Picture Perfect IV or Almost The Post with No Title

I'm back! Well, I didn't go anywhere, except to the farmers' market last Sunday where I sold this!

And nothing to do with the pictures I had taken because the shawl was draped on my display. But I'm still happy I reshot the pictures and happy it sold, whether online or at the market! Last post I said I would list some helpful editing programs and apps. These are great for product shots or holiday pictures or anything.

Before I got my IPad I used Picasa I still do occasionally. Picnik is also good and has a few different options but you have to do the editing online while Picasa is a program you install on your computer. They're FREE, although you can upgrade for a yearly fee for more options. with these programs you can crop, resize, brightening, adding contrast, tint, softening, even adding text.

For the IPad (IPhone, too, although since I don't own one, I won't have anything to add here) there are tons of apps. My favorites, so far, are Photo Studio HD and Pixlromatic but I use Photogene, Color Blast (turns your photo to black and white, then you rub your finger over the parts you want in color and it turns that portion into the original color), and Mobile Monet. Some versions of these are free. You can upgrade for a couple of dollars. Others cost a small amount. I like to read the reviews to get an idea of how they're working, pros, cons, is it even worth it.

Photo Studio HD is so much fun. You can make pictures look like charcoal, pencil, pen sketches, change the temperature for a warmer or cooler image, add hues, blur, various styles of photography, black and white . . .  This app also allows you to control how much or how little of the effect you want in the image. Cropping and resizing are also features included. You can save the effect to your camera roll, then add another effect from this app or another one.

Pixlromatic also has features such as vignettes, hues, intense contrast, black and white, sepia. There are also overlays that feature rain drops, sparkles, halo, scratches, as well as frames and mats. They have a blog, too, for updates and tips. There is no ability to control how much of the effect you want. It is what it is. But, you can still save your image, then pop on over to another app to add some other neat things.

Now, I know there is PhotoShop. There is an Adobe PhotoShop Express app but I see mixed reviews on it so I am not going to try it now. I don't have the original version, don't know how to use it, but if you do have it and can use it well, you're probably not looking to me for any photo editing tips. But I do envy you!

Yes, it is best to try to take the best possible picture you can BEFORE using the editing tools. But sometimes you have just a little CyberShot camera and that's all you have. So next time, I will talk a little about some things I like to take into consideration when I do a photo shoot.