Since I recently discovered a free photo editing website called www.picnik.com I've been playing with effects on pictures that normally I would have deleted without hesitation.
Suddenly, I see artistic potential, I had something in mind when I took the shot to begin with - the beauty of the subject or just an atmosphere I wanted to convey.
Yesterday I posted a shot of a sailboat on the horizon and someone asked if they could see the original picture for comparison, since I had mentioned that particular shot was an experiment to begin with.
So here it is
unedited
It almost looks sepia - doesn't it? Shot into the sun at max zoom. 
Did you see the golden gem hidden in there?
One more for comparison ...
We were at the park and here comes this young girl running ...
she ran so fast I almost didn't get her at all.
This photo doesn't convey it ..., but .... 
..... she was beauty in motion.
Someone commented I should contact Nike:)
It would make a nice poster.
The subject I most often photograph is my garden.
Hibiscus bloom
As a photographer I always wonder - how could I have done better?
Should I have made sure to get the complete flower in this shot instead of just barely missing the top and the bottom? Is there a way I could have blurred the background?
Should I have shot this at an angle? What do you think?
To me photography is art, whether it is a photo that I choose to edit until it's unrecognizable and has truly become my own creation or whether it is a good photo. There is something to be said for striving to take your best photo to begin with. But hey, it's the digital age and it's fun to play too:)
I love photos that convey the feeling of the moment.
One of the nice things about being a gather member is all the photographers you can learn from and I certainly enjoy the fun photo group challenges and competitions here on gather.
Are you taking more pics since you joined gather?
All images copyright 2009 Rose H.
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Comments: 52
These are excellent questions you present, Rose. I often times wonder how I could have made a photo better...or at least different. Too often, there are times when you are unable to try a shot from different angles because the subject is moving (such as your runner). So, you just shoot and hope for the best.
I have taken more photos since joining Gather and love the ability to do photo essays.
I have not tried the software you mention. It looks like a great thing to have though. Since you have used it, do you like it? How would you rate it compared to other photo editing tools? Do you recommend it to others? I love what you've done with the photos with it.
Renda - I love it - it's super easy to navigate and it is free. Editing is a snap. I recently wrote an article about picnik.com with more samples - have a look here - I discovered picnik.com and I love it!
They do offer a premium version for $25 bucks but you can do plenty with the free version. After two weeks I decided to take their premium version and save my money instead of buying an expensive photoshop version that will take time to learn.
Rose, I happened to stumble on your other post just after I commented on this one ~ LOL. I am going to check it out and will decide from there if I want the premium version or not. I have been experimenting with some other free versions and debating whether to buy the photoshop elements or something like that or not. However, I just can not justify spending a huge amount of cash on something like this. $25 is reasonable....$300 is not.
Anyway, thanks for all the information! Happy Wednesday to you.
I take a few less photos only because my time has been so compacted with subbing and baseball.
Kerrell, I've been wondering what happened to you. Nice to see ya:)
Thanks! Been busy summer job hunting and may have a lead on one or two things. School year ended last Friday and so I'm trying to get my ducks in a row. We start back up and running August 6th.
The most editing I've ever done to a photo is to make it lighter when its too dark. I'm just not that talanted with editors.
Winona - try it - it's free - you might be surprised how easy it is to edit - just one click to try out an effect - and if you don't like it - hit their undo or redo button.
Plus every effect can be toned down - they have the options right there in the little box that pops up - super easy and fun.
Picnik.com is SO much easier than Photoshop and it takes less time IMHO. While I refuse to alter many of my photos, other than adding a border or slight cropping, I do play with photos I would have normally deleted and I post them for the Alter Your Pics or Zoomit competitions.
It's amazing what some editing can do. I haven't played around with my photos much lately, but on the occasions that I do, it's wonderful to see what a different affect or changing some of the values can do.
Tory - it certainly is amazing how much better a pic looks just by cropping, playing with the color saturation and adding a frame.
These are very good photos.
I guess if you have a crappy shot to begin with, editing it might be cool. But once you truely edit it, it's no longer photography and moves into the graphic arts arena. Since I consider myself an photographer rather than a graphic artist, I don't edit my work. Most of my photos are as I took them. Adjusting contrast or minor cropping is about all you'll ever see from me and even that's not often.
What you've done above isn't photography in my eyes.
Marianne - I have to agree that neither of the two edited images above is still a photo. Editing changed the photos into a graphic. I can't help myself - I really had fun playing with the effects.
Until I discovered picnik.com I never had a program that made it so easy to adjust the contrast, crop or frame. In my opinion the first object is to take the best photo possible to begin with - pure photography.
It is two entirely different areas and I love them both.
You're altered photos look great Rose and I hope I'll see some of your work in my altered pic challenges. Like Marianne, I appreciate the difference between photography and graphic arts and I enjoy both. I'm happy when I get a really great shot and I'll post it with no more than cropping. I like the challenge of taking a poor picture and trying to make something of it. I feel like I'm recycling. If I post an altered photo I say that it is altered in my caption although it's probably not necessary in my case because if you've seen my altered photos you know I'm not given to subtle changes.:-)
That should say "Your" but if I were to delete that comment and correct it, I am unable to post the comment again. ArgggH! Gather glitches.
Nice photo essay.
Thank you for posting your photo at Pretty Pictures.
Sometimes I like the edit better, sometimes I like the original better.
They are all lovely, but I am inclined to agree with Marianne. I actually think the simplicity of the first sailboat picture is outstanding, and I don't like the edited version.
I have played around with picnik as well, it is a fun site. I haven't done much there as I feel like Marianne does. I will boost color or add contrast, but then I usually don't post those photos. I have one altered pic here on gather & that is all.
Excellent examples of your editing skills, Rose! I really enjoyed seeing the before and after shtos. I definately am taking more photos that I joined Gather, and am having more fun with the editing. I've learned so much from others here about what makes a good photo and creative ways to edit. Their crreativity spurs me on to try more things - like yours. Thanks so much for posting this helpful post to Photo Art Monthly Competitions.
This post type is exactly what I had in mind for a new competiton for June! Could you add a bit about the process you went through to achieve the effect? This is an awesome post!
Denise - I have to admit that I'm not sure if I can duplicate the effect, simply because I was so new to the editing process as such and had just discovered the website at the time I did these two.
I wasn't sure if I even wanted to post the sail boat, it's been sitting in my photo gallery for awhile.
But, I will certainly take part in your group's monthly competition - it will be a good exercise for me to actually write down or at least take note of the steps.
That would be awesome, thanks, Rose!
This is featured in Photo Art Monthly Competitions
Denise - THANK YOU for the feature.
Interesting - I'll have to check into that website- thanks, Rose!
This is a beautiful photo essay Rose. I love your altered photos as well as your regular ones - you are very talented. I am taking same amount of photos since I joined Gather but I had never attempted altering them before, not until I was a member here.
Rose I love your edits. You take amazing photos no mater what, but there really is something amazing about playing around with the editing and effects. I love the picnik site, and have actually done a few shots that I am getting printed to frame. I am looking forward to see how they turn out in print.
You have taken some lovely and also some exciting shots of the boys and the beach. I don't normally like BW photos, but the one you posted of them sitting at the beach with their back to you is definitely frameworthy.
Those are fun edits. I've never tried editing pictures except for removing red eye.
Those are really neat! I do think I would stick to the original but it's still fun to play with.
I haven't tried picnik yet, but I love the effect you got on the sail boat picture. This is a very interesting post. Yes I have been taking more pictures since I joined Gather. That and I got a better zoom camera for Christmas. Someday maybe I will be able to get an SLR and really take better pictures. But, for now I am happy with my Sony DSC-H50.
Rose my camera goes with me everywhere. You never know when you gonna see something and go darn wish I had my camera!
PS: Wonderful work with picnik ... I am going to try and see what fun I can have!
Katherine - thank you and go and play:)
I can see where the Golden glow came from in the sailboat photo..and I love what you did with it...
Photography is different things to different people, some perhaps just want a picture to remind them of an event...like a Wedding or Birthday etc ...while others try to capture little moments/feelings in time...I take hundreds of pictures a month probably..most are never shared but some of my best ones are...and I love LOVE to play around with some shots that are just crying out for something extra or needing to have something pulled out of them..I have a feeling you know of what I speak of.
I use Irfanview ( a free editor) for most of the easy stuff...crop, some adj on light...etc...and will also use photoshop and paintshop when I want to really mix things up. Lately I've started using a Noise Filter to help smooth out some pictures...
Katherine - that is exactly how I feel. I want to pull out "the something" I saw when I took the shot. Unfortunately I don't have photoshop or paintshop - noise filter - now that sounds interesting. I really need to take a photo class.
I tried picnik today and played around with it. It is very easy, much easier than my elements program. I may just spend the money to upgrade it. Thanks for the info. I usually don't edit my photos, but I have been learning how to enter Kay's alter you pics. And I also state when they have been altered and how.
Carol - that's what I did, I played with it a while and after two weeks I decided $25 bucks was well spent for the upgrade and I do use the sandbox a lot. The box with the curves and advanced I don't really understand yet, but I am going to experiment with them off and on.
I love the edit the first moment I saw it. Very cool of you to explain to those who don't edit yet - I love editing.
Sorry, those originals are much better than the fake alterations. My eyes, or camera, will never see a runner that looks like THAT.
They are all very cool photos.
Great article! I love the flower just the way it is.
Rose, of course I take more pictures now -
love your edits - there is room for both: straight photographing and edited versions...
Cristina - good to see you:) I do love both. I consider good photography art, but I love the fun and graphic effects of the digital age:)
Thanks for sharing the pictures and the site.
wow Rose... it's amazing what can be done... awesome... love the differences...
LOL, I see I wasn't the only curious one! I was playing around with the filters in adobe the other day. I'll let you know when I come up with something :-)
Rose ,thank you for the lessons in editing and the art of photography. I am enjoying photography again ,just when I needed it most.
Thanks for sharing all this, I enjoy photography, though I don't have many interesting subjects, and I'd like the graphic art side of it I am sure. Thanks a million.
Thank you for posing to Photo Art Monthly Competitions