Picnik Closing… Google’s Loss is Your Gain?

I had a completely unexpected email this morning. It was the folks at Picnik letting me know that after 10 years of service (and only a couple of years being owned by Google) they’ll be closing. Picnik closing doesn’t mean you’ll lose your photos that are stored with them. There’s a new function on Picnik [...]

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Using One Single Photo for HDR? It can be done!

Ever wanted to try out the HDR look? It can be pretty cool, but to get a true HDR image you have to have at least three exposures of the same image. One that’s overexposed (too bright), one that’s underexposed (too dark), and one that’s right in the middle. Then, you use a program or [...]

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GIMP Color Correction De-Mystified!

The movers came the other day and picked up all of our worldly possessions. Now they’re in a truck somewhere between California and Virginia. With all of the excitement of packing and moving, a few really cool things have happened: First, I bought a new camera. It’s the Sony α NEX 5N and I LOVE [...]

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Hide Distractions In Your Photos, You Won’t Believe How Easy It Is!

I think I might have picture ADD. I get distracted really easily when I look at photos. All kinds of things can distract me, like dust spots, unidentifiable blurs, strange out of place highlights or shadows, and text that you can’t really read (like a sign in the distance).  They divert my attention from the subject [...]

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If you can’t make it, Fake It! How to Fake a DSLR Blurry Background in GIMP

More Point and Shoot Challenge! I’ve been making these videos about using my husbands four year old, seven megapixel camera, to make pictures that almost look like they came from a fancy pants DSLR. This is video 3, where I show you how to fake a depth of field effect in GIMP. (That’s a blurry [...]

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Tone that Down! How to Brighten and Add Contrast without Making Highlights too Bright

This is part two of the Point and Shoot Challenge…  and it’s all about adding brightness and contrast to your photos in GIMP. I set up my GIMP interface a little differently than most people to make GIMP easier to use. So, if you want to set up your GIMP interface the way I have [...]

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Point and Shoot Challange! Making Point and Shoot Pictures Look More Like a DSLR.

I’ll admit it… I cheat. Not at cards or anything. But I do cheat when it comes to my camera. See, I have a big ole’ Canon 50D DSLR and a fancy pants macro lens that I love more than kittens. So, when I say “you don’t need a great camera to get great shots” [...]

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So Easy! Step by Step Photo Editing in GIMP

I’ll be honest. I don’t always get great photos right out of my camera. Most of the time there are two problems I have to tackle with my photos. White Balance and Exposure. But it’s no sin to edit your photos in a program like GIMP or Photoshop to make them better.  Even the late [...]

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How To Fix Washed Out Skys In Pictures you Already Took

Even if the sky is perfectly blue, it might come out looking washed out or even white in your pictures. One way (the old school way) is to take a different photo of a bright blue sky, and add it into a photo with a washed out sky. The Results might look something like this: [...]

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Making an Easy Etsy Banner for Free Using GIMP (Part Three)

This is the tutorial you’ve been waiting for! How to make an easy Etsy banner with the background of your choice (solid color, a photo you took, or a texture) with text and some graphics on top. Step by step videos are at the end of this post. Here are some ideas for graphics: Clip [...]

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