik is an online photo editing tool for those who either do not have an application they can use to edit their photos or for those who wish to edit their photos using any computer that is online and their Fickr or Picasa Web Album accounts.

Do we really need PhotoShop or other expensive software manipulation tools anymore? How many of us have struggled to learn these tools in workshops or graduate classes only to learn of their expense? As time is essential to educators, this tool is simple and quick to learn.