Picasa Love!

I'm late! Wednesday post on a Thursday!

Ok, so I'm also a little late on this notion. I mean, it's just a big, fat, DUH moment. But I LOVE Picasa! I downloaded it last week and barely played with it, thinking it was just really Picnik, and I was already using that. And then I had some pictures to edit and I played around with the Picasa editing tools and WOAH! It's awesome! And my favorite part, it's easy and fast and don't forget FUN!! Below are some examples of the editing I did.

The back story on these photos: My cousin, Dana, and her two boys came down to Georgia for a short stay. They live in North Carolina. We had not seen each other in YEARS!! We had never met each others children. We took the boys to Kangazoom in Smyrna. It's an inflatable bounce house play center. We had a blast! It was super fun and great exercise. It was great to see my cousin again and bond with her boys! We can't wait to see them again.

Here's the original. I was laying down shooting pics from inside the inflatable bounce house, so things are crooked and off-center. And for the record, I do not take great pics indoors, so even more reason to love Picasa!

Here's the edited version. I was able to straighten it some, which also zooms in on the subjects. You lose some picture quality, but I think it was worth it. FYI- I LOVED THIS TOOL! I fixed the lighting some, but this was about as good as it was going to get. Models: Dana, Tyler.

Original. Off center, dark and too far away from the subjects to enjoy.

Edited. Much easier to see and much cuter! Models: Tyler, Brandon

Original

Edited. Cropped to focus on subject and lighting and colors improved. Model: Tyler

Original

Edited. Cuts out some of the distracting background, to focus on the subject. Model:Zach

Original. The subject of this picture is barely noticable with all the other distractions in the picture.

Edited. Much better :) Model: Brandon

Note: Since I like to be honest about my photos. All the pictures were edited with red-eye remover as well, but for some reason the originals do not reflect this fact. Therefore, I must say it's possible that other edits may have occurred and saved to original without my knowledge. So, to the best of my knowledge, the pictures listed as original are original, with minimal editing.

Here are some more fun (and edited!) photos from our fun day at Kangazoom! And for those of you in Georgia, I would highly recommend Kangazoom. It is an inexpensive way to have some great fun with your kids. Parents are free! They also do birthday parties!

And for a late entry into You Capture- Body Parts. Here's a body part I love to see! A BIG SMILE on my little man's face while he's running, jumping, and having so much fun!

I hope you enjoyed the pics! If you have any advice on using Picasa to edit photos, I would love to have your input! I'm still learning about it! Is there other editing software that you prefer? What do you recommend?

Nicole